Republican Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio has asked Intel's CEO for detailed updates on the status of the $28 billion project in New Albany.
In Friday's letter to Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, Moreno said the development is nowhere near where the company would be at this time. The two chip plants were supposed be open this year but have been delayed to 2030 at the earliest.
Moreno wrote Ohio taxpayers deserve thorough information. Ohio gave Intel $2 billion in incentives. He also mentioned new public infrastructure amounting to at least $691 million.
“It is my responsibility to ensure that the ratepayers and taxpayers in the state of Ohio are not being taken advantage of and to ensure that this investment is not a charade or worse potential fraud,” Moreno said.
"Unfortunately for the state of Ohio and the local community in Licking County, your company announced in July that Intel was going to further delay the pace of the project," Moreno said. "The taxpayers of Ohio deserve accurate and thorough information about the status of the enormous promises that your company made to our citizens and return on investment, or lack thereof, of the taxpayers’ investment in this project."
He also said that Meta has asked Intel to reassign power for its use at nearby data centers that Intel is not using. He says Intel should move power to parties such as Meta that are interested in using it.
Moreno asked that Intel provide thorough updates on the project's status, along with a projected timeline, fiscal impacts the delay are having on the state's citizens and how Intel could mitigate those impacts, and plans for temporarily assigning power to Meta within 30 days.
This comes after reports that The New York Times Intel has talked with Apple about investing in the struggling chipmaker.
Last week, leading chipmaker Nvidia said that it was investing $5 billion in Intel.
In August, President Donald Trump announced the federal government took about a 10% stake in Intel.
Intel said in July that it was further slowing construction of the New Albany project.
After that, Gov. Mike DeWine said Intel "affirmed its commitment to Ohio as the new leadership of the company makes adjustments to its long-term strategy."
