Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger says chip shortage risks global expansion

The head of chipmaker Intel says a shortage of advanced equipment to make semiconductors could hold up global expansion plans.

CEO Pat Gelsinger said Monday that there have been quite significant extensions in delivery times for chipmaking gear for new chip factories, known as fabs, that the company plans to build in the US and Europe.

Gelsinger said at a press roundtable on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum that to us, this is now the No. 1 issue, is in fact the delivery of equipment.

A handful of suppliers make high-tech semiconductor manufacturing gear, such as Dutch company ASML. A shortage of semiconductors that erupted last year hurt the availability of everything from autos to kitchen appliances and highlighted the industry's vulnerability to manufacturing centered in Asia.

Intel announced tens of billions of investment in new chipmaking facilities for Europe, including a new fab mega site in Germany and expansion in Ireland. In January, it announced a plan for a $20 billion plant in Ohio.

Gelsinger said supply of chipmaking equipment is the most important pinch point to the build-out of capacity today.

He added that he's urging authorities in the US and Europe, which have each launched their own Chips Act to promote national semiconductor manufacturing, to speed up the legislation.