US Commerce Dept to provide $162 million to Microchip Technology to increase chip production in Colorado and Oregon.
The Biden Administration has announced an award of millions of dollars to Arizona-based Microchip Technology, in order to help it expand its US chip-making factories.
The US Commerce Department announced on Thursday that it plans to award Microchip Technology $162 million in government grants to increase US production of semiconductors and microcontroller units, that are key to the consumer and defence industries.
It comes after the Biden Administration signed into law the $52.7 billion US Chips and Science Act in August 2022, which seeks to encourage chip makers to build more semiconductor manufacturing capacity in the United States.
The US Chips and Science Act competes with Europe's 43 billion euro European Chip Act, and China's $40 billion state-backed investment fund - both of which are being used to encourage the building of more chip manufacturing capabilities in their respective locations.
In December last year, the US awarded a $35 million grant to the American subsidiary of UK aerospace firm BAE Systems, which was the first semiconductor grant under the 2022 Chips and Science Act.
It said the investment would enable Microchip to significantly increase its US production of microcontroller units and other specialty semiconductors built on mature-nodes critical to America's automotive, commercial, industrial, defence, and aerospace industries and create over 700 direct construction and manufacturing jobs.
Microchip's microcontroller units and mature-node semiconductors are said to be critical components in the production and manufacturing of electric vehicles and other cars, washing machines, mobile phones, airplanes, and the defense-industrial base.
Shortages of microcontrollers during the pandemic affected over 1 percent of global GDP, the US Commerce Department stated.
It said the approximately $162 million would be split across two projects: approximately $90 million to modernise and expand a fabrication facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and approximately $72 million to expand a fabrication facility in Gresham, Oregon.
Last month, Raimondo told media outlets that she expected to make about a dozen semiconductor chips funding awards in 2024, including some running into billions of dollars that could drastically reshape US chip production.
This Cyber News was published on www.silicon.co.uk. Publication date: Thu, 04 Jan 2024 16:43:05 +0000