Image: © Sundry Photography/Stock.adobe.com
According to the White House, the US produces less than 10pc of the world’s chips and ‘none’ of the most advanced ones, outperformed by Asian counterparts.
The US government is giving Intel $8.5bn to help the chipmaker boost domestic production of semiconductors and continue expanding its facilities across the country.
In a statement published today (20 March), the White House said that US president Joe Biden is heading to Intel’s Arizona campus, known as Ocotillo, after reaching a preliminary agreement of $8.5bn in direct funding and a further $11bn in loans under the Chips and Science Act.
The White House said the funding will support the construction and expansion of Intel facilities in the US states of Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico and Oregon, creating nearly 30,000 jobs and supporting “tens of thousands” of indirect jobs.
“During his visit to Arizona, [Biden] will discuss the vision that he laid out in his State of the Union, underscoring how his ‘Investing in America’ agenda is building an economy from the middle out and bottom up, creating good-paying jobs right here in America, strengthening US supply chains and protecting national security,” the statement reads.
According to the White House, the US produces less than 10pc of the world’s chips and “none” of the most advanced ones. Most of the world’s chips come from Asia, manufactured by giants such as Taiwan’s TSMC and South Korea’s Samsung.
“With this agreement, we are helping to incentivise over $100bn in investments from Intel – marking one of the largest investments ever in US semiconductor manufacturing, which will … ignite the next generation of innovation,” said US secretary of commerce Gina Raimondo.
Last month, the US said it expects to invest more than $5bn in its semiconductor R&D industry under the Chips and Science Act.
Earlier this year, the US government announced an investment totalling $162m into Arizona-headquartered company Microchip Technology. This investment was followed by data indicating that global semiconductor sales appear to be on the rise again, coinciding with the global rush to develop AI technology, which relies heavily on advanced semiconductors.
But while the industry is predicted to see further growth this year, challenges remain, such as a global skills shortage. All the while geopolitical issues persist between the US and its semiconductor rival, China.
This push for semiconductors also comes amid a global rush to build advanced AI systems. Intel struck a major deal with Microsoft recently that will see the chipmaker manufacture chips designed by the software giant as it looks to make the most of AI.
Find out how emerging tech trends are transforming tomorrow with our new podcast, Future Human: The Series. Listen now on Spotify, on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.
