World’s largest computer chip maker INTEL today said it will invest $7 billion to complete the construction of a factory in Arizona which they claim will create 3,000 new American jobs for Americans. Intel’s CEO made the remarks earlier today after meeting with so-called President Donald Trump at the White House.
Not the Only White People’s Fancy House, which is in Florida, or Great White People’s Tower, in New York. The White House.
Thank you Brian Krzanich, CEO of @Intel. A great investment ($7 BILLION) in American INNOVATION and JOBS! #AmericaFirst?? pic.twitter.com/76lAiSSQ1l
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 8, 2017
U.S. President Donald Trump sits during a meeting with Chief Executive Officer of Intel Brian Krzanich in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
From the New York Times,
The completion of the factory, which will complement two other Intel semiconductor plants in Chandler, Ariz., had been under consideration for several years.
Standing beside Mr. Trump in the Oval Office, Brian Krzanich, Intel’s chief executive, said the company had decided to proceed now because of “the tax and regulatory policies we see the administration pushing forward.”
Mr. Trump said: “The people of Arizona will be very happy. It’s a lot of jobs.”
He said Intel called the White House several weeks ago to coordinate the announcement. That outreach illustrates the tightrope that Silicon Valley companies are walking as they deal with a president most of them did not want to see in office.
Intel was one of over 100 companies that recently signed a legal document to challenge Trump’s Muslim travel ban, issued on January 27. That Trump executive order halted the entry into the United States of all refugees, immigrants, and green card holders from seven predominantly Muslim nations where the President does not have reported personal business interests.
None of this is normal. None of this is okay. This is a crisis.
Intel, you’re not helping.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as Chief Executive Officer of Intel Brian Krzanich (L) shakes hands with Gary Cohn (C), head of the National Economic Council and Reed Cordish, assistant for intragovernmental and technology initiatives, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
From an analysis of the meticulously choreographed PR stunt, over at WIRED:
The photo-op played into Trump’s #AmericaFirst promise of more US manufacturing jobs, and the president didn’t waste time exploiting the PR moment. But everything was not as it looked. Intel’s plans have a lot less to do with Trump and a lot more to do with Intel trying to reinvent itself.
If today’s event looked eerily familiar, that’s because Krzanich’s predecessor, Paul Otellini, originally announced the Arizona factory, known as Fab42, alongside President Obama in February 2011. At the time, Intel estimated the plant would open in 2013. In early 2014, the company confirmed that construction was indefinitely delayed. Krzanich, a longtime Trump supporter, credited the resurrected plan to the new president. “It’s really in support of the tax and regulatory policies that we see the president pushing forward that make it advantageous to do manufacturing in the US,” Krzanich said during the press conference.
Read the rest: Intel’s ‘New’ Factory Isn’t About Trump—It’s About Fixing Intel
PHOTOS: U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Chief Executive Officer of Intel Brian Krzanich the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts