According to Bloomberg, Intel has secured up to $3.5 billion in federal grants to produce chips for the Pentagon under the Secure Enclave program, which is meant to bring production of leading-edge processors for military applications to the U.S. This sum will add to the $8.5 billion in grants and $11 billion in loans that Intel was awarded under the CHIPS & Science Act earlier this year. Keep in mind that the information is not official.
Intel is currently the only company in the U.S. that makes chips on leading-edge nodes. The company's most advanced process technology — 18A — is set to enter mass production sometime in 2025, and at the time, it promises to be the most advanced manufacturing technology in the world. Since the U.S. military and intelligence needed their advanced chips to be made domestically, they invented the Secure Enclave program, and Intel was the clear frontrunner for this award. For Intel, the program spans multiple fabs and states, including a manufacturing facility in Arizona (which is where 18A-capable Fab 52 and Fab 62 are located), according to Bloomberg.
