Intel delays Ohio chip plant opening to next decade, was supposed to start production by 2026

Intel is pushing off the opening of its Ohio chip manufacturing facility, the embattled chipmaker said Friday.

The company said it won’t complete construction on the first plant until 2030, starting operations that year or the next. The second factory in the up to $100-billion complex will likely be finished in 2031 and start running the following year. The company had initially planned to begin production on the first plant in 2025.

“As we continue to invest across our U.S. sites, it’s important that we align the start of production of our fabs with the needs of our business and broader market demand,” said Naga Chandrasekaran, vice president and head of global operations officer for Intel Foundry Manufacturing, in a release. “This has always been our approach, as it allows us to manage our capital responsibly and adapt to the needs of our customers.”

Intel, long the world’s leading semiconductor maker before losing that distinction in recent years, has been on a downward slide due largely to its position on the sidelines of the artificial intelligence boom. The stock lost more than half its value last year and the company has been reckoning with slowing sales while also trying to move deeper into the capital-intensive business of chip fabrication.

In August, shares suffered their worst one-day drop on the stock market in 50 years after the company announced disappointing quarterly results. Intel also said it would axe 15% of its employees. That’s made the company a potential takeover target as of late, while also leading to the firing of CEO Pat Gelsinger in December.

Intel was a central beneficiary of former President Joe Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act office. The government most recently awarded the company a roughly $8 billion grant in November in an effort to boost semiconductor production on U.S. soil.

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