Intel to upgrade New Mexico site for stacked chips production

Chipmaker Intel will upgrade its current location in the American city of Rio Rancho in New Mexico in the coming years to make stacked chips with its Foveros technology. Intel is investing $3.5 billion in the factory for this.

More than 2,500 people will work at the site, the company reports. There are now around 1800. The existing location remains in use and Intel is not building more; it’s just an upgrade of the current space. Intel previously announced the investment, but did not provide details at the time.

Intel now uses the stacked Foveros chips to a limited extent, for example in processors of the Lakefield generation. That should increase in the coming years. The renovation will start at the end of 2021 and should be completed by the end of 2022. Stacking chips makes it possible to combine dies made by different processes on a small surface, in order to reduce power consumption.

The investment is part of Intel’s broader strategy to increase production capacity in the coming years, while also producing chips for other companies. There will also be two new fabs in Arizona, for which the company allocated $ 20 billion in March and where processors with EUV machines must be made.