Investment trio considers joint venture backing Intel Irish chip facility
Apollo Global Management, KKR & Co, and Stonepeak are considering a joint venture to invest billions in funding an Intel semiconductor fabrication facility in Ireland.
Reuters reported Intel is facing challenges due to subdued demand for its chips in traditional data centre and PC sectors, coupled with its lag in the artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor market.
The terms of the Intel joint venture and its size and structure were not finalised. According to people familiar with the matter, it could raise several billions.
On Thursday, Intel predicted lower-than-expected revenue and profit for Q2 as it continues to invest heavily to regain its edge in chip manufacturing. The Ireland facility plays a crucial role in this effort, pioneering high-volume manufacturing with extreme ultraviolet (EUV) technology.
Earlier this month, Intel announced a new version of its artificial intelligence (AI) chip that intends to rival offerings from NVIDIA. Named Gaudi 3, Intel said the chip is more than twice as power-efficient as NVIDIA’s H100 GPU and can run AI models one and a half times faster.
In August, Intel announced its next-gen data centre chip which was stated to have 240% better performance per watt than its current generation. The chip, named Sierra Forest, will double the amount of computing work while using the same amount of power.
