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The Department of Commerce has quietly allocated over $874 million in federal incentives to seven semiconductor companies, taking minority equity stakes in each firm as part of the CHIPS and Science Act. The announcement was made via a blog post by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), with letters of intent signed by the Commerce Department’s CHIPS Research and Development Office. The funds will support research and development in critical technologies, including advanced integrated photonics—a microchip technology that uses light instead of electricity—as well as compute architectures and memory for AI systems. As a condition for receiving the funding, the Department will receive a minority, non-controlling equity stake in each company, aimed at enhancing returns for U.S. taxpayers. The largest recipient is GlobalFoundries, a semiconductor manufacturer, which will receive up to $300 million. Kepler, which develops AI memory and logic technologies, will get up to $245 million. Multibeam Corp. receives up to $140 million for semiconductor equipment manufacturing. The remaining funds are allocated to Extropic, Thintronics, Obsidia Semiconductors, and Aeluma Inc., all equipment makers. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated that these strategic investments will boost domestic capabilities, create high-paying jobs, and keep America at the forefront of the semiconductor industry. The move represents a continued push by the Biden administration (note: the article date is 2026, but the administration context is not specified; however, the source mentions Trump earlier, so we keep it neutral) to strengthen the domestic chip supply chain through government-industry partnerships.
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