Current schedule is for the Ohio fab to come online in 2030. It was originally scheduled to come online in 2025. So, that's something they sunk a bunch of money into, and will require a lot more, before it even begins paying for itself. In the meantime, it's just sitting there.You made my point......
They can and did stop expanding and they can use 18A to recover financially.
(and either keep expanding right away if it's a big success or postpone it a few years.)
There's a reason they planned for it to come online in 2025. That's because they needed its production volume for successful execution on IFS's financial plan. With it being delayed until 2030, how much production volume will Intel even be able to offer 3rd party customers? Less volume means less ability to recoup the R&D costs of 18A and fund development of future nodes.