Intel told me not to wear deodorant to visit its AI chip factory. Then I saw why.

Business Insider producer Olivia Nemec visits Intel's most advanced chip plant and holds a semiconductor wafer.

Dmytro Savchuk/Business Insider

I knew visiting Intel's chip factory would be different when they told me I couldn't wear my regular deodorant.Or lotion. Or hairspray. Or makeup.Before I'd even boarded the plane to Oregon, Intel sent my videographer and me a long list of things we couldn't wear or bring into its factory in Hillsboro. No Velcro. No Bluetooth. No phones unless they were on airplane mode. The list kept going.That was my first clue I was about to step into a place governed by a very different set of rules.In March, after months of planning with Intel, I got rare access to one of its chip factories — the kind of place the tech industry calls a fabrication plant, or fab. Inside, Intel makes some of the most advanced semiconductors in the world.Chips run almost every part of modern life: laptops, phones, chatbots, washing machines, fighter jets, and the data centers behind AI.Demand for these chips is skyrocketing, with annual semiconductor sales expected to reach $1 trillion by 2027. I went behind the scenes to see the complicated and delicate manufacturing process that's so controlled, it permanently changed how I think about what it means to be clean.