The efforts of the Biden administration To revitalize the microchip industry they have focused mainly on providing multi-million dollar subsidies for domestic factories. However, there is a less discussed aspect of this initiative: make cutting-edge semiconductor research a more attractive field for Americans.
As part of the Chips and Science Act of 2022he Department of Commerce is investing 11 billion dollars to promote the leadership of USA in research and development. hope is create the next generation of critical electronic components and surpass Beijing in the battle for advanced technology. This will range from developing better measurement techniques for microelectronic materials to new strategies for what is known as chip packaging – assemble the components for use.
Officials have allocated almost 85% of the incentives for manufacturing the Chip Lawincluding a $6.1 billion grant to Micron Technology Inc. which will be announced this Thursday. But they are just beginning to open applications for R&D funds that some experts say could be more critical in the long term.
A key point in the effort is attract a tech workforce who might otherwise choose to pursue artificial intelligence software or another more fashionable area. But the initiative has raised questions about whether it has enough funding, or the right approachto make it.
“We must find ways to make it easier for people to get into chip design in this country.“, said Deirdre Hanfordwho leads the new National Semiconductor Technology Center government-backed, or NSTC. The administration, she said, is “trying to build the economy and generate innovation.”
The money of the Chip Law helped finance the NSTC and a program focused on advanced packaging. The origins of this R&D push precede the pandemic, and it is apart from the 39 billion dollars in production incentives for companies such as Intel Corp. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
These subsidies are just the first step in keeping the chip economy healthy. Americasaid Daniel Bergerassociate director of the packaging effort Trade. “The R&D program, of which I am part, is for hold it, keep it here“, said.
The department has already funded some initial projects focused on metrology, or the science of measurement. Officials plan to create a pilot facility to transition new packaging technologies to full-scale production, as well as workforce development programs.
But Key industry groups and academics are warning that the agency risks undermining its own objectives. New guidance would allow the federal government to take control of patents developed with the help of taxpayer funds, and license those inventions to another entity. That’s a controversial approach.
This intervention framework, revealed in December, was born from an effort to lower drug prices. But it affects all federally funded R&D, he said. Joe Allenexecutive director of the Bayh-Dole Coalitionnamed by the 1980 law which allows organizations to own, patent and sell products created with public R&D money.
The preliminary policywill undermine interest” in the R&D programs of the Chip Lawwrote the National Association of Manufacturers“at a time when China has prioritized becoming a leader in the products and technologies of the future.” The National Venture Capital Association said that “VCs are questioning their participation and investment in programs produced from their prominent legislation.”
These proposals were reconsidered by the North American Technology Councilsthe Duke University and the Ohio State University Innovation Foundationthe flagship school near a massive manufacturing factory Intel proposal.
A representative of Department of Commerce He said he has seensignificant interest from industry and academia in securing funding of the Chips program and meet the objectives of the Chips program, including adhering to public financing requirements.”
The department originally intended to supplement its investment of 11 billion dollars with a separate program for commercial R&D, leveraging money from the 39 billion dollars in manufacturing subsidies.
But those plans are on hold after the Pentagon will withdraw from an agreement to spend 2.5 billion dollars on military chips. He Congress directed the Department of Commerce to cover that financing gap by itself. This led to a weeks-long search, according to people familiar with the matter, as officials tried to reallocate the pool of incentive money.
Ultimately, they chose to scrap the commercial R&D program, citing “Recent Congressional Direction on the Latest Appropriations Bill” – and the fact that the financing of the Chip Law It is already insufficient to meet the overwhelming demand.
This led to some consequences in the chip industry. Applied Materials Inc.the largest US maker of semiconductor equipment, is reconsidering a planned R&D investment of 4 billion dollars in Silicon Valleyreported the San Francisco Chronicle. The company said in a statement that “Without robust support for commercial R&Dwe risk our global leadership and ability to outperform our foreign competitors in the semiconductor industry,” the company said in a statement. California Governor Gavin Newsomand the Senator Alex Padilla. The R&D fund of 11 billion dollars “it cannot replace direct commercial investments.”
