Intel Plans $5-Billion Plant in Arizona

Intel Corp. has announced it will build a $5-billion plant in Arizona. The new semiconductor fabrication facility, called Fab 42, will open in 2013 and create 4,000 new jobs in the U.S.

Intel CEO Paul Otellini announced the deal during a visit by President Obama to Intel’s plant in Hillsboro, OR last week. “Fab 42 will be the most advanced high-volume semiconductor factory in the world,” Otellini said. “This activity will create thousands of construction and permanent manufacturing jobs in this country.”

According to Brian Krzanich, Intel’s senior vice president of manufacturing and supply chain, the new fab will create transistors with a minimum feature size of 14 nanometers. Intel announced its next-generation processor chip—codenamed Sandy Bridge—last month. Sandy Bridge-based chips are the first to integrate CPU and graphics processors on one chip, improving performance of the computer.