Intel is looking for a partner to help run its upcoming Ohio fab project, and SK Hynix is among the companies being considered, according to a report on Wednesday. The move points to a partnership structure for Intel in Ohio rather than a sale of the operations.
The timing matters because Intel will report second-quarter results after the closing bell on Thursday, with its shares already up 0.8% in overnight trading before that release. Investors have been watching the Ohio One semiconductor manufacturing campus closely because it is one of Intel’s biggest long-term manufacturing bets and one that has already faced repeated setbacks.
Intel announced the Ohio One semiconductor manufacturing campus in January 2022 and said it would invest $28 billion initially to build two leading-edge chip fabrication plants in New Albany near Columbus. The nearly 1,000-acre site broke ground in September 2022, but the project has since been delayed several times amid weaker chip demand and Intel’s cost-cutting efforts. Under the latest timeline, the first fab is expected to be completed in 2030 and begin operations between 2030 and 2031.
That is why the partnership talk carries weight. Intel has been trying to keep the Ohio project moving without giving up control, and a partner could help spread the cost and operating burden while preserving the company’s role in the campus. Yet the report also adds a complication: SK Hynix has denied involvement in any such talks even as people familiar with the matter say it is among those being considered.
The unresolved question is not whether Intel still wants Ohio built — it does — but who, if anyone, will be willing to help run it on terms that fit a project of this scale. With earnings due Thursday and investors already leaning back into INTC, the next hard checkpoint is the numbers Intel puts out after the bell.
