Intel announced on October 21, 2026 that its teams had installed the first major structural structure at its new chip manufacturing plant in New Albany, Ohio.
Courtesy: Intel
Intel reached a major milestone in building its massive chip manufacturing plant in New Albany, Ohio, at least five years behind schedule, a delay that coincided with growing demand for advanced chips.
On Wednesday, Intel announced that crews had installed the first major structural truss in Ohio, meaning the next part of construction has finally begun.
“This represents another important step toward expanding U.S. advanced semiconductor capacity,” Naga Chandrasekaran, head of Intel’s foundry, wrote in a post on the company’s website on Wednesday.
Intel still needs customers to make its investment profitable.
In September, reports revealed that the world’s leading high-speed memory maker, SK Hynixcould partner with Intel in Ohio to lease foundry space to make memory chips at the new site. Neither company has confirmed any plans.
When Intel first announced the Ohio factory in 2022, it was expected to begin shipping chips in 2025. Intel pushed back that timeline, now aiming to finish construction in 2030. A second manufacturing plant in Ohio is also expected to be completed in 2031 at the site, just northeast of Columbus.
The delay reflects a broader recalibration of Intel’s foundry ambitions under CEO Lip-Bu Tan.
The Ohio factory is just one part of Intel’s ambitious plan to make chips for outside customers, launched under former CEO Pat Gelsinger. When Tan took the helm in 2025, his turnaround strategy was more cautious, choosing to wait for customer demand before moving forward with ambitious chipmaking plans.
Yet by the end of 2025, Intel was producing in high volume at its Arizona chip manufacturing plant, producing its most advanced 18A chips. On Wednesday, Chandrasekaran also announced that operations at its next manufacturing plant in Arizona are expected to begin by the end of 2028.
But Intel has yet to find a major external customer for these 18A chips from Arizona. Instead, Intel uses them to make its own processors for devices.
Once a dominant force in the chipmaking landscape, Intel experienced major delays with its 7- and 10-nanometer nodes, triggering the stock’s worst year on record in 2024. Customers have been reluctant to recommit ever since.
Now, Intel’s window of opportunity may have arrived alongside record demand for AI, as major chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. can’t make chips fast enough. Even for the biggest chipmakers like Nvidia, Advanced microdevices, Apple And Broadcom“The competition is extremely fierce” for space on TSMC’s factory lines, according to Jordan Klein, an analyst at Mizuho Securities.
Intel could offer its customers an alternative source for chip production, according to TechInsights analyst Dan Hutcheson.
“People want a second source that can twist TSMC’s arm and keep them honest on pricing,” Hutcheson said. “All the big ones have done tests there.”
WATCH: Inside Intel’s new Arizona factory, where the chipmaker’s fate hangs in the balance
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