US President Joe Biden’s administration is providing US$162 million to Microchip Technology Inc to support the domestic production of computer chips — the second funding announcement tied to a 2022 law designed to revive US semiconductor manufacturing.
The incentives include US$90 million to improve a plant in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and US$72 million to expand a factory in Gresham, Oregon, the US Department of Commerce in a statement said.
The investments would enable Microchip to triple its domestic production and reduce its dependence on foreign factories.
Photo: Reuters
Much of the money would fund the making of microcontrollers, which are used by the military as well as in autos, household appliances and medical devices. US government officials said they expected the investments to create 700 construction and manufacturing jobs over the next decade.
US National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard said that the funding would help to tame inflation.
“Semiconductors are the key input in so many goods that are vital to our economy,” said Brainard, adding that greater US production of chips would have reduced the supply problems that caused the cost of autos and washing machines, among other goods, to rise as the country emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.
In August 2022, Biden signed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, which provides more than US$52 billion to boost the development and manufacturing of semiconductors in the US.
Last month, the US Department of Commerce announced the first grants by saying it reached an agreement to provide US$35 million to BAE Systems Inc, which plans to expand a New Hampshire factory making chips for military aircraft, including F-15 and F-35 jets.
More than 570 firms have expressed interest in the CHIPS Act program, and US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo has said the administration plans to make about a dozen awards this year.
Apple Inc has closed in on an agreement with OpenAI to use the start-up’s technology on the iPhone, part of a broader push to bring artificial intelligence (AI) features to its devices, people familiar with the matter said. The two sides have been finalizing terms for a pact to use ChatGPT features in Apple’s iOS 18, the next iPhone operating system, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the situation is private. Apple also has held talks with Alphabet Inc’s Google about licensing its Gemini chatbot. Those discussions have not led to an agreement, but are ongoing. An OpenAI
INSATIABLE: Almost all AI innovators are working with the chipmaker to address the rapidly growing AI-related demand for energy-efficient computing power, the CEO said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reported about 60 percent annual growth in revenue for last month, benefiting from rapidly growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing applications. Revenue last month expanded to NT$236.02 billion (US$7.28 billion), compared with NT$147.9 billion in April last year, the second-highest level in company history, TSMC said in a statement. On a monthly basis, revenue surged 20.9 percent, from NT$195.21 billion in March. As AI-related applications continue to show strong growth, TSMC expects revenue to expand about 27.6 percent year-on-year during the current quarter to between US$19.6 billion and US$20.4 billion. That would
‘FULL SUPPORT’: Kumamoto Governor Takashi Kimura said he hopes more companies would settle in the prefecture to create an area similar to Taiwan’s Hsinchu Science Park The newly elected governor of Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture said he is ready to ensure wide-ranging support to woo Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to build its third Japanese chip factory there. Concerns of groundwater shortages when TSMC’s two plants begin operations in the prefecture’s Kikuyo have spurred discussions about the possibility of tapping unused dam water, Kumamoto Governor Takashi Kimura said in an interview on Saturday. While Kimura said talks about a third plant have yet to occur, Bloomberg had reported TSMC is already considering its third Japanese fab — also in Kumamoto — which would make more advanced chips. “We are
KEY TECHNOLOGY: South Korea’s semiconductor exports reached US$11.7 billion in March, and the chip sector accounts for one-fifth of the nation’s total exports South Korea would set up an aid package worth more than US$7 billion to support its chip industry, the South Korean Ministry of Economy and Finance said yesterday. This initiative follows its pledge last year to build the world’s largest chip center using US$240 billion of private investment, primarily from Samsung Electronics Co, the world’s largest memorychip maker, as it seeks an edge in the global industry. Seoul “is preparing an assistance package of more than 10 trillion won (US$7.3 billion) to support fabless, chips materials and manufacturing equipment in all areas of chips industry,” South Korean Minister of Economy and Finance