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Semiconductors

Federal Announcements

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Preliminary Terms with Hemlock Semiconductor to Significantly Expand U.S. Production Capacity of Semiconductor-Grade Polysilicon

| Department of Commerce (DOC), Executive Office of the President, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | Chips for America | Semiconductors, Supply Chain, Workforce

The Biden-Harris Administration announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce and Hemlock Semiconductor (HSC) have signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) to provide up to $325 million in proposed direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act to solidify U.S. leadership in semiconductor-grade polysilicon production. The proposed funding would support the construction of a new manufacturing facility on HSC’s existing campus in Hemlock, Michigan.

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Biden-Harris Administration Announces Preliminary Terms with Wolfspeed to Solidify U.S. Technological Leadership in Silicon Carbide Manufacturing

| Department of Commerce (DOC), Executive Office of the President, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | Chips for America | Clean Energy, Research and Development (R&D), Semiconductors, Supply Chain, Technology

The Biden-Harris Administration announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce and Wolfspeed, Inc. have signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) to provide up to $750 million in proposed direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act. The proposed funding would support the construction of a new silicon carbide wafer manufacturing facility in Siler City, North Carolina, helping to secure a reliable domestic supply of the semiconductors.

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Biden-Harris Administration to Invest up to $100 Million to Accelerate R&D and AI Technologies for Sustainable Semiconductor Materials

| Department of Commerce (DOC), Executive Office of the President, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | Chips for America | Research and Development (R&D), Semiconductors, Technology

The U.S. Department of Commerce issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) to announce an open competition demonstrating how AI can assist in developing new sustainable semiconductor materials and processes that meet industry needs and can be designed and adopted within five years. CHIPS for America anticipates up to $100 million in funding to award recipients that develop university-led, industry-informed, collaborations about artificial intelligence-powered autonomous experimentation (AI/AE).

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Biden-Harris Administration Announces First CHIPS Commercial Fabrication Facilities Award with Polar Semiconductor, Establishing Independent American Foundry

| Department of Commerce (DOC), Executive Office of the President, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) | Chips for America | Semiconductors, Supply Chain, Workforce

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced its first award under the CHIPS Incentives Program’s Funding Opportunity for Commercial Fabrication Facilities of up to $123 million in direct funding to Polar Semiconductor (Polar).

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NSF Awards $42.4M in New Grants to Support the Future of Semiconductors

| National Science Foundation (NSF) | Research and Development (R&D), Semiconductors, Supply Chain, Technology

The U.S. National Science Foundation, in partnership with Ericsson, Intel Corporation, Micron Technology and Samsung, announced $42.4 million in grants for its Future of Semiconductors competition. The investment will fuel research and education across various semiconductor technologies, advancing U.S. leadership in semiconductor research and innovation and addressing challenges, including emerging computing tasks and applications, energy efficiency, performance, manufacturing and supply chains.

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Department of Defense & Department of Commerce Joint Statement: Announcement in Support of the Manufacture of Microelectronics and Advanced Semiconductors for National Security

| Department of Commerce (DOC), Department of Defense (DoD) | Electronics, Semiconductors, Supply Chain

The Biden-Harris Administration has awarded Intel Corporation up to $3 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act for a capability known as the “Secure Enclave.” The funding will support the manufacturing of microelectronics and ensure access to a domestic supply chain of advanced semiconductors for national security. The award will be executed by the Department of Defense (DoD) per an agreement between the Department of Commerce and the DoD.

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Biden-Harris Administration Announces Preliminary Terms with Texas Instruments to Expand U.S. Current-Generation and Mature-Node Chip Capacity

| Department of Commerce (DOC), Executive Office of the President | Semiconductors, Supply Chain

The Biden-Harris Administration announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce and Texas Instruments (TI) have signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) to provide up to $1.6 billion in proposed direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act to strengthen domestic supply chain resilience, advance our national security, and bolster U.S. competitiveness in current-generation and mature-node semiconductor production.

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NSF Invests $7.6M in Educational Projects to Build a Skilled Semiconductor Manufacturing Workforce in Partnership with Intel Corporation

| National Science Foundation (NSF) | Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), Semiconductors

The U.S. National Science Foundation and Intel Corporation announced a $7.6 million investment in six projects to advance equitable STEM education and training opportunities that strengthen the nation's semiconductor workforce.

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Related Programs

  • Chips for America

    Semiconductors, or chips, are tiny electronic devices that are integral to America’s economic and national security. These devices power tools as simple as a light switch and as complex as a fighter jet or a smartphone. Semiconductors power our consumer electronics, automobiles, data centers, critical infrastructure, and virtually all military systems. They are also essential building blocks of the technologies that will shape our future, including artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and clean energy.

    While the United States remains a global leader in semiconductor design and research and development, it has fallen behind in manufacturing and now accounts for only about 10 percent of global commercial production. Today, none of the most advanced logic and memory chips—the chips that power PCs, smartphones, and supercomputers—are manufactured at commercial scale in the United States. In addition, many elements of the semiconductor supply chain are geographically concentrated, leaving them vulnerable to disruption and endangering the global economy and U.S. national security.

    That’s why President Biden signed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 into law. The law provides the Department of Commerce with $50 billion for a suite of programs to strengthen and revitalize the U.S. position in semiconductor research, development, and manufacturing—while also investing in American workers.

  • PowerAmerica

    As a member of Manufacturing USA, PowerAmerica connects many of the world’s leading wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor manufacturers and end-users with experts from research universities and government labs. PowerAmerica is a member-driven consortium of industry, academia, and national labs — managed by North Carolina State University and headquartered on its Centennial Campus — accelerating the commercialization of energy-efficient silicon carbide and gallium nitride power semiconductor chips and electronics.

Related Reports

  • A Strategy for the CHIPS for America Fund

    | Semiconductors, Technology, Workforce

    This document describes the U.S. Department of Commerce’s implementation strategy for the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Fund, a $50 billion investment to catalyze long-term growth in the domestic semiconductor industry in support of our national and economic security.

  • Building Resilient Supply Chains, Revitalizing American Manufacturing, and Fostering Broad-Based Growth

    | Medical and Pharmaceutical, Semiconductors, Supply Chain

    The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic dislocation revealed long-standing vulnerabilities in our supply chains. The pandemic’s drastic impacts on demand patterns for a range of medical products including essential medicines wreaked havoc on the U.S. healthcare system. As the world shifted to work and learn from home, it created a global semiconductor chip shortage impacting automotive, industrial, and communications products, among others.