The company’s investment, announced Tuesday by Intel CEO Paul Otellini at a speech in Washington, speaks to the semiconductor industry’s need to keep investing heavily, regardless of the poor economic climate that has led Intel to cut jobs.

The investment could be a boon to companies that produce chip-making equipment, like Applied Materials Inc. and KLA-Tencor Corp., and is another example of how Intel’s deep pockets have kept rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. at bay.