In a blog post Wednesday, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) said Commerce’s CHIPS Research and Development Office signed letters of intent with seven companies to provide a combined $874 million in federal funding under the landmark CHIPS and Science Act.
The financial awards will be used to conduct research and development on critical technologies and advanced integrated photonics — a microchip technology that uses light instead of electricity to transfer and process data.
It will also be used for research and development on compute architectures and memory for computing and artificial intelligence systems, according to NIST.
“The Department will receive a minority, non-controlling equity stake in each company as a condition for receiving the funds to enhance the return for the U.S. taxpayer,” NIST wrote.
Up to $300 million will go to GlobalFoundries, a semiconductor manufacturer, while Kepler, which is developing AI memory and logic technologies, will receive up to $245 million.
Multibeam Corp. will get up to $140 million for the company’s semiconductor equipment manufacturing, NIST said, with remaining funds going to equipment makers Extropic, Thintronics, Obsidia Semiconductors and Aeluma Inc.
“These strategic investments will enhance our country’s domestic capabilities, create high-paying jobs and keep America at the forefront of the semiconductor industry,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wrote in a press release.
Read more in a full report at TheHill.com.
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