Construction on Intel’s $28 billion computer-chip manufacturing plant in New Albany was slated to be finished in 2025, but corporate shake-ups, rapidly advancing artificial intelligence technology, a possible ownership change and the national economy have pushed the production start date out at least two years.
The delay has been a blessing in disguise for the communities surrounding the New Albany plant, local leaders said.
After Intel announced the project in January 2022, a rash of development projects popped up around Licking County, including in St. Albans Township and Alexandria, Johnstown, Jersey Township and Pataskala. Increased demand for housing, resources, utilities, construction materials and more meant community leaders were scrambling to adjust.
“It has given us more time to focus on our comprehensive plan, zoning and financial incentives that will bring in new businesses to our area,” said Johnstown Mayor Donald Barnard. “We welcome Intel and believe it will be a great addition to our area.”
Mike Compton, mayor of Pataskala, said that Intel’s delay gives Pataskala more time to grow.
“I welcome it because I think it helps slow things down and lets things happen a little bit more naturally without any panic,” Compton said. “Build it and build it right.”
What caused the delay?
Construction has been delayed several times over the last three years following financial challenges and leadership changes.
In December 2024, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger stepped down, leaving David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston Holthaus as the interim co-CEOs while the board of directors searched for a new CEO.
Dr. Hyun Woong Park, an economics professor at Denison University, said that the economy was at a very different place when the Intel manufacturing campus in the New Albany International Business Park was announced. When Intel was announced in 2022, there was a chip shortage and no AI threatening Intel’s business.
“There was a huge demand for a new Intel construction here, and everyone was praising that,” Park said.
Park said all the leading technology companies such as Amazon, Microsoft and Tesla invested billions of dollars into AI technology such as Open AI.
But on Jan. 20, 2025, DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence startup, came up with a model to create AI at a relatively low cost with a high performance. Industry observers said that if DeepSeek can actually pull that off, then large tech companies would have to reconsider their planned investments.
“Nobody thought that it was possible to operate the AI at such a cheap cost,” Park said. “It’s a game changer.”
Another reason Intel has been struggling is because in 2022, AI was not a threat and Intel’s chips were in demand. The chips that Intel produces are not for AI – they are for traditional computing systems.
Park said in the long run, DeepSeek might benefit Intel because the industry could potentially shift toward low-cost, more traditional technology products like Intel’s chips. But Park said it is too early to know what will happen for sure.
“Intel is in a precarious financial position,” said Bailey Sandin, a workers and wages fellow at Policy Matters Ohio.
Sandin said that Intel is set to receive $7.86 billion in direct funding from the CHIPS and Science Act. The company reported receiving $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024 and another $1.1 billion in January 2025 for the milestones they have met.
Sandin does not know the specific milestones Intel has met to receive the CHIPS money, and she is concerned about Intel’s lack of transparency.
Eleonora Akopyan, communications manager at Intel, told The Reporting Project that Intel has recently hit a vertical milestone. “Ms. Armstrong,” a gigantic crane, was used to start building up from the bottom of the six- or seven-story deep holes it dug to set foundations for its first factories on the site south of Green Chapel Road and west of Mink Street.
Akopyan provided few other details regarding Intel’s future in Ohio.
Over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal reported that two of Intel’s major competitors – Broadcom and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) – were eying potential deals that would “break the American chip-making icon in two,” according to a Feb. 15 article. TSMC has explored controlling some or all of Intel’s chip plants – although a White House official told Reuters on Friday, Feb. 14, that the Trump administration may not support Intel’s chip factories being operated by a foreign entity.
Caroline Zollinger writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.