Intel Accelerates Fab 62 Construction at Ocotillo Semiconductor Campus in Arizona, US, Targeting 2028 Launch

Intel has confirmed that construction and tool installation at Fab 62, its sixth high-volume manufacturing facility at the Ocotillo campus in Arizona, are fully underway, with operations expected to begin by the end of 2028.

The announcement came from Naga Chandrasekaran, executive vice president and chief technology and operations officer at Intel Foundry, and forms part of an opinion piece laying out the company's case for domestic semiconductor leadership.

Update on Ohio Installation

Alongside the Arizona update, Intel reported that crews in Ohio have installed the first major structural truss on the first fab in New Albany, a step the company described as significant for expanded U.S. leading-edge capacity.

A Shrinking Domestic Share Frames the Argument

Chandrasekaran used the article to underline why the company views U.S. manufacturing as strategically important. Citing the Semiconductor Industry Association, he noted that the share of semiconductors manufactured in the United States fell from 37 percent to 10 percent between 1990 and 2022.

He wrote 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. Semiconductors, he argued, have become so embedded in daily life that most people no longer think about them, even as 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 is growing at an unprecedented pace, and meeting it requires advanced research, engineering, and manufacturing that combine 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 turn breakthroughs into technologies used around the world.

Technology Development Anchored in U.S. Research

A recurring distinction in the piece is between technologies made in America and technologies that are truly American-made, a difference Chandrasekaran traced to the research and development process that converts ideas into manufacturable products.

He pointed to Intel's 18A process node, which features RibbonFET gate-all-around transistors and PowerVia backside power delivery, as a leading example. 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 plays a central role 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 advancing the technology toward broader adoption and enabling continued semiconductor scaling.

Chandrasekaran added that the 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 stay closely connected.

Operations Across Five States

While the Fab 62 milestone and the Ohio truss installation headline the announcement, the article described Intel's broader U.S. footprint. Oregon is described as the center of the company's most advanced logic technology research, development, and manufacturing, including 3D interconnect technology development.

Arizona hosts advanced packaging R&D and assembly and test operations alongside high-volume manufacturing such as Fab 62. In New Mexico, Intel manufactures advanced packaging technologies at scale. Earlier this year, the company broke ground on a new mask manufacturing facility in Santa Clara, California.

The reach of that investment extends beyond the five states where Intel operates directly. According to the article, the company works with more than 4,500 suppliers across 49 states, generating more than USD 29 billion in annual domestic spending. Intel said the initiative strengthens businesses, generates economic activity, and supports communities across the country while building the workforce, infrastructure, and local capacity needed to participate in America's semiconductor future.

Workforce Development and a National Corridor

Chandrasekaran characterized the investments, above all, as investments in people. Working with 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 an appeal to engineers inspired to tackle complex engineering and manufacturing challenges to explore opportunities at Intel Careers. Intel and its suppliers, taken together, 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."