Intel said it could invest as much as 80 billion euros or $94.77 billion in Europe over the next decade to boost the region’s chip capacity and will open up its semiconductor plant in Ireland for automakers.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, speaking at Munich’s IAA auto show, said the company would announce the locations of two major new European chip fabrication plants by the end of the year.
Germany and France are the leading contenders while Poland, where Intel also has a presence, also in the picture.
Pat Gelsinger, who recently joined Intel, said the aim was for a total project of 80 billion euros ($94.77 billion) over the next decade that would be a catalyst for the semiconductor industry… a catalyst for the entire technology industry.
Intel, the biggest maker of processor chips for PCs and data centres, in March said it planned to open up its chip factories for outsiders to use.
Gelsinger told Reuters in April that the company wanted to start producing chips for automakers within six to nine months to help alleviate a shortage that has disrupted vehicle production around the world.
The “Intel Foundry Services Accelerator” is aimed at helping automakers learn to make chips using what Intel calls its “Intel 16” chip manufacturing technology and later move to its “Intel 3” and “Intel 18A” technologies.
Those manufacturing processes would be more advanced than most of the processes currently used in the automotive industry.
Intel said that nearly 100 automakers and suppliers – including BMW, Volkswagen, Daimler and Bosch – had expressed support for its programs.
Intel views automakers as a key strategic priority. Gelsinger said Tuesday that the company believes chips will make up 20 percent of the cost of vehicles by 2030, a five-fold increase from 4 percent of the cost in 2019.
