President Biden Announces Agreement with Intel

What a day. What a fabulous moment. Today is a victory for American’s national economy, but also our national security. It’s a victory for American innovation and it’s a victory for the American people and our collective future. Because in our modern world, everything relies on chips. Every aspect of humanity is going digital and relies on chips, and their production shapes the future of all of humanity. The world we know and the world we are creating for our generations to come, our kids and grandkids and their children, it is all built upon this magic of silicon. Which is why we are here today to continue to invest in the transformative power of this amazing technology. By signing the U.S. Chips Act, President Biden showed that we are committing to building this critical industry back on American shores.

(01:15)
These investments, our investments, are powering the next great chapter of American innovation. The next great chapter of science and manufacturing technology, and the timing couldn’t be more critical. We all remember that Covid provided us an incredible wake-up call. A wake-up call that shocked and disrupted our global supply chains, that choked our manufacturing lines. It kept essential products away from people when they needed them most, and all because one and $2 semiconductor chips weren’t available. Manufacturing lines stopped. Make no mistake, fragile global supply chains are a threat not just to our economic, but also to our national security as well. By coming together today, we are declaring that America will not surrender leadership to our competitors. We are choosing innovation over inaction. We are building a future with geographically balanced and resilient supply chains right here in America, right here in Arizona.

(02:29)
Historians will look back on this period as a once-in-a-generation defining moment. A moment to challenge our old assumptions and to drive fundamental structural changes for the future. America must lead the way into this new era by regaining our leadership, especially with the turbocharged acceleration that AI is providing to our world and its incredibly promising potential, and we will be to meet this next surge of semiconductor demand. All of us at Intel believe that restoring our nation’s leadership and semiconductors is more than just an opportunity, more than just the responsibility, it’s our calling. This is what we were built for as a company. This is what we do. And we have already announced plans to invest more than $100 billion in the US over a five-year period.

(03:33)
I first walked through the doors of this iconic company as an eighteen-year-old kid with an associate’s degree, starting as a technician. I took the job as Intel CEO to honor the Intel Trinity. The trio that puts silicon into Silicon Valley. Bob Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove. And through the years, I’ve had the honor of witnessing firsthand of learning at their feet that this American excellence, this power of technology innovation, but the power and the role of American manufacturing, and our facilities have grown. We have the extraordinary Oregon, the Silicon Forest. We have the extraordinary Arizona, the Silicon Desert. And the extraordinary New Mexico, the Silicon Mesa.

(04:42)
And one of my proudest moments was standing beside President Biden in Ohio and beginning of a new chapter of American innovation at Intel. I can say that Field of Dreams is now an extraordinary construction site that’s coming to life before your very eyes. We are so proud that President Biden and Secretary Raimondo believe in this vision of expanding U.S. chip-making capacity and capabilities. And we are, I am grateful for this funding and the confidence and commitment that you’re placing in us. Mr. President and Madam secretary, we will not let you down.

(05:28)
We’re going to put every one of these taxpayer dollars to work and we are committed to delivering the silicon that powers our world while driving to the lowest possible environmental footprint, and rebuilding resilience into our operations and value chain and supply chain, all while leading innovation for the world. It’s fitting that we are standing here on an Intel construction site because these investments, these extraordinary commitments are going to build right here in America, right here in Arizona. We’re going to keep building and innovating new chips that power the future and help humanity to be a better place for our children and grandchildren. We’re going to build stronger communities and local economies from Arizona to Ohio by creating nearly 80,000 jobs at Intel in our construction sites with suppliers and more. That’s a lot of jobs. You should applaud that. Yeah.

(06:35)
And we’re going to continue to support our employees like Tilden Dixon, a Native American, a member of the Sheet Metals Union, Local 359, and responsible for metal sheet detailing right here at Intel. And it’s now my pleasure to have the introduction of Tilden, and he will have the unique honor of introducing our President. Today and we’re going to build more secure America. The Chips Act is just the kind of bold action that will get us there. And for all of these reasons and more, we applaud President Biden, his administration, Secretary of Commerce Raimondo, the bipartisan group of policy makers that came together to make the Chips Act a reality. And now thank you, and Tilden.

Good afternoon everyone. My name’s Tilden Dixon and I’m a proud second generation sheet metal worker and a member of SMART Local 359. I’m also a Navajo Nation tribe member and I grew up in a union household. Excuse me. My father, my uncles, my cousins are all sheet metal workers. I saw firsthand the great value of a good job with livable wages, healthcare and pension benefits. Times were not always great with the ups and downs of construction, but my father taught me if you work hard and you have union brothers and sisters to lean on, you’re always get ahead. Thank you.

(08:25)
I chose to follow his footsteps and join the Local 359 in 2012. I served my apprenticeship and then secured a job at the Intel construction site where I’ve been for the last past six years. It was a commitment to go to class and work a full-time job for many of years, but I’ve learned a lot and now I am a BIM coordinator at the construction site where I design 3D modeled routes that are used to construct Intel’s semiconductor manufacturing fab tools. I love my job. I’m currently saving so that one day very soon I can buy a house.

(09:20)
But I’m not the only one whose lives have been transformed for the better. Thank you to President Biden’s historic investments, there are now hundreds of jobs, hundreds of new jobs for the people of Arizona who are building Intel’s new cutting edge chip factories and building the future of America. I am so grateful and proud we have a president who has the understanding of importance, giving the opportunity like this to communities like ours and to millions of Americans like me. With that, I now have the greatest honor and privilege to introduce the man who has provided this for us. Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States, Joe Biden.

You did a good job.

Thank you.

Hello, hello, hello. By the way, your dad is right about unions. Your dad is right. Unions built the middle class, Wall Street didn’t. Unions built the middle class.

(10:54)
So thanks Tilden for that introduction and union sheet metal worker, proud member of the Navajo Nation, you’re going to be building the future here in Arizona and Arizona is building the future. Thank you Governor Hobbs, she had to leave, but welcomed me to the state and for your partnership all across the board. And thank you representative Stanton for your dedication to the people of the fourth district and for the passport anyway getting in. While he couldn’t be here today because the votes in Washington, I want to thank Senator Mark Kelly, who’s doing an incredible job and the real champion from the announcement that we make here today. And Mayor Kate, where’s Kate? Thank you Kate. You’re an incredible, mayor, you’re doing a great job. And Mayor of Chandler, Hartke. I guess I’m technically in your city, right?

Yes, sir.

All right. I’ll behave. I’ll behave. We’re also joined by one of the brightest women out of men or women I’ve ever known. Gina Raimondo, our Secretary of Commerce, and I’m not joking about that. And Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, Aaron Butler, President of Arizona Building Trades. What a combo, man. And other union leaders that are here today, thank you for your partnership in showing how we get big things done in America and we can do it again. Again and again and again.

(12:24)
I’ve asked Pat and many other business leaders this question and I mean it sincerely, I met with the Business Roundtable… Please have a seat by the way, you’re all standing. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you’re still standing. I apologize.

(12:37)
I asked the question of the Business Roundtable, the biggest leaders of business in the world and the United States particularly. I asked them, “When the United States decides to invest considerable resources in the new industry that we need to build, does that encourage business or does it discourage it?” And the answer was overwhelming, “Encourage it.” Overwhelmingly. Folks, during the pandemic, we had to learn about supply chains and the shortage of semiconductors. Those tiny computer chips you all out here know very well, smaller than a tip of your finger that power everything from the likes of your cell phones, cars, dishwashers, satellites, weapon systems. American invented these chips. Don’t forget that we invented these chips. And over time some thought it was cheaper to send the manufacturing overseas because labor was cheaper. As a result, when the pandemic shut down chips factories overseas, prices of everything went up. First time Americans began to realize just how important they were. Unlike my predecessor, I was determined to turn things around to invest in American, all American, all Americans, and that’s what we’ve been doing.

(13:49)
In January of 2022, Pat came to the White House where we announced the historic investment to build a state-of-the-art semiconductor factory in Ohio. Factories in Ohio. We were joined then by Sherrod Brown, the Ohio senator, who talked about why it’s time to bury the phrase Rust belt. And Pat said at the time, we should start calling the Silicon Heartland and it is becoming that. By March of this year, Pat was my guest of the State of the Union where we talked about a hundred thousand acres outside of Columbus where semiconductor manufacturing facility and fabs were being built, which I referred to at the time as a Field of Dreams, and boy it’s turning out to meet people’s dreams out there.

(14:30)
In August, Senator Kelly and Sherrod Brown got the Chips and Science Act to my desk. It was one of the most significant science and technology investments in our history. By September, I joined Pat in Ohio and to break ground for the new factory. Within nine months we’re just getting started. Since my Chips and Science Act was led to the partnership with companies investing billions and billions of dollars across the country, bringing semiconductor manufacturing back to America, jobs of the future back to America, including here in Arizona with a significant help of Mark Kelly. I tell you what, I’m so glad this is happening. Those phone calls every 20 minutes were getting old. I tell you, he is committed.

(15:21)
In December of 2022, I came to Phoenix where I joined so many of you as well as CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, to talk about the historic investments that the Chips and Science Act was delivering to make chips here in Phoenix. Today, Pat is building here on another field of dreams. I’m thrilled to announce the latest public-private partnership and one of the largest investments of semiconductors in the United States ever. The landmark, a new landmark agreement under the Chips and Science Act between my administration and Intel, for up to $8.5 billion. That’s a smart investment. And that’s being paired with over a hundred billion from Intel, including 30 billion in Arizona and 30 billion in Ohio. It’s among the largest private-sector investments ever in the history of Ohio and in Arizona. And this historic funding will use to build new semiconductor fab facilities and modernize. Modernize and expand existing ones in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico, and Oregon. Combined, it will create nearly 20,000 construction jobs, many of which will be union jobs. And I’ve made it real clear. Everybody has a right to organize, man, to have their labor rights protected.

(16:45)
But look, this announcement will also support 10,000 manufacturing jobs. 3,000 right here in Phoenix with salaries averaging over $100,000 dollars a year and don’t all require college degrees. That’s a change. For the first time in a long time, many of these facilities won’t just manufacture regular semiconductors. They’re going to once again begin to make the most sophisticated, advanced and powerful leading-edge chips. Each chip has… This is something that blows my mind. Has trillions and trillions of tiny features. The width of a strand of human DNA. 40,000 times thinner than a single human hair, that require manufacturing precision down to the size of a single atom. The process is enormous, requires enormous amounts of information and with lightning speed they’ll produce. And they’re critical to emerging technologies. They’re going to power the future economy like artificial intelligence, quantum computing, 6G communications, and make everything faster, lighter, smaller, and more reliable.

(17:58)
Folks, it’s about time. Even though we invented the most advanced chips, we make 0% of them today. 0% of the most advanced chips today. Nearly all manufacturing of leading-edge chips across the entire industry moved overseas to Asia years ago. That’s why today’s investment is such a big deal. We will enable advanced semiconductor manufacturing to make a comeback here in America after 40 years. It’s going to transform the semiconductor industry and create entirely new ecosystems, entirely new research and design, and manufacturing in advanced chips in America.

(18:38)
By the way, parenthetically, I say we’re going to become the manufacturing capital world again. People looked at me like I was nuts. Where the hell’s the written saying, we’re not going to be the manufacturing capital of the world again? We’ve already created 825,000 new manufacturing jobs and you’re just getting us started. There’s not a damn thing America can’t do if we set our mind to it. It’s going to put us on track to manufacture 20% of the world’s leading-edge chips by the end of the decade. And right here in the United States. Intel is committed to net-zero greenhouse gases, gas emissions by 2040 and using 100% renewable electricity to power these fabs. And there’s more, because this isn’t just about investing in America, it’s about investing in the American people as well. That’s why we’re dedicating $50 million of chips funding to partner with Intel and community stakeholders like community colleges, state and local governments, labor unions and universities, to train a new generation of workers for the semiconductor industry. That way people don’t have to leave their hometowns to get good-paying jobs and support their families.

(19:46)
And here in Arizona, Arizona State University is expanding its engineering program. Catch this, you guys know this, every time I say it and I talk about, it’s just astounding to me. It’s going to expand their engineering to over 10,000 additional students. 10,000 additional engineering students. Community colleges are training new technicians and launching free semiconductor technician programs led by Intel employees. Local unions are building training centers for apprenticeships and Intel is investing in semiconductor education starting as early as high school. So students get hands-on experience in a path to good-paying jobs, whether or not they get to go to college. The same thing is happening in other states as well.

(20:35)
It’s all part of my Investing in America agenda, which has attracted $675 billion. $675 billion in private sector investments and ignited a manufacturing boom in America. A clean energy boom. A jobs boom. All here in America, finally. Since I took office, America’s had the strongest growth of any major economy in the world. Nearly 15 million new jobs along a stretch of unemployment under 4% in 50 years. Four, 50. Growth is strong. Wages are up more than prices, inflation is down dramatically. I get it, we have more to do, but no question, our plan of delivering for the American people is working now. And since I came to office here in Arizona, because of your investment in American agenda, we’ve deployed and developed nearly $8 billion in federal funds to upgrade infrastructure and clean energy. Right here in Arizona, we’ve created 300,000 new jobs. Let me say that again. In Arizona, 300,000 new jobs.

(21:44)
I was finally able to beat big pharmaceutical companies because Medicare had been trying for years. But Medicare now is the power to negotiate lower prescription drug costs for seniors, including 1.4 million seniors right here in Arizona. And to put this in perspective, whatever prescription you have made by any American drug manufacturer, jump on Air Force One where they’ll fly to any major city in the world, from Toronto to Berlin to Baghdad, anywhere around the world. It’ll get off the plane, you bring that prescription into that country, you’ll be able to buy it for 40 to 60% less. It’s wrong.

(22:25)
So guess what? When we began to manufacture and negotiate, when I said, look, Medicare buys all these drugs, billions of dollars worth to take care of Medicare and Medicaid, well guess what? You know how much it costs to make insulin. Anybody know anybody who needs insulin? Raise their hand. You’re darn right. Well, guess what? It’s now 35 bucks a month. It was 400 bucks a month. Know how much it costs to make it? $10. $10. And they will cap a total out of pocket expense for prescription drugs, all the drugs a senior has to take, all of them, at $2,000, including expensive cancer drugs that cost 10, 12, $15,000 a year. They never have to pay more than $2,000 a year for all the drugs they need.

(23:20)
But folks, by the way, not only save seniors money, it saves taxpayers significant amount of money. We reduced the consequence of the law, I wrote and got passed. Reduced the federal deficit by $160 billion. Hear me? $160 billion. You know why? Medicare doesn’t have to pay $400, they have to pay $35 for that prescription and much more. Exorbitant prices. And it’s all part of my economic vision for this country. I determined that I was going to build the economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down because when you do that, the poor have a ladder up, the middle class does well and the wealthy still do very well. We all do well. Let’s be clear. Let’s be clear. It’s a fundamental break from the trickle-down economics, supercharged by my predecessor. On his watch, companies send American jobs overseas for cheaper labor and imported products. We’re creating jobs in America and exporting American products.

(24:23)
Well, my predecessor and his allies in Congress want to go back. In fact, the vast majority of the team on the other side, my Republican friends, didn’t vote for the Chips and Science Act. The majority of them didn’t. And now they’re trying to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, the most significant action ever on climate that’s going to create hundreds of thousands of jobs, many of them in their own states, in your district, particularly in states like Arizona. That’s when my predecessor was in office. He enacted instead a $2 trillion tax cut for the overwhelmingly benefit the very wealthy and the biggest corporations. By the way, I’m not anti-Corporation. I come from the corporate state of America. More corporations are incorporated in Delaware than every other state in the union combined. And I represented them for 36 years. But they can’t get greedy. And here’s what he wants to do this again.

(25:13)
The bottom line. I want to build a future in America. My predecessor is going to let the future be built in China and other countries, not America, because it may be cheaper for those investing. Folks, I promise to be the President for all Americans. Whether you voted for me or didn’t vote for me. Today’s investment helps all Americans in red states and blue states. All across America. Urban, rural, suburban, and tribal communities. But we’re not leaving anyone behind. If we invent it in America, it should be made in America. And include all of America.

(25:53)
Folks, let me close with this. I’ve been determined to make things in this country again, to build manufacturing capacity. As I said, we’ve created over 800,000 manufacturing jobs and we’re still counting. To make sure we never again are in a position where during a pandemic we’re relying on other countries to make things that we badly need here at home to be able to go forward. Folks, some folks didn’t believe we could do this, but I’ve made no bones about it. I’ve said for a long time, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, if we invest in America, we can change the country’s future and lead the world again. We are leading the world again. We’re proving it’s never been a good bet to bet against America.

(26:34)
I’ve spent more time with Xi Jinping, the leader of China than any other world leader has. And I was with him, traveled 17,000 miles when he was vice president and I was vice president, before he became the leader. And we’re in a Tibetan plateau. And he asked me, he said, “Can you define America for me?” I said, “I sure can, in one word.” And he looked at me, I said, “Possibilities. Possibilities.” We have come out of every crisis we’ve ever been in stronger than we went into that crisis. There’s nothing beyond our capacity. I’ve never been more optimistic about our future. We just have to remember who in the hell we are. We’re the United States of America, and there’s nothing beyond our capacity when we work together. So God bless you all and may God protect our troops. You’re the best. You’re the best. This is going to transform the country in a way you don’t even understand yet. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Four more years. Four more years. Four more years.

Thank you.

Four more years. Four more years.

Ready guys?

Four more years.

Thanks everybody.