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Intel Businesses Government United States Politics

Intel To Invest $7 Billion in Factory in Arizona, Employ 3,000 People (cnbc.com) 217

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich met with President Donald Trump on Wednesday, where the company announced it will invest $7 billion in a factory employing up to 3,000 people. From a report: The factory will be in Chandler, Arizona, the company said, and over 10,000 people in the Arizona area will support the factory. Krzanich confirmed to CNBC that the investment over the next three to four years would be to complete a previous plant, Fab 42, that was started and then left vacant. The 7-nanometer chips will be produced there will be "the most powerful computer chips on the planet," Krzanich said in the Oval Office with the Trump administration. Most Intel manufacturing happens in the U.S., Krzanich said. "America has a unique combination of talent, a vibrant business environment and access to global markets, which has enabled U.S. companies like Intel to foster economic growth and innovation," Krzanich said in a statement. "Our factories support jobs -- high-wage, high-tech manufacturing jobs that are the economic engines of the states where they are located."Farhad Manjoo, columnist at The New York Times, tweeted; "As far as I can tell the decision had nothing to do with Trump, but they decided to announce with Trump. Why? There was no federal subsidy or any other credit. So it's just a marketing decision to give Trump credit."
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Intel To Invest $7 Billion in Factory in Arizona, Employ 3,000 People

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  • by mveloso ( 325617 ) on Wednesday February 08, 2017 @02:42PM (#53828065)

    Journalists are idiots, who only know what they're told.

    Why would Intel be sharing its CapEx decision-making process with a journalist?

    If the Journalist really knew, he'd go back through his "notes" and find the list of where Intel's proposed fab was going to be, then hunt down the decision-making process.

    But he can't, so he basically is saying "I don't believe them because I have no information."

    What an f-tard.

    • by epiphani ( 254981 ) <epiphani@dal . n et> on Wednesday February 08, 2017 @03:18PM (#53828379)

      You'll note there's nothing to not believe. The journalist was simply pointing out that there is no apparent reason for this announcement to come from Intel's CEO while he's in the Oval Office. Nothing in the announcement, brief, or subsequent details suggests this has anything at all to do with Trump. Except the location of the announcement.

      H's just confused about why it took place in the Oval Office. There's two possible reasons really:

      (1) Trump did something to prompt this decision. In which case, I would expect, based on Trump's personality, that he'd be telling everyone who will listen how he did it.
      (2) Trump didn't do anything except arrange for the announcement to come from inside the Oval. I personally think this is the case - it gives people (like you) that want to believe he's doing something a talking point, valid or not - and two, it gives Intel the perception of being both pro-trump and meh-trump at the same time.

      The short version here is that we're being fed something. I hesitate to call it bullshit, because nobody said anything weird - but it certainly looks like people are trying to play some kind of game here.

      • by meta-monkey ( 321000 ) on Wednesday February 08, 2017 @04:14PM (#53828767) Journal

        The short version here is that we're being fed something. I hesitate to call it bullshit, because nobody said anything weird - but it certainly looks like people are trying to play some kind of game here.

        Yes, this is PR, and Trump has said that one of the jobs of President is "chief cheerleader." So if you make jobs in the country, Trump is going to give you an bouquet. If you make jobs leave the country, he's going to give you a brickbat. Whether the decisions had anything to do with him or not are irrelevant.

        Economies are self-fulfilling prophecies. If people believe the economy is going to get better, they go out and spend money. This makes the economy better. If people believe the economy is going to get worse, they stop spending money. This makes the economy worse.

    • by quantaman ( 517394 ) on Wednesday February 08, 2017 @03:25PM (#53828447)

      Journalists are idiots, who only know what they're told.

      Why would Intel be sharing its CapEx decision-making process with a journalist?

      If the Journalist really knew, he'd go back through his "notes" and find the list of where Intel's proposed fab was going to be, then hunt down the decision-making process.

      But he can't, so he basically is saying "I don't believe them because I have no information."

      What an f-tard.

      The past few months has been a steady line of CEOs coming to Trump to re-announce existing job creations, things that most definitely had nothing to do with Trump. But since Trump is a crony capitalist they recognize it's important to buy favour with Trump by giving him credit.

      The default assumption for any new job announcement credited to Trump should be that it's more of the same, jobs created for other reasons but credited to the President to curry favour.

      Unless there's evidence to the contrary there's sufficient information to assume this has nothing to do with Trump.

      • Exactly. Building multi-billion-dollar fabs in Arizona is not something new for Intel; it's a favorite site of theirs for whatever reasons (probably real estate costs, availability of qualified workers, cheap electric power, lack of bad weather and natural disasters, etc.). They would have built this fab there anyway.

        • by zaft ( 597194 )
          Read down in the article. The building was actually completed as a shell in 2014. So there would be plenty of reasons to finish it (buying equipment is hella expensive) and very little incentive to abandon it and move elsewhere.
        • by rtb61 ( 674572 )

          The reason, security. The only way for governments to maintain secure computer systems is to have them fully fabricated within the country, every single part, with random audits and inspections at manufacturing centres, basically there is no other way to do it. Trusting another country with your computer infrastructure is basically handing over control of your countries computer infrastructure to that other country, a really unwise decision. The US government has flat out fully proven it can not be trusted

      • by meta-monkey ( 321000 ) on Wednesday February 08, 2017 @04:17PM (#53828785) Journal

        Trump is a cheerleader for economic growth. If you make jobs, he's going to give you good publicity. If you make jobs leave, he's going to give you bad publicity. This encourages companies to do business in the US, which grows the economy. Doesn't matter if it had anything to do with Trump's policies or not.

  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 08, 2017 @02:43PM (#53828069)

    Does Farhad Manjoo actually read the rest of the NY Times?

    Wake up NY Times and start acting like a real fourth estate.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/08/technology/trump-intel-chip-factory-arizona.html?_r=0

    "The factory, which will complement two other factories that Intel has in Chandler, Ariz., has been under consideration for several years. But Mr. Krzanich said that the tax cuts and deregulatory policies pushed by Mr. Trump had prompted the company to move forward with its plans."

    • by __aaclcg7560 ( 824291 ) on Wednesday February 08, 2017 @03:16PM (#53828343)

      "[...] But Mr. Krzanich said that the tax cuts and deregulatory policies pushed by Mr. Trump had prompted the company to move forward with its plans."

      Tax cuts and deregulatory policies that Trump only talked about. No executive order will change or enact these items. The Republicans are too busy arguing among themselves on how to repeal and replace ObamaCare that they don't have time for anything else. We're overdue for a recession. I look forward to buying stocks on the way down.

  • by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 08, 2017 @02:44PM (#53828079)

    Does that mean they'll be 0.002% faster than the last generation of chips? I knew Intel's chips weren't improving at any great pace, but even I was surprised when I saw HardOCPs benchmarks comparing a five generation old Sandy Bridge 2600K to the latest Kaby Lake 7700K:

    http://www.hardocp.com/article/2017/01/13/kaby_lake_7700k_vs_sandy_bridge_2600k_ipc_review/2

    I'm not feeling any need to upgrade my i7 3770, and if I did I'd probably go for a Ryzen since the market desperately needs some competition.

    If Ryzen turns out to be good Intel will no doubt just bribe all the OEMs to use their chips, just like they did when AMD got well ahead of them with the Athlon.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I think Intel is genuinely on alert with respect to AMD. Intel's recent actions have led me believe that the Ryzen really is a very good CPU. Have you noticed in the last six weeks or so that Intel has been hammering the airwaves with ads? Not since the days of "Intel Inside" have I seen so much hype. These advertisements feature a Pee Wee Herman type guy walking around some business district yacking about how Intel powers all the self driving cars, Intel powers the cloud, etc. etc. It's without substance

    • And they were found guilty of bribing vendors not to use AMD chips.

      Intel partners with software companies, and gets them to use their compiler that switches off optimizations on non-Intel CPUs 'just because...' regardless of capabilities.

      And now they're pushing Trump's deregulation pro-pollution agenda. That's the last straw from these crooked people.

  • by Anonymous Coward

    Intel always builds its new fabs in chandler - so this really ISN'T news. What would be news would be if Intel were for some reason to break with this and not invest in chandler first.

    Considering how Trump trashed Boeing's share price - is it any wondering BK and the Intel board are giving the vainglorious moron the chance to bask in Intel's reflected glory ?

    This is the definition of a propaganda piece - roughly akin to when Kim Jong Un 'directs' nuclear tests or 'gives guidance' to actual surgeons in hospi

  • by martinX ( 672498 ) on Wednesday February 08, 2017 @02:49PM (#53828109)

    "As far as I can tell" = I have know information, no source and don't know anything about the industry, but I'll make something up anyway.

    • So, he has an opinion that he gave on his twitter feed. So, fucking what?
      Do you think that Trump somehow made a deal? The only information the article has is:

      It comes as the technology industry has pushed back against the Trump administration, amid mounting pressure to move manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. There will be no incentives from the federal government for the Intel project, the White House said.

      Intel has a number of semiconductor fabrication plants in the US. In fact, they have 4 in Chan

  • Because... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by LetterRip ( 30937 )

    Trump is an extremely vindictive and extremely vain man - if you stroke his vanity then he will likely provide benefit (influence government contracts; direct regulators to do favorable actions) and if he feels he has been slighted he will be highly vindictive.

    So giving him credit plays into his vanity.

    • Well it does kind of work in a way, every business that has a few jobs to keep in USA will show up at his door; "See, this is for you!"

      It will create the impression that his influence is working. The number of jobs be damned.

      But 2017 will of course be an economic boom year, and we can thank Trump for that.

      2018 however, the economy will tank, and we can blame Obama for that.

      • 2018 however, the economy will tank, and we can blame Obama for that.

        Does this mean we've officially ended the last eight years where we blamed Bush for everything?

  • by DogDude ( 805747 ) on Wednesday February 08, 2017 @03:13PM (#53828317)
    I'm confused. Trump says that American is a broken, dangerous disaster, but the CEO of Intel says, "America has a unique combination of talent, a vibrant business environment and access to global markets, which has enabled U.S. companies like Intel to foster economic growth and innovation". Which is it? Is American a horrible, horrible place where billionaire's daughters are treated "unfairly", or is it an awesome place where Intel can be formed and grow?
    • Trump voters believe that the USA is a massive clusterfuck. People who deal with the real world knows that's not true.
      • by Altrag ( 195300 )

        You obviously don't have all of the alternative facts.

        • You obviously don't have all of the alternative facts.

          I just make it up as I go along. If it works for Trump, it should work for me.

      • Hm, as a non american I think you have it somehow reversed.

        The USA *are* a massive cluster fuck and Trump voters think it is not.

        But that is just me, seeing your comment on "alternative facts" below ;D

  • As far as I can tell the decision had nothing to do with Trump

    Lower corporate taxes and fewer regulations seem like good incentives, and it's not just Trump but also the GOP Congress that's been around for a while.

  • In Hillsboro over 30% of software programmers are guest workers. That is about 5% of the households in the area. With such a high concentration of H1B tech workers, that is increasing housing in the area displacing the retired, disabled and the working poor.
  • No, I'm not sure why it's terrible news, but you know... it makes Trump look good.

    Terrible news!

  • by Kagato ( 116051 ) on Wednesday February 08, 2017 @03:22PM (#53828419)

    The US Gov't blocked Intel from selling their most powerful CPUs to China. Intel would like to roll that back since all it did was get China to create a high power domestic that they can now export to compete with Intel.

    • by mentil ( 1748130 )

      Many of the highest-performing supercomputers (including China's most powerful) run on HPC cards made by video card companies (Nvidia/AMD). Considering the annual gains on performance of GPUs vs CPUs, this makes sense, and the FLOPS comparison makes the decision easy. Besides, Intel's most powerful chips are made in (IIRC) Germany and Malaysia, so I'm unsure how the USA would stop a European subsidiary from selling to China.

      • Intel has no fabs in either Germany or Malaysia. There is some packaging and test in Malaysia, though.

        If you are thinking of design, the cellular modem group (purchased from Infineon) has a major design center in Munich, and the Penang design center formerly did work on big cores.

  • 3-4 years from now, competitors will already be on 5nm process, so Intel's finished 7nm plant won't be using the latest process. If production starts more on the 3-year side, they might be releasing 7nm chips a few months before AMD releases 5nm chips. Regardless, AMD will be on 7nm in 2 years, and if Ryzen is as competitive as rumors say, then Intel will be 1-2 years late. Assuming of course that this Fab 42 is Intel's first 7nm plant. They may end up using it to produce chipsets rather than 7nm CPUs that'

    • AMD is completely dependent on the technology of others like Global and TSMC. Intel can fail at developing a new process and still fall back on external vendors.
  • by billrp ( 1530055 ) on Wednesday February 08, 2017 @04:08PM (#53828741)
    Fab 12 opened in 1996, and I suspect they will close that when Fab 42 opens, so there might not be any actual net increase in employers once construction is complete.
  • Hire 3,000 refugees? That's a lot of Starbucks trips!
     

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