The Chips for America Act aims to bring the world’s best chip makers to US soil and, incidentally, encourage their development through public funds, where any company that is within this sector, including research and development , packaging or material suppliers may apply. for wealth. Well, months after it was announced, here comes the first application data and… it’s a smashing success. More than 300 companies have applied for the US Chips Fund, which is unprecedented.
Keeping in mind that the sector, although it is huge, is not really that big in the number of companies, the fact that the Biden administration opened the tap for any company that deals with the semiconductor sector will ultimately lead to a huge There is success. And it is that the number of applications is higher than before.
More than 300 companies have submitted their applications for the US CHIPS legislation.
A new report from Everglades puts several eyes on the dot. Notably, the number of companies requesting SOI (Declaration of Interest) is already more than 300 with all of them spread across no less than 37 states. Taking into account that there are 50 states in the US, this is more than half as widespread (74% to be exact), which means that the money will be distributed among many regions of the country, making the entire state Jobs will be created. joined in.
The said report noted that more than half of the submitted SOIs focused on initial funding opportunities for the construction of commercial manufacturing facilities, indicating that the industry is moving to solve supply problems, in principle, They will come in the near future, although not at the level of 2021, for example.
Because they have received so many SOIs, the CHIPS Program Office will review them on a first-come, first-served basis, where it is expected that the largest manufacturers, such as Intel, will be among the first to receive such funding, Because they were in the top 3 of the applications when the announcement was made. intention of the US government.
Are Funds for Everyone?
It is not surprising that everyone wants “free” money (the conditions for obtaining it are quite stringent). The CHIPS Program Office continues to accept SOIs and as such, voices question whether the money is sufficient for all projects.
Let’s remember that the former president and founder of TSMC told the US government that 52,000 million was enough only to start, and exactly this fund would be for all companies, not just one or at least a few. So, if there is no short-term funding, the Biden administration has ensured that the total amount for investment over the next five years will be 170 billion, three times more than what is being offered now.
The idea is that the financing reaches all companies as quickly as possible, especially the leading companies that moved quickly and submitted their SOIs earlier, so that they can compete with investments from Samsung and TSMC, as well as from Taiwan and Korea. be able to compete A fratricidal war to see who comes first and who dominates the most important technology of our era, semiconductors.
