ALBAWABA - The federal government has approved the allocation of up to $3.5 billion in funding to chip maker Intel Corp, for the production of sophisticated processors for use in the intelligence and military sectors, Bloomberg reports citing individuals close to the matter.
Intel has secured up to $3.5 billion in federal grants to produce chips for the Pentagon under the Secure Enclave program, which is meant to bring production of leading-edge processors for military applications to the U.S.
At the moment, Intel is the sole company in the United States that manufactures chips on cutting-edge nodes. With its 18A, the most sophisticated process technology it has developed scheduled to begin mass production at some point in the year 2025, anticipated that it will be the most sophisticated production technology used anywhere in the world.
The Secure Enclave program encompasses a number of different fabs and states, one of which is a manufacturing plant in Arizona. This facility is the location of Fab 52 and Fab 62, both of which are capable of producing 18A, according to Bloomberg.
The goal of the Secure Enclave program is to manufacture cutting-edge chips for use in military and intelligence applications in the United States of America in safe conditions. Ideally, these chips would be manufactured in separate facilities that are segregated from the fabrication of other components.
Given that it is almost impossible to afford to construct a separate cleanroom for military-grade chips, considering the pricing of contemporary fabs, it seems that Intel chose to comply with the security standards of the Ministry of Defense by using some alternate strategy.
As Bloomberg notes, the Secure Enclave arrangement shows that the US government trusts Intel to carry out Pentagon objectives despite recent issues after Intel's brutal earnings report and sales estimate last month damaged investor confidence in CEO Pat Gelsinger's ambitious recovery plan, which relies on global plant expenditures.
