Intel in Lead to Get Billions for Secure Defense-Chip Facilities
Intel is the leading candidate to potentially receive billions of dollars in government funding for secure facilities producing microchips for U.S. military and intelligence applications. The facilities—which have yet to be disclosed publicly—would be explicitly designated as a “secure enclave," according to people familiar with the development.
The goal is to reduce the U.S. military’s dependence on chips imported from East Asia, particularly Taiwan, which some say is vulnerable to Chinese invasion. Funded under the Biden administration’s $53 billion Chips Act passed last year, the operation could reside at least in part at Intel’s Arizona factory complex, the people said.
The plan for the program illustrates Washington’s willingness to get deeply involved in private industry to secure supplies of chips increasingly seen as a fulcrum of geopolitical power and military might. Chips are vital in artificial intelligence, espionage and cyberwarfare, and feature prominently in cutting-edge jet fighters, missiles and other advanced weaponry. The Biden administration has yet to set the exact amount of the funding that will be available.
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