Jane Edwards
Intel could emerge as a top recipient of billions of dollars in Chips Act funding to support the construction of secure facilities meant for manufacturing microchips that will power artificial intelligence, missiles, fighter jets and other advanced weapons systems, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
Sources said the facilities would be designated as a “secure enclave” and could cost between $3 billion and $4 billion, which would come from manufacturing grants worth $39 billion authorized under the law.
The secure-enclave facilities seek to help the U.S. military reduce its reliance on chips sourced from East Asia, specifically Taiwan, and may partly establish operations at the company’s factory complex in Arizona, according to sources cited by WSJ.
People familiar with the matter said officials from the departments of Commerce and Defense and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence are still in discussions with Intel on the secure-enclave project.
The Department of Commerce’s CHIPS Program Office will start distributing in the next few weeks manufacturing grants to fund domestic chip projects and Intel could secure grants worth billions of dollars for new factories it is building in states such as Arizona and Ohio, according to the report.
