According to a report from The Wall Street Journal on Saturday, the Biden administration is poised to allocate billions of dollars in subsidies to major Advanced Chips, semiconductor companies like Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in the coming weeks.
The aim is to facilitate the construction of new semiconductor factories in the United States, particularly focusing on advanced chip manufacturing crucial for various applications including smartphones, artificial intelligence, and defense systems.
Industry executives familiar with the negotiations anticipate that some of these subsidy announcements could precede U.S. President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address scheduled for March 7.
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Among the anticipated recipients of these subsidies, Intel has ongoing projects in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico, and Oregon, amounting to a total investment exceeding $43.5 billion. TSMC, another likely recipient, is constructing two facilities near Phoenix with a combined investment of $40 billion. South Korea’s Samsung Electronics is also in contention with a $17.3 billion project in Texas.
Additional major contenders for the subsidies include Micron Technology, Texas Instruments, and GlobalFoundries, according to The Wall Street Journal’s sources.
As of the time of reporting, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Intel, and TSMC have not responded to Reuters’ requests for comment on the matter.
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Last December, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo announced plans to make approximately a dozen funding awards for semiconductor chip production within the next year. These awards, including multibillion-dollar subsidies, are expected to significantly reshape chip production in the United States.
The first subsidy award was disclosed in December, with over $35 million allocated to a BAE Systems facility in New Hampshire to manufacture chips for fighter planes. This subsidy is part of the $39 billion “Chips for America” program approved by the U.S. Congress in 2022.
