Intel announced that construction and tool installation at Fab 62 in Arizona are now fully underway, with operations expected to begin by the end of 2028.

The announcement, made by Naga Chandrasekaran, executive vice president and chief technology and operations officer at Intel Foundry, comes as the company continues to expand its U.S. manufacturing footprint.

Milestone at Ocotillo as Intel Expands Domestic Capacity

Fab 62 will be Intel's sixth high-volume manufacturing facility at the Ocotillo campus in Arizona, where the company has been a manufacturing presence for nearly half a century.

The disclosure was accompanied by news of progress at another key site: in Ohio, Intel crews have installed the first major structural truss on the first fab in New Albany, a step the company described as significant toward expanded U.S. leading-edge semiconductor capacity.

The Stakes Behind Semiconductor Manufacturing

In the opinion piece, Chandrasekaran argued that semiconductors have become so deeply integrated into daily life that most people do not think about them, yet they power the devices people carry, the cars they drive, the health care systems they rely on, and the surrounding infrastructure.

Demand for computing power, he wrote, is growing at an unprecedented pace, and meeting it requires advanced research and development and engineering and manufacturing work that brings together breakthroughs in physics, materials science, chemistry, and engineering at extraordinary precision and scale.

The industry employs thousands of scientists, researchers, engineers, technicians, and manufacturing professionals who work together to transform breakthroughs into technologies used around the world, according to the article.

Chandrasekaran also highlighted a decline in domestic manufacturing share. Citing the Semiconductor Industry Association, he noted that the proportion of semiconductors manufactured in the United States fell from 37 percent to 10 percent between 1990 and 2022.

He framed semiconductor leadership as a factor in America's continued economic role, writing that the country's ability to invent, develop, and manufacture transformative technologies has helped drive global prosperity and progress for 250 years, and that semiconductor leadership will help determine whether that continues for the next 250.

R&D and Manufacturing Kept Close Together

A central theme of the article is the distinction between technologies made in America and technologies that are truly American-made, a difference Chandrasekaran located in the research and development process that transforms ideas into manufacturable technologies.

He pointed to Intel's 18A process node as a leading example, featuring RibbonFET gate-all-around transistors and PowerVia backside power delivery. According to the article, those features are defining a new era of transistor performance and were pioneered through decades of U.S.-based research before high-volume manufacturing began in 2025.

Oregon also features prominently in the company's technology development. Intel was the first in the industry to install a commercial High NA EUV lithography system and the first to integrate it into high-volume manufacturing, which the company said is helping advance the technology toward broader high-volume adoption and enabling continued semiconductor scaling.

Chandrasekaran added that the same innovation extends to advanced packaging technologies such as EMIB-T, which will enable increasingly complex systems.

Together, he wrote, these capabilities demonstrate what is possible when domestic R&D, technology development, and manufacturing remain closely connected.

A Five-State Footprint and a Nationwide Supplier Network

Beyond the Arizona and Ohio milestones, the article detailed Intel's continued investment across its U.S. footprint. Oregon is described as the center of Intel's most advanced logic technology research, development, and manufacturing, including the development of 3D interconnect technology.

In Arizona, teams conduct advanced packaging research and development along with assembly and test operations alongside high-volume semiconductor manufacturing. In New Mexico, Intel manufactures advanced packaging technologies at scale. Earlier this year, in Santa Clara, California, the company broke ground on a new mask manufacturing facility.

The investment extends well beyond the five states where Intel operates directly. According to the article, Intel works with more than 4,500 suppliers across 49 states, generating more than USD 29 billion in annual domestic spending.

The company said this strengthens businesses, generates economic activity, and supports communities across the country while helping build the workforce, infrastructure, and local capacity needed to participate in America's semiconductor future.

Investment in People and a Semiconductor Corridor

Chandrasekaran described the investments as, above all, investments in people. Working alongside suppliers, educational institutions, and community partners, Intel is helping train and develop the skilled workforce that will power the next generation of U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, the article stated.

The piece closed with a call to engineers, encouraging those inspired to help solve complex engineering and manufacturing challenges to explore opportunities at Intel Careers.

Taken together, Intel and its suppliers support what the company calls a nationwide semiconductor corridor connecting hundreds of thousands of people across research, development, and manufacturing facilities in five states, while reaching suppliers across the country. Through continued collaboration with ecosystem partners, Chandrasekaran wrote, Intel is bringing advanced semiconductor technologies from lab to fab to global scale.

The article concluded, "This is what's possible when we invent, develop, and manufacture leading-edge semiconductors in America. The result is innovation that improves lives around the world. America is ready to build it."

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