Plan for an Arab Silicon Valley Sparks Fears of CPU Shortages and Security Risks

Fox News ^ | October 21, 2010 | John R. Quain

[snarkpup]

A chip company's plan to open a manufacturing plant in Abu Dhabi has experts worried about the supply of essential computer processors. Should a war or even a serious political disagreement arise, they say, a foreign power could stop or corrupt the flow of computer chips from its plants to the U.S.

Intel Corp. announced on Tuesday plans to spend up to $8 billion on state-of-the-art plants in Oregon and Arizona, meaning most of its central processing units (CPUs) -- the brains behind every computer -- would continue to be manufactured in the U.S. The company's CEO, Paul Otellini, said the plants would "create 6 to 8,000 construction jobs, and about 1,000 permanent new jobs working in manufacturing."

But Intel's sole competitor has its sights set on a new Silicon Valley -- a Mideast country that experts say could take jobs from Americans and create serious security issues for the U.S.

[snarkpup]

It's not clear from the article if all or merely some of AMD's CPUs will be made in Abu Dhabi. They state explicitly that some will be; but there's also a new plant going into New York state.

I was about to buy something in the HPE-400 series; but now I'm rethinking.

[Da Coyote]

I’ve always respected Intel due to their unmatched technical ability (as apposed to dissing Microsoft because of their first-grade technical ability).

May the bugs of a thousand Microsofts descend upon their microprocessors should they carry this off.

[null and void]

AMD - Arab Made Disaster

[GraceG]

I think AMD contracts out a lot of their CPU manufacturing.

[algernonpj]

And no one’s concerned about the chips coming out of China?