The U.S. government is preparing to allocate $3.5 billion to Intel Corp. to allow the chip giant to produce advanced semiconductors for military and intelligence projects, according to congressional sources. The funding, which was added to a fast-moving spending bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, would give Intel a dominant position in the lucrative defense market.
The funding will last for three years and will be used for the Safe Enclave program. It comes from a broader pool of $39 billion in CHIP and Science Act funding aimed at convincing chipmakers to produce semiconductors in the United States. More than 600 companies have expressed interest in receiving the funding.
It was reported in November last year that Intel was negotiating with the U.S. government in hopes of receiving $3 billion to $4 billion in subsidies from the project.