White House Disapproves of Intel’s Plan to Boost Chip Production in China

[Tsing]

Image: Intel



Intel had been planning on using a factory in Chengdu, China, to manufacture silicon wafers, but that may no longer be happening due to a lack of support from the U.S. government. According to sources with Bloomberg, the White House has “spurned” the idea due to security concerns. Intel had pitched the plan as a way of relaxing ongoing chip shortages.



From Bloomberg:



Intel, the world’s largest chipmaker, has proposed using a factory in Chengdu, China, to manufacture silicon wafers, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the discussions were private. That production could have been online by the end of 2022, helping ease a global supply crunch. But at the same time, it’s been seeking federal assistance to ramp up research and production in the U.S.



Intel says it remains open to “other solutions that will also help us meet high demand...

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[Grimlakin]

This is NOTHING but Intel posturing to gain more government backing on getting sweetheart deals on USA based fab's.

Oh you don't want to give us a sweet deal. That's ok we can manufacture the chips we need over in China we have this amazing deal being offered to make Intel chips over there.

What... well of course they would need to know the layouts and designs of our chips.

Oh we know they are notorious for stealing designs to make cheap knockoffs.

Oh you're worried our designs that are locked down to US government use will be exposed to China. I guess that might happen but really it isn't likely... well I mean it's likely but we will have newer better chips that all of the Government and Defense agencies can be running on before that ever happens.

Oh you don't want to have to spend to upgrade because China gets a big boost in tech from stealing our IP?

Well did we mention they are giving us a REALLY great deal on this new fab to use....

I mean I suppose if the US did that for us we could have a new fab here INSTEAD of China... but it has to make sense to our investors you know.