Gov. Tina Kotek visited Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) on Monday to promote the company's $8.5 billion CHIPS Act award, its planned $36 billion investment in Oregon, and a joint effort to go after federal money for a semiconductor research center.
"We aren't done," the governor said in an address at Intel's Hillsboro facilities. "We want more."
Intel has long made it known it wants to set up and run an advanced lithography center funded through the National Semiconductor Technology Center, the public-private consortium established in the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act.
Network of technical centers
The Biden administration plans to pour at least $5 billion into the NSTC. The vision is for a national headquarters and an "integrated network of NSTC-affiliated technical centers with locations geographically distributed to leverage existing capabilities."
In a news release, the Governor's Office said an "NSTC Oregon team" that includes the offices of Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, Business Oregon, Intel, the Oregon Business Council, the city of Hillsboro, Portland State University and Oregon State University will coordinate a proposal.
"We are sending a clear message to our friends in Washington, D.C., that we want that center here in Oregon," Kotek said.
Natcast, the nonprofit formed to oversee the NSTC, in February said it expected to announce its first funding opportunity announcement by July this year, but it wasn't clear when the Oregon proposal might be due.
Intel and high-NA EUV
Lithography is used to print ever-smaller patterns onto silicon wafers, a key to making more powerful microprocessors. Intel has staked a claim as the global leader in using the technology, installing the first commercially deployed next-generation lithography tool, called high-NA EUV, from the Dutch company ASML.
Intel Oregon in Washington County is the Silicon Valley-headquartered company's R&D center. With some 23,000 workers it's the state's largest corporate employer. ASML has its main U.S. office in San Diego but its largest U.S. customer support site, with 800 employees, is next door to Intel.
