Intel Has Yet to Receive $8.5 Billion in CHIPS Act Funding

Congress passed the CHIPS Act in mid-2022, but Intel has yet to see any of the $8.5 billion it was promised, according to Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger. He touched on the issue during an interview with Yahoo Finance executive editor Brian Sozzi. The interview covered Intel's better-than-expected Q3 revenue and the chipmaker's guidance for the final quarter of the year.

"It's well over two years since the CHIPS Act passed," Pat Gelsinger told Sozzi. "And over that period, I've invested $30 billion in US manufacturing, and we've seen $0 from the CHIPS grants. This has taken too long. We need to get it finished."

Later in the conversation, Gelsinger added , "Now it's time for us to focus on having the financial and shareholder returns associated with those heavy investments of the last three and a half years."

This rendering shows what the facility will eventually look like from the air.Credit: Intel

All told, the Chips and Sciences Act of 2022 is expected to use $52 billion to help businesses ramp up silicon production in the U.S. Billions in tax cuts are also on the table. Intel will receive $8.5 billion, but the question of when that money will arrive is a hard one to answer. Intel has been working on the fab while relying on the money from the CHIPS Act to arrive. Intel has been working with the U.S. government on that topic and it's quite possible that the chip giant will see the cash before the end of 2024, but no one wants to count 8.5 billion chickens before they hatch.

The Ohio fab will be massive and building it has already been a headache. Just getting equipment to the facility has turned out to be a huge undertaking . And this summer, Intel announced plans to lay off some 15,000 employees as it seeks to right the ship. It's not surprising that Intel would like to see that $8.5 billion come through the door right the heck now.

Of course, the grants aren't the only ways the U.S. is helping Intel gear up. A tax credit worth potentially tens of billions of dollars and other incentives are also part of the arrangement. Gelsinger assured Sozzi that Intel is committed to completing the fab, calling the CHIPS Act "The most important piece of industrial policy legislation in the U.S. and something we proudly participate in."