Intel to invest €80 billion into EU chip production
US tech giant Intel has pledged at least €80 billion in funding for chipmaking within the EU over the next decade to give its domestic production a boost, the company's CEO has revealed.
This sees four times the initial investment offered for EU chip development back in June, with the tech giant choosing to sweeten the deal by opening its Ireland semiconductor plant to European automakers.
Read more: Intel offers $20bn chip investment for EU
The company previously pledged at least $20 billion (€16.9 billion) in gigafactory investment for the EU, with the potential for it to be split across multiple member states.
Intel has increased the in-house production of semiconductors in a bid to address the global chip shortage. This was revealed ahead of US President Joe Biden's call for businesses to help deal with the crisis.
Speaking at the Munich IAA conference, the group's CEO Pat Pat Gelsinger stated the "digitalisation of everything" will increase semiconductors share in the cost of vehicles by as much as 30% by 2030 - up from 4% in 2019.
To help address this demand he also revealed Intel will be announcing the locations for new chip plants in Europe by the end of the year.
Read more: Solvay and Shinkong partner to tackle the Taiwan semiconductor demand boom
Gelsinger described the shortages as both a massive challenge and an enormous opportunity.
“This new era of sustained demand for semiconductors needs bold, big thinking,” he told the conference. “As CEO of Intel, I have the great privilege to be in a position to marshal the energies of 116,000 employees and a massive chip-design and manufacturing ecosystem, to meet the demand.”
Gelsinger predicted the total addressable market for automotive semiconductors will nearly double by the end of the decade to $115 billion (€97.3 billion).
Intel is currently one of the largest chipmakers in the electronics sector, specialising in making chips for the CPUs found in computers.
The semiconductor shortage has created pitfalls that have affected both the electronics and automotive industries.
Read more: UK vehicle registrations drop as chip shortage affects growth
It has drastically affected the adoption of electric vehicles, owing to automakers not having the supply to produce the numbers they need.
With countries such as the UK opting to ban vehicles powered by diesel and petrol - not including hybrids - by the end of the decade, the race is on to push for electrification.
Gelsinger revealed to Reuters in April the company's plans to begin producing chips for automakers with "six to nine months".
Alongside the new factories, Intel revealed its plans to develop a foundry at its chip plant in Ireland, with its new business "Intel Foundry Services", which was revealed in March, currently engaged with automakers across Europe in a bid to move automotive designs to advanced nodes using more sophisticated technology - the so-called "Intel 6", and later, "Intel 3" and "Intel 18A" technologies.
Automakers who have expressed support for the programme include Volkswagen, BMW, Daimler and Bosch, although it is currently unknown if any will be working with Intel.
Intel has also pledged support in the field of self-driving cars, through its subsidiary Mobileye.
Keynote attendees witnessed the unveiling of Mobileye's first autonomous vehicle scheduled to hit production.
Read more: China's Baidu unveils its first L5 autonomous robocar
“Mobileye is passionate about bringing autonomous vehicles to consumers,” the company's CEO Amnon Shashua revealed. "Mobileye shares the dream of autonomy – anywhere, anytime, for everybody."
At the event, it was also revealed that a fleet of "autotaxis" - taxis operating using autonomous vehicle technology - would be introduced to Germany's roads at some point in 2022.
The service will be operated in partnership with German rental car company Sixt and Israeli startup Moovit, which was recently acquired by Intel for $900 million.
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