Germany and Intel Both Want More From Planned Mega-fab
upstart writes:
If Intel wants larger subsidies for its Magdeburg mega-fab, German officials think the x86 giant should increase its investments to match.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the Financial Times reported on Thursday that the German government is willing to consider boosting subsidies, but only if Intel is willing to spend more on infrastructure too.
"It's logical that if the scale of the investment is increased, then the level of subsidy would also rise," Sven Schultze, the economy minister for Saxony-Anhalt, told the FT.
The debate over the size of Chipzilla's assets comes after multiple reports that Intel had pressured the German government for larger subsidies to offset rising energy and material costs, and hinted at delaying the project. Intel now expects the facility to cost somewhere in the neighborhood 20 billion ($22.1 billion) to complete.
Rising costs have also impacted the cost of Intel's two Arizona plants, which are now expected to cost 50 percent more than when first announced.
To date, the German government has committed 6.8 billion ($7.5 billion) to the Intel's planned builds - about 40 percent of the project's original 17 billion ($19 billion) price tag. However, last month, Bloomberg reported that Intel pushed for an additional 4-5 billion in subsidies.
[...] However, Intel's position could soon improve. The European Commission is expected to sign its own CHIPs funding bill into law any day now. The bill would unlock roughly 43 billion ($48 billion) to attract semiconductor investment in the region.
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