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The investment is meant to advance US leadership in
semiconductor R&D, cut down on the time and cost of commercialization of
new technologies, bolster national security and connect and support workers in
securing semiconductor jobs, the White House said in a statement Friday.
The investment funnels at least $5 billion to the NSTC, a
public-private consortium of the secretaries of Commerce, Defense, and Energy
and the director of the Natioal Science Foundation and Natcast CEO Deirdre
Hanford. (Natcast is the National Center for the Advancement of Semiconductor
Technology, a non-profit created to operate the NSTC.) “We need to be building for the future and
that means making investments in R&D,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo
told reporters prior to the official announcement.
Also, hundreds of millions of dollars are designated for
NSTC workforce efforts with the creation of a Workforce Center of Excellence.
Workforce needs are expected to mushroom as R&D expands and chip facilities
come online in future years. Currently, the US Labor Department tracks about
375,000 people employed in production of computer chips with an average income
of more than $82,000.
Also Friday, the Commerce Department released a notice of
intent to invest $200 million in a CHIPS manufacturing USA Institute, a digital
twin institute where innovators can replicate and experiments with
manufacturing processes at low cost.
Another notice of intent was issued to to fund up to $300
million in R&D for advanced packaging R&D. Commerce has also already awarded $100
million in funding across 29 projects in the CHIPS Metrology program for
development of new measurement methods, models and instruments.
Commerce and the Biden administration have been criticized
in recent days for delays in doling out grants for chip manufacturing provided
under the $53 billion CHIPS Act, signed into law by Biden in August 2022. The act includes $11 billion for R&D and
workforce development with $39 billion for grants.
Patrick Moorhead, founder and chief analyst at Moor Insights
& Strategy, said several large chipmakers, including Intel, that want to
build fabs in the US have slowed down timelines for new chip production or
construction over concerns with funding and CHIPS Act delays. He said the companies have such concerns but
cannot express their concerns out loud.