Subsidies and investment for US silicon manufacturing will mean jobs and a lessened dependence on East Asia for badly needed semiconductors, according to the Biden administration. Credit: WH.gov President Biden on Tuesday signed into law the CHIPS and Science Act, which includes a $52.7 billion package of subsidies and grants to the US semiconductor manufacturing industry, in a move aimed at reducing the country’s dependence on Asian silicon makers and reinvigorating US chipmakers. Manufacturing incentives form the lion’s share of the funding in the bill, at $39 billion, but there’s also $2 billion for legacy chipmakers who make products critical to automotive and defense systems, $13.2 billion for research and workforce development, and $500 million for supply chain and networking security. “America invented the semiconductor, but today produces about 10% of the world’s supply—and none of the most advanced chips,” the president’s office said in a statement. “The CHIPS and Science Act will unlock hundreds of billions more in private sector semiconductor investment across the country, including production essential to national defense and critical sectors.” US chipmakers start investments in manufacturing Two major US chipmakers have already committed to expanding their domestic manufacturing facilities, in the run-up to the act’s passge. Qualcomm, in partnership with GlobalFoundries, said Monday that it would invest $4.2 billion to expand the latter company’s facility in Malta, NY. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat for New York, one of the key legislative supporters of the bill, said that the move is “terrific news” for industry and the community. “This deal to 2028 proves what we have always known – that the industry will grow here when we are competitive with Asia and Europe,” he said in a press release. “With major new federal incentives for microchip manufacturing in the U.S., I look forward to many more announcements like this to come.” The other major deal announced was memory manufacturer Micron’s commitment to $40 billion in new capacity spending, a move that the Biden administration said could create as many as 40,000 new jobs. While the bill enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress and is generally popular in most quarters of the technology industry, some companies aren’t thrilled about what was left out of the CHIPS and Science Act. According to Gartner Research vice president and analyst Gaurav Gupta, US-based chip designers and some fabless semiconductor companies have expressed irritation that the bill provides the vast majority of its funding for manufacturers only—not for other parts of the silicon sector. “If you talk to folks in the industry, you’ll get that view that it’s not going to benefit everyone equally,” he said in an interview with Computerworld last month. Nor will the Act solve the semiconductor industry’s broader issues on its own, according to Forrester vice president and research director Glenn O’Donnell, who said that problems caused by supply chain failures and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will continue to be felt for the foreseeable future. “Big problems in the semiconductor market will take a long time to resolve,” he said in a statement. “Also, the US government will need to establish oversight bureaucracy before it can disburse any investments.” Related content feature Windows 11 Insider Previews: What’s in the latest build? Get the latest info on new preview builds of Windows 11 as they roll out to Windows Insiders. Now updated for Build 22635.3566 for the Beta Channel, released on April 26, 2024. By Preston Gralla Apr 26, 2024 251 mins Small and Medium Business Microsoft Windows 11 news Dropbox adds end-to-end encryption for team folders Dropbox this week unveiled a range of features, including security updates and key management, and the ability to co-edit Microsoft 365 documents from within the file-sharing app. By Matthew Finnegan Apr 26, 2024 3 mins Cloud Storage Collaboration Software Productivity Software feature Android versions: A living history from 1.0 to 15 Explore Android's ongoing evolution with this visual timeline of versions, starting B.C. (Before Cupcake) and going all the way to 2024's Android 15 (beta) release. By JR Raphael Apr 26, 2024 23 mins Small and Medium Business Smartphones Android news analysis The unspoken obnoxiousness of Google's Gemini improvements Google's Gemini chatbot is seeing all sorts of upgrades on Android this week, but those advancements reveal a darker underlying reality. By JR Raphael Apr 26, 2024 12 mins Google Assistant Google Android Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe