Intel has asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to make an exception for the automated guided vehicles (AGVs) that the company uses to transport the sensitive silicon wafers and other materials, containers, and supplies needed to make the most advanced chips in its fabs. According to Bloomberg, the American chipmaker fears that its AGVs would fall under the blanket prohibition against foreign-made robots after they were added to the FCC’s Covered List.
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AGVs are niche machines that chip fabs use to transport materials and supplies between tools and sections of the fab, helping ensure that the cleanroom conditions required for each manufacturing process are maintained. This makes them critical equipment for U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, but, apparently, there are no suitable domestic alternatives for these devices at the moment. Intel’s current fleet of AGVs requires continuous maintenance, including software and firmware updates, and if it’s forced to find a local supplier for its AGVs, the company says that it would take years, crippling the United States’ chipmaking efforts.
, while a few smaller businesses from South Korea and Taiwan are also trying to break into the market. S. while also promising Washington that they’ll set up a manufacturing base in the country. This is something that Netgear has already done , allowing it to continue selling its foreign-made routers despite being an American company.
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