The reality is that with this Administration, if they do make an investment into IFS, it will basically guarantee that any major domestic company wanting to build HVM microprocessors in the US will be required to use IFS to fab some portion of their processors. This could be done via many avenues such as tariffs/export duties, tax benefits (or punishments), carve outs, domestic content requirements, or countless other ways. It wouldn't surprise me if there's some weird three-way action going where Gov't makes investment for preferred shares like (MP Materials deal, which popped the stock by 50%), have some major companies "invest" into IFS like Nvidia, AMZN, MSFT, META, Google to own a slice for guaranteed capacity (if they like it or not), and arm twist TSMC to run IFS so it can be half way efficient (and allow keeping the US protecting TW). If TSMC ran IFS, it would be nearly the same as TSMC's silicon shield... since TW would prob has all sorts of secret sauce/code/programming to keep the lines up... and if it was cut off from TW, it would result in lines down anyways. Good news for Intel is that it would get out from under the bloated dead weight cash burning anchor of IFS, and just focus on figuring out a way in designing their way out of paper bag.
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Once the Administration buys 10% of Intel, who doesn't think that they won't arm twist any company not to use INTC for some portion of the microprocessor fab? There's already talk of 200%-300% tariffs... so one way to get around that is to use IFS. Sadly, this is the only way IFS can be competitive, but sc--w it... whatever it takes!
Intel gonna get some of that sweet, sweet TACO.
The TACOS! stand in the RA4 cafe is ready!
@nv Prepare to train or hand over all docs/procedures to your Israeli replacement. You're all done. Toast.
Wouldn't be surprised if Trump's plan involves doing all Intel manufacturing in Israel.
TSMC and Samsung got where they are by government support, keeping them solvent while they got to a scale large enough to keep the flywheel turning.
Call it communism if you wish (which it isn't), but that is the competition.
If the US wants to have a domestically owned semiconductor supply, then it has to step up and support Intel, and has been doing so for some years now.
What was missing was effective management, plus a level of consistent support large enough to get at least one leading edge fab running.
After trying all the incompletely-successful CEO options, including Bob Swan and Super Dave, the Board finally relented and allowed LBT to clean up the mess they made.
Gone are many of the upper management, and if LBT can attract better managers then he can do something with IFS.
Good luck to Nvidia, AMD, Meta, Amazon, Google, MSFT on betting their future on Fabs run by public servants.
@c5 and the also allow the employees to be worked like cattle and pay them a fraction of the wages you currently receive. Be careful what you ask for... there are no free hand outs
Fabricated Knowledge has a reasonable assessment of the situation.
Nothing new to anyone who knows the current state of x86 and the fabs, and makes the case that the company should be broken up because the fabs can no longer be funded by x86. He doesn't state this, but external customers have repeatedly stated they want IFS to be independent of Intel, and I suspect that is a firm condition.
Maybe the gov't could force customers to do business with an Intel Foundry, but why keep trying to make that work when a breakup is the best answer for all parties?
IFS lost something close to $15B over the past year and is su-king all the money out of the company. LBT has tried to close that gap but so far has only made a dent in it. The only way to turn that into profitability is with external customers.
Not only that, but the older fabs (in their current configuration) are not useful to anyone but Intel. Selling them to another foundry, then buying the wafers from that company, would both reduce the cost of maintaining them and raise badly needed capital.
The older fabs have no place in an independent IFS, unless the strategy changes to including making older nodes compliant with industry standard design rules. That would cost some billions, so would be difficult to recoup that cost on what are now lower margin product.
So considering Donny from the gov't is here to help, I'd expect IFS to be spun off, and if the older fabs are part of that deal then they get sold to help improve the balance sheet.
The pending deal appears to be to fund the Ohio site completion, so is back to the PG strategy of getting the gov't to pay for the site. This is why he said he needed more time, even though the economics of the site made no sense, because he knew how this would work out, given enough time (which it turns out he did not have).
LBT gets that deal, and has also cleared out many upper management, which PG made no effort to deal with. So LBT gets to own the win and rightfully so.
Once external customers are brought on to an independent IFS, then as an owner with a large stake, Intel would greatly benefit. That could prove to be how the company then transitions beyond x86, not unlike how AMD was able to do that once it sold the fabs.
It’s honestly a brilliant move by Trump. US Stake + tariffs.
He really is a big brain businessman
Yes - this is the only way it can work - force major players to buy a portion of their supply domestic ad tariff the other position to keep them in the game. Otherwise we will see mothballed factories in 10 years like solar panels and steel mills.
All hopium to keep your jobs. It's over.
@b3 You are the Co-mie sympathizer who wants the US to fail!!!
@ba Six downvotes... guess there's a bunch who likes it raw and rough!
@c0 Typical Intel employee... does read the whole post and just makes wild uneducated assumptions which are wrong. No wonder the company is firing everyone. Did you not read the three way includes TSMC would run IFS... and not those stupid id--t mo--ns in Intel and IFS?
@ca
The US government was a partner in Tech after WWII. They stopped spending money on Tech investment in the 90s.
https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/10281/chapter/19
They continue to subsidize Petroleum, Farming and before Trump Medicine.
@e8 Agree! If Intel 18A chip wafer yield is only 10%, what yield on 14A would be expected?
If Intel does not have good technology, then no matter how much money is given, it won’t survive.
And might as well give the techs a union like the police and fire fighters so they actually have some hope of having a decent future and the crooked management and exempts get all of the money.
Look how well hiring the best and brightest turned out lol, I’ll take Uncle Sam over the sc-m bags fleecing the company any day.
Do you want to produce your chips from a government IFS ? F-c king NO because none of the politicians in the government have any degree in engineering or science. Dump a-s wants to make chips. Tell them go to make sh it in politics.
Reading the comments here, I don't think anyone really knows Intel's business.
If anyone really knew how deep Intel was already in with the govt, they'd sh-t their g-string.
The best thing to have with free government cheese is chips.
And TACOs of course.
Do you think Intel can succeed even with a bajillion dollars?
I mean, we had virtually unlimited Monopoly money for decades and still failed.
It doesn’t change the fact that Intel culture is garbage and being slow and late doesn’t win customers.
The government absolutely should not be rewarding the incompetent upper management and board of Intel with free money. Any govt money into the foundry side of Intel should stipulate to first have the shareholders wiped out for failing to hold the board accountable for bad leadership. I don’t want my tax money going into more bonuses and stock buybacks for Intel VPs. There are other ways to ensure US gains back semiconductor leadership that don’t involve enriching these fatcats.
Absolutely agree that if the government took a stake in Intel, Trump would strongarm Nvidia and others into having some line of their designs manufactured there. Absolutely his style.
you all are losers beyond saving. need the govt to come in save your wrinkly as--s
@c5 Japan, taiwan and china's economies are in the shitt3r. They flee to america because of the failed communism. Americans don't go to japan, taiwan or china. They come to us, because of their failed states.
TSMC wouldn't be around if Taiwan govt hadn't supported them so heavily. Same for IFS.
Just a very capital intensive business to get into, but that's also the moat.
Doubt Intel will get any aid. Trump's top priority is to get money for the MIC and Israel, Americans be damned. He probably announced this because somebody in his administration or friend owned Intel stock.
Before getting too excited about getting some of that sweet free govt money, keep in mind that there may be some tradeoffs
One of them being dignity. Remember, if you’re not choking, you’re not trying hard enough:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-aides-create-loyalty-list-162746725.html
President Donald Trump’s aides have created a scorecard ranking hundreds of companies based on their efforts to support his signature…
I don't believe OP tossed such a word salad for lunch.
The Japanese, the Chinese, the Koreans, and the Taiwanese governments all subsidize the tech in their country...
Why stop at tech?
At the end of the day the fabs will NOT have the name Intel.
@br The government gave railroads strips of Federal land to build the railroads, and to this day charges almost nothing for all manner of resource extraction on Federal land.
The government was the seed funder for the invention of the transistor. Intel made its early revenue entirely from government contracts.
The government has always been the largest venture capitalist organization in the US, and often in the entire world. Google it!
Those who chafe at this simply don't know much about how capitalism works.
Test Any Concession OMG
The Japanese, the Chinese, the Koreans, and the Taiwanese governments all subsidize the tech in their country...
These other companies want government to fund while they have billions. Like Barrett said - if five of the cash rich companies can put up $8B each, there will be $40B. But they won't. Bail out is always by the government!
So what if there is more funding. Will Intel have the expertise to capitalize?
Don't get your hopes up.
The current president plays golf, lies, and waffles on everything.
He is more likely to give Intel to his lover Putin than help American businesses.
Government backing can only make Intel rot faster.