Intel Is Set To Receive $3.5 Billion Government Investment For Military-use Chips
1min read According to sources from Congress, the US government is preparing to invest $3.5 billion in Intel Corporation to enable the chipmaker to produce advanced semiconductors for military projects.
It is reported that this fund has been included in a spending bill passed by the House of Representatives on Wednesday, which will enable Intel to dominate the lucrative defense market.
The report stated that this funding will last for three years and is intended for the Secure Enclave program. This funding comes from a $39 billion Chips and Science Act funding pool, which aims to persuade chip manufacturers to produce semiconductors in the United States. According to the data, more than 600 companies have expressed interest in receiving this funding.
The Secure Enclave is a security coprocessor independent of the main processor, which includes a hardware-based key manager that provides additional security protection. The key data is encrypted in the secure enclave system on a chip (SoC), which includes a random number generator. The Secure Enclave also maintains the integrity of its encryption operations, even when the device kernel is compromised.
In fact, as early as November last year, reports suggested that Intel was negotiating with the government in hopes of receiving a subsidy of between $3 billion and $4 billion from the project. According to media statistics, Intel will receive more than $10 billion in Chip Act incentives, including subsidies and loans.
The US Department of Commerce said in a statement: We are still evaluating the impact of the funding on this plan. The Department of Defense looks forward to continuing to cooperate with Congress to implement the 'Chip and Science Act' in a manner that promotes our economy and national security.
The Senate is expected to pass the bill before the final deadline on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Department of Commerce is preparing to announce tens of billions of dollars in rewards to Intel and other advanced chip manufacturers, as well as TSMC and Samsung Electronics. All these efforts are to enhance the ability of the United States to manufacture chips domestically.
Currently, the Department of Commerce has announced three grants, including a smaller amount allocated to BAE Systems, a multinational arms industry and aerospace equipment company. In addition, a $1.5 billion grant was given to the semiconductor wafer foundry company GlobalFoundries.
However, these efforts have also been questioned by some politicians. Last year, the Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, the top Republicans and Democrats of the Military Committee, Roger Wicker, and Jack Reed raised concerns about an issue, that is, giving rewards to a company to drive it to establish a Secure Enclave program, which costs more than the cost of obtaining these chips.