White House Pledges $8.5Bln in Funding for Intel's High-End Chip Manufacturing

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The White House announced a preliminary deal with chipmaker Intel on Wednesday that will unlock up to $8.5 billion in direct investment to boost domestic production of advanced semiconductors.

"The Department of Commerce has reached a preliminary agreement with Intel to provide up to $8.5 billion in direct funding along with $11 billion in loans under the CHIPS and Science Act," the statement read.

Under Joe Biden's administration plan, the funding will help Intel build and expand semiconductor facilities in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico and Oregon, creating nearly 30,000 jobs, bolstering US supply chains and protecting national security.

The United States currently produces less than 10% of the world's chips and none of the most advanced ones, it estimated. The plan is to have US facilities produce 20% of the world's high-end chips by 2030.

The latest pledge is the fourth and largest made under the August 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. It comes on top of $1.5 billion in funding promised to chipmaker GlobalFoundries in February and $162 million offered to Microchip Technology Inc in January.

The Biden administration is stepping up its efforts in the tech sector in order to address shortcomings in chip manufacturing and packaging innovation. The US initiative is mainly aimed to keep up with China's tremendous success in their booming domestic sector amid the ongoing US-China trade rift.