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Intel to Receive $8.5B in Grants to Build Chip Plants

nytimes.com

111–120 of 657 posts

Re: Intel to Receive $8.5B in Grants to Build Chip Plants

#112
post #68

I feel sorry for any startups looking to innovate in this space. It's hard enough competing against established players without them getting billions in free money. Intel has had the resources to build out fabs in the US for decades. Instead, they've chosen to build elsewhere, and now they're rewarded for it? They recently announced their $20b facility in Ohio is being "put on hold": https://www.tweaktown.com/news/96…

I feel sorry for any startups looking to innovate in this space. It's hard enough competing against established players without them getting billions in free money.

Which startups would be harmed by this type of investment? as a relatively casual observer, I didn't think there was much in way of startups that were looking to go head-to-head with a company like Intel or AMD in chip fabrication.

Re: Intel to Receive $8.5B in Grants to Build Chip Plants

#113
post #79

Right now one of the biggest blockers in on-shoring semiconductor fab at any kind of reasonable price-point and timescale is the lack of a skilled workforce. This legislation has dual objectives: train new people to get into sophisticated manufacturing AND to build out the actual infrastructure itself. That almost guarantees it won't be the most efficient way to actually get these chips on American soil. Whether we l…

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Re: Intel to Receive $8.5B in Grants to Build Chip Plants

#114

If Intel got $8.5B how come the stock didn't go up? https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/INTC/

A combination of the stock price already having that expectation built in along with CHIPS intentionally funding domestic overcapacity that has its own maintenance overhead. Chip demand is cyclical, which is why chip fabs aren't built to handle peak demand; it would be too expensive for the times when they aren't running at full production.

Re: Intel to Receive $8.5B in Grants to Build Chip Plants

#116
post #79

Right now one of the biggest blockers in on-shoring semiconductor fab at any kind of reasonable price-point and timescale is the lack of a skilled workforce. This legislation has dual objectives: train new people to get into sophisticated manufacturing AND to build out the actual infrastructure itself. That almost guarantees it won't be the most efficient way to actually get these chips on American soil. Whether we l…

I imagine we’d have that skilled workforce if companies paid enough. I’m a former construction contractor who reinvented myself as a software developer. Each time I run into one of my former peers in the construction industry I hear the same complaints from them. “We can’t hire any good help.” Yet they are still paying the same non living wages that they have for 30 years.

I don't think that dynamic is the same in construction and in semiconductor manufacturing. Certain parts of the chip-building supply chain just plain don't exist in the USA, and so no one in the USA currently has those skills. It's not like there are lots of folks with the skills in the USA but they're all leaving the industry for higher paying jobs.

Re: Intel to Receive $8.5B in Grants to Build Chip Plants

#117
post #79

Right now one of the biggest blockers in on-shoring semiconductor fab at any kind of reasonable price-point and timescale is the lack of a skilled workforce. This legislation has dual objectives: train new people to get into sophisticated manufacturing AND to build out the actual infrastructure itself. That almost guarantees it won't be the most efficient way to actually get these chips on American soil. Whether we l…

I imagine we’d have that skilled workforce if companies paid enough. I’m a former construction contractor who reinvented myself as a software developer. Each time I run into one of my former peers in the construction industry I hear the same complaints from them. “We can’t hire any good help.” Yet they are still paying the same non living wages that they have for 30 years.

To be clear, I'm not saying we can't have this skilled workforce. Merely that we don't have it today. So the pipeline to employ Americans for these jobs is going to require increasing the funnel of people who learn the skills, become junior engineers, learn more on the job, then become senior engineers. That's a long pipeline to beef up the numbers.

Re: Intel to Receive $8.5B in Grants to Build Chip Plants

#118
post #68

I feel sorry for any startups looking to innovate in this space. It's hard enough competing against established players without them getting billions in free money. Intel has had the resources to build out fabs in the US for decades. Instead, they've chosen to build elsewhere, and now they're rewarded for it? They recently announced their $20b facility in Ohio is being "put on hold": https://www.tweaktown.com/news/96…

>They recently announced their $20b facility in Ohio is being "put on hold"

I have a friend who lives in Ohio who was very excited about this, and I told him not to hold his breathe, its likely they will do everything they can to get subsidies to pay for it, rather than pay for the majority of it out of their own pocket and re-coup some via subsidy, therefore I suspect they will delay opening until they get more subsidies.

It looks like I was right, unfortunately

Re: Intel to Receive $8.5B in Grants to Build Chip Plants

#119
We should give Intel 50bn of taxes, nevermind the roads, schools or anything else! And give Google and Facebook some bns too! And Tesla could always do with more, why not?

PS why not through a few bns at public housing too to preserve mixed society, like Paris? Mixed society is surely worth it... It's only money! And it won't spend itself!

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39765692

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