National Semiconductor Technology Center

Establishing U.S. Leadership in Future Semiconductor Technologies

The National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), a key component of the CHIPS Research and Development (R&D) Office established by President Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act, will be a public-private consortium dedicated to semiconductor R&D in the United States. The NSTC will convene the U.S. government, allied and partner nations, and organizations across the semiconductor ecosystem—including academia and businesses of all kinds—to address the most challenging barriers to continued technological progress in the domestic semiconductor industry, including the need for a capable workforce.

Why Do We Need the NSTC?

Semiconductors power everything, including computers, smartphones, appliances, automobiles, gaming hardware, medical equipment and other critical devices, and more. Since Jack Kilby demonstrated the first integrated circuit in 1958, the rate of advancement has been astonishing. Despite many predictions of fundamental barriers along the way, semiconductors have arguably become the most sophisticated systems known to mankind, and progress continues today. Society will rely on yet more progress as semiconductors continue to be the building blocks of the technologies that will shape our future, including artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, and clean energy. Because semiconductors are a critical technology that underpins society, we must ensure that the U.S. leads the world in both innovation and manufacturing.

As semiconductor technology becomes more sophisticated, this progress comes at an increasing cost. New innovations require a greater investment to make it to market. Making an impact with a new invention can require more capital than most start-ups can afford. In some cases, even the largest companies cannot take on the risk required to bring new technologies into production.

The CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 established the NSTC as a public-private partnership to help overcome these challenges. The NSTC will convene initiatives that are too large and risky for a single company, provide physical and digital infrastructure that smaller companies cannot afford, enable the use of data that individual companies cannot access to unlock progress in new ways, and help train our next generation of scientists and engineers.

The NSTC has three strategic goals:  

1. Extend U.S. leadership in foundational technologies for future applications and industries and strengthen the U.S. semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem
2. Significantly reduce the time and cost to prototype innovative ideas
3. Build and sustain a semiconductor workforce development ecosystem

How will the NSTC work?

The Department expects that the NSTC consortium, once established, will be operated by SemiUS (pronounced "sem-ee-you-ess"), an independent, non-profit entity that was created for this purpose. SemiUS will execute programs, solicit input from members on the objectives of the NSTC, and establish a technical advisory board. SemiUS will work in partnership with the CHIPS NSTC Program Office at the Department of Commerce to develop and fund these activities.

On November 9, 2023, the Department of Commerce announced it had reached a initial agreement with SemiUS that lays the foundation for starting operations. 

Who is the NSTC for?

The NSTC will convene government, industry, customers, suppliers, educational institutions, researchers, entrepreneurs, workforce representatives, and investors to address the semiconductor ecosystem’s most pressing challenges and provide immediate, hands-on knowledge transfer and training to participants. To reach the broadest possible participation, it is essential that the NSTC is viewed throughout the semiconductor ecosystem as neutral, trusted, and science driven.

The NSTC intends to serve organizations of all types and sizes: