US Launches $11 Billion Semiconductor R&D Initiative, Unveils National Technology Center

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The White House has endorsed the U.S. government's plan to spend $11 billion on semiconductor-related research and development and said it was launching the $5 billion National Semiconductor Technology Center.

Congress in August 2022 approved the landmark Chips and Science Act. The law provides $52.7 billion, including $39 billion in subsidies for semiconductor production and $11 billion for research and development. It also creates a 25% investment tax credit for building chip plants, estimated to be worth $24 billion.

The centerpiece of the R&D program is the National Semiconductor Technology Center, which will research and prototype advanced semiconductor technology. The center is a "public-private partnership that the government, industry customers, suppliers, academics, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists to come together to innovate, connect, network, solve problems and allow Americans to compete and out-compete the world," U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said at a White House event.

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said the effort was part of an "industrial strategy around chips" to prevent the loss of jobs overseas and add American jobs. "A nation that does not do R&D is weak," Granholm said at the event. "We are not going to be weak anymore."

NSTC will establish an investment fund to help emerging semiconductor companies advance technologies toward commercialization. The 2022 law also creates the National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program and new Manufacturing USA institutes focused on semiconductors.

Gina Raimondo further said Commerce plans to make several major awards to fund chip manufacturing within two months. "We're in the process of really complicated, challenging negotiations with these companies," Raimondo told Reuters in an interview. She did not identify the companies. In the "next six to eight weeks, you will see several more announcements. That's what we're striving for."

Click here to learn more about the National Semiconductor Technology Center.