News from CHIPS Incentives and R&D

Since President Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act, the U.S. Department of Commerce has been standing up a CHIPS for America team to implement this landmark law that will protect U.S. national security, enhance economic competitiveness, and accelerate American innovation.

The CHIPS for America team is building out a roster of cross-sector experts to support this critical mission and drive it forward with the urgency it deserves. As work gets underway, we wanted to share updates about when we plan to announce funding opportunities and on other important efforts.

CHIPS Incentives

We are excited to share that, later this month, the Department of Commerce plans to announce more details regarding funding opportunities and application processes.

• In late February, the Department plans to release a Notice of Funding Opportunity for commercial leading-edge, current, and mature node fabrication facilities. This includes both “front-end” semiconductor manufacturers and “back-end” packaging facilities.
• In late spring, the Department plans to release another funding announcement focused on material suppliers and equipment manufacturers.
• In early fall, the Department plans to announce a funding opportunity to support the construction of semiconductor R&D facilities that will further strengthen the U.S. semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem.
• These announcements will contain detailed guidance, processes, and timelines for organizations to apply for CHIPS incentives.

The U.S. must move quickly to build out both leading-edge facilities and the current and mature node facilities that are critical to our economic and national security. While the first funding opportunity is directed toward chipmakers, we know the broader semiconductor supply chain and R&D efforts are essential to creating a competitive ecosystem for semiconductor manufacturing.

We will want to hear from everyone once we announce the first funding opportunity. We will provide all companies across the semiconductor supply chain the opportunity to submit a short statement of interest to inform the Department of Commerce of their anticipated interest in CHIPS funding and to share initial project visions.

CHIPS Research and Development

On Feb. 7, 2023, the Industrial Advisory Committee held its second public meeting. The agenda included discussions and recommendations from working groups on research and development gaps, public-private partnerships, and workforce.

This quarter, the Department of Commerce plans to release a vision and strategy paper for the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC). The NSTC will be a public-private consortium that will serve as the focal point for semiconductor research for the nation.

Along with the manufacturing incentives to expand semiconductor R&D facilities, these efforts will be critical to making more chips in America as well as developing the innovation and emerging technologies that will define the 21stcentury.

EDA Tech Hubs

In addition, CHIPS for America looks forward to working with our colleagues at the Economic Development Administration (EDA) as they prepare to launch the Tech Hubs program, which is a complementary but separate program from CHIPS. The Tech Hubs program aims to drive innovation and economic growth in regions throughout the country to make the United States a leader in the industries of the future. The Department of Commerce and EDA received funding for Tech Hubs at the end of 2022. EDA will share more information when available.

Learn More

Visit CHIPS.gov to learn more about CHIPS for America. The website contains many helpful resources including webinars, the CHIPS Implementation Strategy, and the NSTC Update to the Community. If you have questions, please reach out to AskCHIPS [at] chips.gov (AskCHIPS[at]chips[dot]gov).