Even at the stage of discussing subsidies under the “Chip Law,” Intel management paid special attention to lobbying its interests at the level of the American state. The situation has not changed now, when a meeting of the board of directors can make an important decision on the future of the company. The US Secretary of Commerce had to conduct explanatory work among large American investors.
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At least this was reported by CNBC, which claims that Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo first met with Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger. The latter, according to CNBC, has traditionally expressed concern about the high degree of dependence of American companies on the Taiwanese contract chip manufacturer TSMC. Since Intel itself recently refused to develop the 20A process in mass production, which is why the production of crystals for Arrow Lake processors will be entrusted to the same TSMC, the head of the American company probably found convincing illustrations of his point of view during the meeting with the minister.
At the next stage, Gina Raimondo held a series of meetings with major investors in the capital of American companies in the technology sector. The purpose of these conversations was to convince them of the importance of producing components in the United States, as CNBC explains. It is believed that the official met with major shareholders of companies such as Apple and Nvidia, urging them to pay attention to Intel’s ability to produce chips for them in the United States. Previously, Patrick Gelsinger spoke about the company’s problems with attracting new clients for contract manufacturing. Apparently, to lobby its interests in this area, Intel had to use high administrative resources.
Without enough orders for Intel’s U.S. plants, the company won’t receive government subsidies, so it needs to show officials that the whole initiative has support among potential customers. Intel could receive $8.5 billion in non-refundable subsidies for the construction of factories in the United States, as well as up to $11 billion in soft loans, which would make it the main beneficiary of the so-called “Chip Act.” The US government must make a final decision on allocating funds for Intel’s needs by the end of this year. A board meeting is due this week at which Intel may consider its restructuring. Production assets, according to one version, may be finally separated from chip development.