Intel Confirms Plans to Build $2.2-Billion Chip Plant in Oregon

Intel Corp. made it official Thursday: It will build what may become the most expensive computer chip factory in the world in this Portland suburb.

Word of the $2.2-billion project began leaking this summer as the company prepared to ask Washington County for a tax break to build the semiconductor manufacturing and development center.

But official approval of the project was delayed by executives at Intel headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif.

The 300-acre company campus and plant may be the most expensive single expansion project ever undertaken by a U.S. company, analysts say.

Motorola and Advanced Micro Devices are expected to build plants in Austin, Tex., costing more than $1 billion.

Intel engineers will use the Hillsboro facility to develop new generations of faster, more powerful chips to succeed the industry-standard Pentium, being challenged by competitors such as the PowerPC microprocessor.