- Commerce plans to provide up to $874 million in CHIPS incentives to support semiconductor R&D projects
- Funding will support technologies such as integrated photonics, advanced packaging, AI memory, compute architectures and semiconductor materials
- Investments are intended to strengthen U.S. semiconductor supply chains and advance next-generation computing and AI capabilities
The Department of Commerce has signed seven letters of intent to provide federal incentives totaling up to $874 million to support domestic semiconductor research and development.
What Technologies Will Be Supported?
The National Institute of Standards and Technology said Wednesday the incentives, authorized under the CHIPS and Science Act, are intended to fund R&D efforts for integrated photonics, advanced packaging, compute architectures, substrates, materials and memory for next-generation computing and artificial intelligence systems.
The initiative aims to strengthen U.S. semiconductor supply chains and advance next-generation computing capabilities, with the resulting technologies expected to support AI infrastructure and applications in fields such as materials science, industrial optimization, defense systems, robotics, finance and pharmaceutical research.
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Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said the funding is meant to build domestic capabilities, create jobs and support the semiconductor industry.
Which Companies Are Receiving CHIPS Incentives?
GlobalFoundries is slated to receive up to $300 million to accelerate research on co-packaged optics. According to the company, the proposed funding will support development of next-generation silicon photonics, optical materials, wafer technologies and advanced packaging intended for AI and high-performance computing applications.
Kepler will receive $245 million to develop AI memory technology based on 3D and ferroelectric architectures, while Multibeam has been allotted $140 million for advanced packaging work. Extropic’s award totals $75 million for thermodynamic sampling units and Thintronics was granted $50 million for ultra-low-loss inter-layer dielectrics.
OBSIDIA Semiconductors secured $34 million for counterfeit component identification systems and Aeluma picked up $30 million for substrate technology used in photodetectors and lasers. Aeluma said the proposed award will support development of a non-indium phosphide semiconductor manufacturing platform designed to address supply chain constraints affecting photonic components used in AI interconnects and communications systems.
