Intel to build $20 billion chip manufacturing plant in Ohio

The plan includes 3,000 permanent jobs and 7,000 construction jobs on the 1,000-acre site in Licking County, an area close to Columbus.

Driving Intel’s plans to expand is chief executive Pat Gelsinger, particularly in Europe and the United States, as it ramps up the competition with global rivals and also in response to the worldwide microchip shortage.

“These factories will create a new epicentre for chipmaking in the US that will bolster Intel’s domestic lab-to-fab pipeline,” Gilsinger stated.

He also commented on the scale of the plans, saying “our expectation is that this will grow to be the world’s largest silicon production location.”

Currently, microchips are predominantly manufactured in Taiwan. However, it is in Intel’s and also the US government’s plans to produce more in the US – US President Joe Biden was scheduled to speak about the government’s efforts to “expand semiconductor supply, manufacture more in America, and rebuild our supply chains here at home,” the White House announced last week.

As a consequence of the chip shortage that has affected companies from autos to consumer electronics, chipmakers have been rushing to boost production.

Intel is also currently attempting to try and win back its position as the maker of the smallest and fastest chips from current leader TSMC, which is based in Taiwan.

In September 2021, Intel started building two factories in Arizona as part of its plan to become a major manufacturer of chips for outside customers. The $20 billion plants will bring the total number of Intel factories at its campus in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler to six.