Intel signs in Germany and not in Italy: a strategic choice for Berlin

Scholz wins the subsidy tender for the American chip maker with ten billion. Germany reduces its dependence on China and Taiwan in a key sector for the future, but the race for state aid is a problem for the European Union

Semiconductor giant intel announced the largest foreign investment ever in Germany: €30 billion to develop two chip-fabrication plants in Magdeburg as part of its expansion plan in Europe. The government of Olaf Scholz has provided tremendous encouragement by agreeing to pay subsidies for 10 billion to the American producer, much more than the 6.8 billion it had initially promised. For Scholz, it is public money well spent: “The agreement is an important step for Germany as a place of high-tech production and for our resilience,” explained the chancellor after signing with Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger. “With this investment, we are technologically reaching the best in the world and expanding our capabilities for ecosystem development and microchip production.”