Biden hails Intel’s $20bn chip plant investment amid shortage

Biden hails Intel’s $20bn chip plant investment amid shortage

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Friday praised Intel’s plans to spend $20 billion on a new US semiconductor facility, hailing the “historic” investment even as a global chip shortage fans the inflation wave weighing on his leadership. Biden is urging manufacturers to bring production back to the United States, which was once a leader in making the chips key to everything from vacuums and televisions to cars which have become scarce during the pandemic.

Intel said it plans to begin construction at the end of the year on two plants in the Midwestern state of Ohio, and chip production could start as early as 2025.

“This is a truly historic investment in America and American workers,” Biden said at the White House, where he spoke alongside Intel’s CEO Pat Gelsinger. Biden called it “one of the largest investments in semiconductor manufacturing in American history.”

Problems in global supply chains have highlighted the fundamental importance of semiconductors, as well as the risks of overreliance on imports. The closure of semiconductor plants, particularly in Asia, due to pandemic disruptions led to a global chip shortage that has affected a range of industries from automobiles to video games.

That was coupled with surging demand creating bottlenecks, forcing