Intel awarded almost $8 billion to protect US chipmaking interests

“Today’s award marks another key step in implementing President Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act and the Investing in America agenda to reshore manufacturing, create thousands of good-paying jobs, and strengthen our economy,” White House Deputy Chief of Staff Natalie Quillian said in the announcement.

The confirmed CHIPS investment will be put towards building and expanding Intel’s semiconductor fabrication facilities in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oregon, which is expected to create up to 30,000 job roles across all four states. The Wall Street Journal reports that Intel will receive at least $1 billion in funds later this year, with the chipmaker promising to not engage in stock buybacks for five years.

The funding comes despite Intel scaling back some of its ambitions. Its expansion in Ohio will provide 3,500 fewer jobs than the 10,000 previously estimated, and the company has reduced its planned investments in US manufacturing from $100 billion over the next five years to $90 billion by the end of the decade.

With Intel locked in, the US Commerce Department has now completed agreements with six companies to distribute $19 billion of the total $39 billion in funding it has available. We’ll likely see more announcements in the coming weeks as time is running short to dispense the remaining funds before the Trump administration takes office and makes good on its plans to walk back the CHIPS Act.