Intel Corp., looking to regain its dominance in technology, has set out on a path to increase its semiconductor manufacturing in many significant ways.
The company has been throwing billions of dollars into planned fabs in the U.S. and just this week it was reported that Intel chose the German city of Magdeburg as the location for its expansion into the European semiconductor manufacturing market.
And Intel isn’t stopping as it looks to expand its foundry services that it created last year to put it in direct competition with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and other foundry makers. To further its foundry goals, Intel acquired pure-play foundry Tower Semiconductor, which will help in its automotive semiconductor ambitions.
The rest of the world has noticed and are putting in place their own investments to woo Intel into further expanding its semiconductor manufacturing strategy.
In a report from Reuters, Italy plans to invest about $4.6 billion until 2030 to boost domestic chip manufacturing, seeking to entice companies such as Intel to develop fabs in the country.
The money would be set aside as incentives to fund part of the overall investment.
However, Reuters said that to seal a deal with Intel, Italy would need to establish new funding rules for semiconductor facilities under the European Commission. This may already be in the works with the European Chips Act, a funding initiative that will not just ease funding rules but also provide about $50 billion in incentives for European fabs to be built.
The act is similar to the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Act, which would provide more than $50 billion for similar efforts in the U.S.
Italy has also been in talks with European chipmaker ST Microelectronics, MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. and Tower Semiconductor, which is to be owned by Intel, about boosting domestic chipmaking.
Italy isn’t the only country boosting its investment as Belgium has made available about $16 billion for public and private investments in chip manufacturing.
