Intel Corp is investing in additional data center infrastructure and equipment for its Folsom Campus in California.
First reported by the Sacramento Business Journal (SBJ), the company is looking to spend $10.5 million on work at its site.
Located at 1900 Prairie City Road in the south of Folsom, Intel has filed for permits with the city through contractor Skanska USA Building Inc.
Rita Holiday, Califonia external affairs manager with Intel, told SBJ: "The expansion supports expanding emulation capability within the data centers."
Emulation equipment is used to test prototype chips for verification and bugs before they are manufactured. They do this by recreating computing environments either virtually or connected to hardware. SBJ has speculated that this is likely not included in the $10.5m budget.
Holiday explained that this is part of an expansion of infrastructure on the campus that will then enable the growth of Intel's data centers. Further details were not shared.
According to the permits, the work will include construction in the existing building includes foundations and footings, underground plumbing and electric, other electric, underground work, structural shear walls and drywall along with other systems.
The Intel Folsom campus is primarily an office, research and development, and support site and spans 1.5 million sq ft (139,355 sqm) of floor space. It is focused on the development of computer chips and chipsets, including desktop, mobile, and server processor products. The company is reportedly Folsom’s largest private-sector employer and one of the largest private employers in the Sacramento region.
In December 2023, Intel announced a new round of 311 layoffs at two of its California campuses - including Folsom - bringing the year total in the state to 1,700.
Employees were warned in 2022 that job cuts were on the horizon as the company sought to improve its profitability amid a rapid decline in PC processor sales.
“These are always hard decisions, but our costs are too high and our margins are too low. We have to take actions to address them,” Gelsinger said in a video address to staff at the time.
In April 2024, the company posted a $2.5bn operating loss for Q1 2024.
