Intel to receive billions in funding for ‘secretive’ US military project

Reports reveal that Intel will receive up to $3.5 billion in federal grants to produce chips for the U.S. DoD

Intel will receive up to $3.5 billion in federal grants to produce chips for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), reported Bloomberg late last week. As it stands, this funding would be in addition to the $8.5 billion already allocated to the company as part of the Chips and Science Act, which was signed into law by President Biden in 2022 and will channel $52.7 billion into American semiconductor manufacturing and research efforts.

According to initial reports, the project — which has been described as “secretive” — is called Secure Enclave and involves the production of advanced semiconductors for “military and intelligence applications.” Operations are expected to take place at Intel’s Arizona facility, as well as in several other U.S. states.

Initially, the cash for Secure Enclave was going to come from a $2.5 billion commitment by the DoD’s Pentagon. And further, there was discussion that the project should be paid for with government funds already allocated for Intel from the CHIPS Act; however, the U.S. government decided to separate Secure Enclave from commercial chip agreements.

In addition to the $8.5 billion in funding, Intel is in also line to receive $11 billion in loans from the federal government, as well as an Investment Tax Credit (ITC) of up to 25% on more than $100 billion in qualified investments.

Bloomberg’s source said the grants are expected to be officially announced next week.