DUBLIN: US semiconductor giant Intel said Monday it would invest €5 billion in Ireland to expand production of advanced processors as it seeks to meet growing demand driven by artificial intelligence.
The company said it would increase manufacturing capacity at its Irish operations to produce Intel Xeon 6 processors and future generations of the chips used in data centres and high-performance computing.
The investment will expand existing production, boost research and development, and make greater use of current clean-room facilities, Intel said in a statement.
It added the project would help strengthen Europe’s semiconductor supply chain.
The announcement comes after Intel reported better-than-expected quarterly results in April.
It posted first-quarter revenue of US$13.6 billion, up 7% from a year earlier, as demand for AI infrastructure remained strong.
The chipmaker, which has faced mounting pressure after losing ground to rivals in the AI market, has sought to capitalise on growing demand for so-called AI agents — software systems capable of carrying out sequences of tasks autonomously.
Intel argues that wider adoption of such systems could increase demand for its central processing units (CPUs), which power many enterprise servers, alongside the graphics processing units (GPUs) that dominate AI training and are widely deployed in large data centres.
The investment will position Ireland as “a leading European production hub” while supporting the EU’s drive to strengthen its technological sovereignty through a more resilient domestic supply of advanced processors, Intel said.
