
Intel to invest $7B in factory in Arizona, employ 3,000 - deepanchor
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/08/trump-meets-intel-ceo-brian-krzanich.html
======
40acres
Just to clarify: This factory is about halfway complete. Intel halted
completing the Fab around 2 years ago. I wonder if any deals were made w.r.t
tax breaks to entice Intel to finish the project.

EDIT: Source: [http://www.pcworld.com/article/2088040/intel-puts-on-hold-
fa...](http://www.pcworld.com/article/2088040/intel-puts-on-hold-fab-42-in-
arizona-will-use-for-future-technology.html)

~~~
problems
The threat of protectionism from the current administration has motivated a
few companies in the auto sector already. Might be somewhat tied to that.

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stuckagain
Intel has always fabbed its high-IP parts in the USA or strongly allied
countries (Israel, Ireland). They will never put a fab in China because the
Chinese will rip off all their IP. The fact that Intel has resumed
construction of a half-completed facility in the same town where they make
almost everything else is not really news.

~~~
40acres
Intel opened a $ 2.5B fab in China in 2010. There's also an R/D office there.

~~~
stuckagain
Intel makes generic NAND memory on a 65nm process in that fab. That isn't the
kind of IP anybody needs to steal.

~~~
40acres
Good point.

The organization that runs fabs (TMG) is also notoriously tight lipped in
regards to corporate security, I would image they assessed leak risk before
opening the fab.

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mikeyouse
I can't wait until every single company starts a PR campaign every single time
they retool a factory or slightly expand production. "$1 billion investment,
create or save 1,000 jobs!"

Whatever keeps you out of the Twitter crosshairs I guess.

~~~
giarc
Trump has already tweeted about it. It's like a new form of advertising. Trick
the president into thinking he convinced you to re-invest, reap the benefits
of his tweet.

~~~
bkmartin
But isn't that dangerous if he gets too much credit and gets reelected?

~~~
giarc
For sure, Intel and Ford (among others) shouldn't be pandering to him.
However, I understand their position and reasoning, I'd likely do the same
thing.

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marricks
I wonder if Intel considering it's third round of layouts in 18 months got as
much coverage a couple months ago?

Probably indicative of how a lot of companies will operate. Lots of talk about
new factories or what have you while really just continuing business as usual.

Gets me pretty worried about actually seeing wage growth during the Trump
administration as a vague focus on building new factories and "keeping jobs
here" won't drive wages up unless it's coupled with protections on labor
groups and actual job creation leading to competition for labor...

[http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-
forest/index.ssf/2016/11/i...](http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-
forest/index.ssf/2016/11/intel_facing_more_layoffs_repo.html)

------
buildops
I visited their fab in Israel. Amazing place and they are Israel's top high
tech employee.

This is highly technical, high R&D stuff. Only their fabs in the US and a few
other places (Israel, Ireland) can do that. But, in Israel they get
preferential tax treatment (because otherwise they will leave and go to
Ireland or the US).

So I wonder what would have happened had Trump not been president, or
alternatively, what tax breaks he promised.

~~~
mywittyname
> So I wonder what would have happened had Trump not been president, or
> alternatively, what tax breaks he promised.

Someone else in this thread noted the fab was announced in 2011 but Intel
decided not to move forward with it's completion until a later date.

[http://www.pcworld.com/article/2088040/intel-puts-on-hold-
fa...](http://www.pcworld.com/article/2088040/intel-puts-on-hold-fab-42-in-
arizona-will-use-for-future-technology.html)

> It was announced by former Intel President and CEO Paul Otellini during a
> visit by U.S. President Barack Obama to an Intel facility in Hillsboro,
> Oregon, and was highlighted by Obama as an example of U.S. manufacturing
> potential.

Intel doesn't seem to care who is President.

------
pcunite
You don't have to like someone personally to appreciate the good they'll do
for you and your family.

~~~
seanp2k2
Don't these types of fabs lead to things like all the EPA superfund sites
around Silicon Valley? I personally hope we don't do that anywhere in this
country again. Visit Guangzhou sometime to see what a city / country looks
like with lax environmental regulations and a bustling manufacturing industry.
You can still see the skyline from most parts of the city most days when the
"fog" isn't so bad. Sure you and everyone you care about will die of cancer,
but at least it would be better than _damn socialism_ , right? And with all
that money (just look at how rich they all are), surely everyone can afford
hospital-grade whole-home air filtration systems like the rich there have.

Edit: s/fans/fabs

~~~
sbov
I don't know enough about the industry to know if superfund sites are a
necessary thing for chip fabs.

That said, these chips have to be made somewhere. Is your solution to this to
create superfund sites in other countries? To me, that isn't a solution. I
would rather we make superfund sites here, so we have reasons to fix the
problem, rather than create them elsewhere.

~~~
narrator
Are they still using TCE[1] to manufacture semiconductors? That stuff is the
major pollutant in silicon valley left over from all the early semiconductor
manufacturing. There are a lot of really expensive homes and offices in Palo
Alto that are built over sites where this stuff has leaked.[2]

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichloroethylene](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trichloroethylene)

[2] [http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/07/05/palo-alto-stanford-
can...](http://www.mercurynews.com/2016/07/05/palo-alto-stanford-can-move-
homes-away-from-tce-contamination/)

------
yuhong
I have been thinking that currently NAND fabs would be good, not to restore
jobs but to restore the balance of trade. It is probably not a simple matter
though.

