Tag: semiconductors

Zoho plans $700 million foray into chipmaking

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Homegrown software giant Zoho is embarking on an ambitious venture into chip manufacturing. With a proposed investment of $700 million, the company is actively seeking support and incentives from the government to bring this vision to life.

Founded in 1996 and based in Tamil Nadu, Zoho has carved a niche by offering a suite of software solutions and services to businesses across 150 countries, positioning itself as a competitor to international giants like Microsoft and Salesforce. This venture into chipmaking marks a significant pivot in Zoho’s business strategy, underlining its commitment to fostering technological innovation within India.

At the heart of Zoho’s proposal is the production of compound semiconductors. Unlike conventional silicon-based chips, these semiconductors are tailored for specialised commercial applications, promising to elevate India’s standing in the high-tech manufacturing sector. The initiative aligns with the nation’s strategic business objectives, complementing the government’s robust $10 billion incentive package designed to catapult India into the league of semiconductor powerhouses like Taiwan.

Also read: First Made-in-Assam semiconductors to roll out in a year, defence policy next: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), which oversees the country’s chip manufacturing ambitions, is currently scrutinising Zoho’s proposal. Sources reveal that MeitY seeks additional details regarding potential clientele and the broader impact of Zoho’s entry into this sector.

While Zoho has maintained silence on its ambitious plans, insiders confirmed to Reuters that the company has not only earmarked substantial investment for this venture but has also roped in a technological partner to kickstart operations from the ground up.

Earlier this year, Zoho’s founder and CEO, Sridhar Vembu, hinted at a chip design project in Tamil Nadu, though details were sparse. This strategic move into chip manufacturing is a first for Zoho and underscores a broader trend of Indian firms venturing into semiconductor production.

Zoho’s financial success, with annual revenues surpassing $1 billion in the fiscal year ending March 2023, sets a solid foundation for its foray into the semiconductor industry. This development comes on the heels of India’s approval for three semiconductor plants, involving over $15 billion in investments from conglomerates like Tata Group and CG Power. These facilities are poised to serve critical sectors such as defence, automobiles, and telecommunications, underscoring the strategic importance of semiconductors in India’s technological and economic landscape.

— With inputs from Reuters

Also read: India’s chip strategy moves forward with $21 billion proposals for semiconductor

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

First Made-in-Assam semiconductors to roll out in a year, defence policy next: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Assam government is getting ready to roll out a red carpet for the defence industry. Speaking exclusively to CNBC-TV18, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the state government will launch an incentive-based defence manufacturing policy within a few months after the election.

Sarma emphasised that after petroleum refining and semiconductors, the defence industry is the next priority for Assam.

Tata Electronics recently announced an investment of ₹27,000 crore to set up a semiconductor assembly and testing plant in Jagiroad, Assam. The Chief Minister said that the state government had been holding discussions with Tata Group for close to a year.

“All regulatory clearances are being given. I have heard that Tatas have already started producing chips in Karnataka on a pilot basis and supplying to customers. Tata Electronics has also taken possession of the land. We are fully aligned,” he added.

Sarma indicated that apart from fiscal incentives, land use concessions have also been given to the Tata Group.

The Chief Minister said that Assam’s own semiconductor policy is better than that of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu or any other state in the country. “Any company that is getting incentives under the Centre’s semiconductor policy will be given 50% of [the government’s] support as a fiscal incentive,” he said.

Speaking about the defence manufacturing policy, Sarma said that Assam is currently studying the defence industrial policies of Gujarat, UP and Karnataka and will soon try to launch a better version. “We will be rooting strongly for the defence sector and I am talking to all major defence companies,” he said.

Sarma said that apart from conventional industries, major investments are taking place in technologies of the future and he aims to make Assam a hub for manufacturing cutting-edge technology. “We are also considering ways to make Assam a hub for mobile phone assembly,” he added.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

SoftBank sells off Vision Fund assets as Masayoshi Son pivots to AI, chips

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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SoftBank Group Corp.’s flagship Vision Fund has quietly sold off or written down billions of dollars’ worth of its publicly-listed holdings in recent years, a sign of founder Masayoshi Son’s shift away from the venture capital deals that were once an obsession and toward strategic investments in semiconductors and artificial intelligence.

Since the end of 2021, the world’s biggest startup fund has seen its US-listed portfolio shrink by almost $29 billion, as it sold down stakes in companies such as Coupang Inc., DoorDash Inc. and Grab Holdings Ltd. and share prices fell, regulatory filings show. That figure doesn’t include the sale of the Vision Fund’s stake in chip designer Arm Holdings Plc back to SoftBank last year. The one-time tech kingmaker is now a shadow of its former self, having laid off more than a hundred staff and slowed new investments to a fraction of its past pace.

Son is selling off assets from the fund’s portfolio as he prepares for possible forays into AI and related hardware, said people familiar with the billionaire’s thinking. SoftBank’s equity capital market team — a group of traders from the likes of Goldman Sachs — has played a central role in monetising the Vision Fund’s sizable stakes with minimal market disruption, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing matters that are private.

Many of the investments led by the SoftBank chairman now bypass the Vision Fund and are orchestrated by the holding company. While Son long teased the possibility of a series of Vision Funds launched every two to three years, the prospect of a third Vision Fund — let alone a fourth — no longer comes up, said the people.

Instead, the fund’s reduced staff are mostly caretakers. The equity capital market team is instrumental in detecting the most opportune moments for assets sales, at times through block trades on secondary markets, the people said. They are concentrating on locking in investment gains and reversing any losses.

Son has moved on to new obsessions, inspired in part by the success of Arm. The chip designer’s market value has soared to around $106 billion since its market debut last year, making SoftBank’s 90% holding worth more than all of SoftBank.

One possible Son project on the horizon: bankrolling a $100 billion chip venture to compete with Nvidia Corp. and supply semiconductors to power the development of AI services. The 66-year-old’s plans remain in flux, the people said.

The SoftBank asset sale disclosures come from 13F filings to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and represent only the fund’s US-listed companies. That comprises about half of its publicly-listed portfolio firms by fair value. The Vision Fund also has been gradually selling down stakes in Indian startup Paytm and China’s SenseTime Group Inc., with SoftBank now owning less than 5% of either firm.

In terms of SoftBank’s overall net asset value, which subtracts liabilities, the Vision Fund contributed 7.3 trillion yen ($47 billion) at the end of December compared with about 9.5 trillion yen at the end of 2021. Arm’s contribution by the same measure came to 6.1 trillion yen at end-December.

A SoftBank representative declined to comment.

Strategy Shift

Seven years from the Vision Fund’s launch ceremony in Riyadh, the Tokyo-based investor has little to show from a push that directed billions of dollars’ worth of Saudi and Abu Dhabi sovereign funds into young tech firms. The experiment helped fuel a global surge in valuations that burst when Son’s exuberance met reality.

A series of high-profile implosions ensued, including those of WeWork Inc., Katerra Inc. and Zume Pizza Inc., damaging Son’s reputation and increasing his personal debts to the company.

SoftBank’s shift in strategy also reflects a reset in the broader venture capital market. The two Vision Funds and the Latin America funds together managed committed capital of more than $160 billion, by far the largest pot of startup capital ever collected. Staff initially went on the hunt for promising companies requiring investments of a minimum $100 million — more money than many young companies wanted or could spend effectively.

“SoftBank got fairly overextended into some early-stage companies where maybe they thought capital could be the real differentiator in the market,” Matt Murphy, a partner a Menlo Ventures. “That often didn’t work out well. Sometimes it did.”

The startup field has grown more conservative in recent years. VCs and companies have recognised the dangers of too much money.

“I don’t think there’s as much demand for that amount of capital in the market right now,” he said.

Accelerating Sales

Asset sales by the Vision Fund have been accelerating, according to SEC filings. Since the end of 2021, SoftBank divested sizable stakes in Coupang, but more than a quarter of the transaction volume has taken place this year. It’s also continued to sell down its stakes in Grab and DoorDash, and has fully exited from Uber Technologies Inc. and India’s Zomato Ltd.

At the same time, the Vision Fund sold back to SoftBank the 25% stake in Arm it obtained in lieu of $8.2 billion of SoftBank’s capital commitment. Cambridge, UK-based Arm, whose power-saving chip designs are used in virtually all mobile devices worldwide, went public in September.

In recent months, SoftBank is directly investing in companies it sees as strategically important, in some cases, taking controlling stakes. The Japanese investment firm is in talks to acquire British semiconductor startup Graphcore Ltd., Bloomberg reported. Earlier this week, SoftBank led a $1.05 billion funding round for UK self-driving startup Wayve Technologies Ltd., investing along with Nvidia and existing backer Microsoft Corp. In 2022, a SoftBank blank-check firm merged with robotics warehouse automation firm Symbotic Inc., and the two firms have since partnered on projects.

Past deals have included acquisitions of US carrier Sprint, as well as Vodafone Group Plc’s Japan operations and Yahoo Inc.’s stake in then-Yahoo Japan. The Sprint acquisition led to a boost in SoftBank’s stake in T-Mobile last year, the result of an agreement struck when T-Mobile bought Sprint in 2020.

“The Vision Fund has been a prolific seller”

For all but one of the past seven quarters, the total value of disposals at the Vision Fund has outweighed that of investments, the company’s earnings reports show. In the December quarter, the Vision Fund divested $2.2 billion of its assets while spending $90 million on investments.

That’s helped lift SoftBank’s cash pile to 6.2 trillion yen, up from 4.6 trillion yen at the end of 2021. The second Vision Fund still has around $6 billion to spend, but in practice, the money is Son’s to direct as he pleases, since the second Vision Fund has no external partners, the people familiar with the fund’s management said.

Kirk Boodry, an analyst at Astris Advisory, estimates the two Vision Funds sold at least $6 billion worth of their holdings in the fiscal year ended March. The first Vision Fund has sold at least $5 billion since Sept. 24, he said.

“The Vision Fund has been a prolific seller since September,” he said. “A growing cash pile could point to a deeper pivot to generative AI.”

The SEC filings also do not reflect sales or bankruptcies of unlisted companies in which SoftBank has invested. The Vision Funds together have invested in hundreds of startups, the majority of which remain privately held. The fund’s withdrawal from big new startup investments and generous follow-ons is contributing to a drought in global venture capital.

Some of the Vision Fund portfolio companies that have gone under this year include window-maker View Inc. and genetic-testing company Invitae Corp.

“No doubt, Vision Fund had an impact on startup valuations in 2020-2021,” Boodry said. “Those days are not coming back.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US to triple chipmaking capacity by 2032, industry group says

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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US chip production is poised to explode in coming years, helping ease a risky dependency on East Asia, according to a projection by the Semiconductor Industry Association.

Semiconductor manufacturing capacity in the country will triple by 2032, an SIA-commissioned study by the Boston Consulting Group found. That will take the US share of the industry to 14%, up from 10% currently, according to the report, which was released Wednesday.

The surge will reverse a downward trend for domestic chip production, which had been decamping for Asia in recent decades. Were it not for government funding programmes like the 2022 Chips and Science Act, the US share was on course to shrink to 8%, the study found.

The Washington-based SIA, which lobbied hard for the Chips Act, is eager to show that the legislation is paying off. It also wants the government to devote more funding to the cause.

“We’ve always said that the Chips Act was a strong first step, but we’re going to need more to get to the promised land,” SIA Chief Executive Officer John Neuffer said in an interview. “Our industry fully understands that we have an over-concentration of manufacturing in East Asia.”

The Chips Act set aside $39 billion in grants — plus $75 billion in loans and loan guarantees, and 25% tax credits — to persuade semiconductor firms to build factories on American soil. In the wake of that legislation, the US has secured commitments from all five of the world’s top chipmakers to add facilities in the country. That includes the three main manufacturers of cutting-edge logic chips, the components that serve as the brains of devices: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Samsung Electronics Co. and Intel Corp.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, whose agency is responsible for doling out Chips Act funds, has said the US aims to produce one-fifth of the world’s advanced logic chips by the end of the decade.

Building some extra capacity also will help protect against the kind of disruptions that occurred during the pandemic, Neuffer said. But that represents a shift away from the industry valuing efficiency above all else.

The US isn’t the only one increasing its chip manufacturing ambitions, according to the report. Mainland China is building about 30 new facilities for parts of the chip supply chain, topping the US’s 26. And there are eight such projects underway in the European Union.

Also Read: US revokes Intel, Qualcomm licences to sell chips to Huawei

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Huawei-led Chinese firms aim to make advanced memory chips by 2026: Report

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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A group of Chinese chip companies led by Huawei Technologies and backed by the country’s government aims to produce high-bandwidth memory (HBM) semiconductors, a key component in AI chips by 2026, The Information reported on Thursday.

The project, part of China’s efforts to provide home-grown alternatives to Nvidia’s AI chips, started last year and includes Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit, a memory chip maker under US sanctions along with Huawei, according to the report.

The group also relies on other Chinese chip producers and packaging technology developers and it will work to tailor its memory chips to Huawei-designed AI processor chips and supporting motherboard components, the report said.

Huawei and Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

China has in recent years poured investment into its domestic chip industry to reduce its dependence on foreign technology and overcome US export curbs that limit its access to advanced semiconductors including Nvidia’s AI chips.

While HBM chips are not directly under US restrictions on exports, they are made using American chip technology that Huawei is barred from accessing as part of the curbs.

The Information reported that the Huawei-led consortium had built at least two HBM production lines, using memory chips from different companies, in a form of internal competition. It added that Huawei would likely be the largest buyer of the HBMs.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Chipmaker Micron clinches total of up to $13.6 billion in US grants, loans

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The US plans to award Micron Technology Inc. $6.1 billion in grants and as much as $7.5 billion in loans to help the memory-chip maker build new American factories, rounding out a slew of major federal awards for advanced semiconductor manufacturing.

Micron has pledged to invest about $125 billion to build four factories in New York state and one in Idaho. The company — the largest US maker of memory chips — has separately applied for federal funding to support a project in Virginia, according to documents filed last week. US President Joe Biden is travelling to Syracuse, New York, as part of the event and plans to discuss how his agenda is shoring up the economy.

It will still be months before Micron actually receives any of the funding from the 2022 Chips and Science Act, which set aside $39 billion for grants and $75 billion worth of loans to boost American chipmaking and reduce reliance on Asia. Preliminary agreements like the one Micron announced Thursday trigger a due-diligence stage, after which the money will be handed out over time in tranches tied to construction and production benchmarks.

“The $6.1 billion will supercharge Micron to bring back leading-edge memory manufacturing to the US,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York told reporters ahead of the announcement. “We cannot have these chips made overseas and let them be made by competitors like China.”

One plant that’s already under construction in Micron’s home base of Boise will receive funding and be poised for production in 2026. Two more in the Syracuse area of New York State will be built and ready for manufacturing in 2028 and 2029. Micron also is planning two other facilities in New York that aren’t covered by the scope of Thursday’s preliminary agreement.

Computer memory is a vital part of everything from smartphones to supercomputers and works alongside processors made by companies such as Nvidia Corp. and Intel Corp. The funding award guarantees that Micron will proceed with its first cutting-edge manufacturing expansion in the US in more than 20 years. The company also has plants in Singapore, Japan and Taiwan.

But the expansion comes with risks for Micron. Memory chips have volatile prices because the components are built to industry specifications. That means they’re interchangeable, resulting in a commodity-like market. Rapid swings between shortages and gluts have characterized Micron’s history and made sustained profitability difficult to achieve. It reported a net loss of more than $5 billion last year — just a year after posting a huge profit.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo previously said that advanced chipmakers had requested more than double the amount of grant money set aside for them. The Commerce Department allocated roughly $28 billion of the $39 billion pool for top-of-the-line facilities.

The four main advanced manufacturers building in the US — Micron, Intel, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. — are set to receive a combined $27.6 billion in grants. The only other company that does such production, South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc., has committed to building an American packaging facility. That means the US will become the only country in the world with facilities run by all of the top manufacturers.

Micron’s projects are expected to generate 20,000 jobs spanning construction and manufacturing, according to the Commerce Department. The company has also signed labour agreements with construction unions for its New York and Idaho sites, and its Chips Act grant sets aside $40 million specifically for workforce training.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Biden makes $11 billion push to beat China at chip research

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Biden administration’s efforts to revitalise the chip industry have mostly focused on doling out multibillion-dollar grants for domestic factories. But there’s a less-discussed side to the push: turning cutting-edge semiconductor research into a more enticing field for Americans.

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Texas Instruments gives a solid forecast in sign of comeback

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Texas Instruments Inc. gave a bullish revenue forecast for the current quarter, indicating that a slump in demand for industrial and automotive components may be easing.

Sales in the period will be as much as $3.95 billion, the company said in a statement Tuesday. Analysts had estimated $3.78 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Profit will be $1.05 to $1.25 a share, versus a prediction of $1.17.

The report suggests that customers have begun to resume ordering chips after working through stockpiles of components — a good sign for the broader industry. Texas Instruments, which has the widest customer base among chipmakers, serves as a bellwether for confidence in the economy — across industries ranging from space hardware to consumer electronics.

Texas Instruments shares rose more than 7% in extended trading following the announcement. They had closed at $165.42 in New York on Tuesday.

Most of the customers in the company’s biggest segment — industrial equipment makers — have completed their inventory reduction efforts, Texas Instruments said. But some are still working through the process. That’s made for an uneven recovery in demand, Chief Financial Officer Rafael Lizardi said in an interview.

“Some end markets are still going down, and there are some that are behaving differently,” he said. “Ninety days ago, all end markets in industrial were going down.”

Still, the company isn’t reading too much into these early signs, which could be false indicators, he said. The chipmaker said it would continue its policy of not making broad predictions about future demand.

The forecast followed more than a year of shrinking sales. Revenue in first quarter declined 16% to $3.66 billion, marking the lowest level since 2020. Analysts had estimated $3.6 billion. Profit was $1.20 a share, down from $1.85 a year earlier.

The stock had lagged behind a rally by the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index this year. Investors have poured money into companies such as Nvidia Corp., rewarding them for the surge in orders related to artificial intelligence computing.

Texas Instruments, meanwhile, is the biggest maker of analog semiconductors and embedded processors. Its products perform simple but vital functions, such as converting power to different voltages within electronics.

Though some of its chips are used in the same machinery as Nvidia’s processors, many more of its products perform more prosaic roles in household electronics, factory machinery and vehicles.

Such chips generally require less advanced production techniques than digital products, but the company has embarked on an ambitious plan to revamp its manufacturing facilities. As part that effort, Texas Instruments will all but end outsourcing of production.

That should give Texas Instruments an advantage over competitors, particularly nascent ones in China, the company has argued. It is budgeting about $5 billion a year for new plants and equipment through 2026, an outlay that is weighing on profitability.

“That is where we have to fight,” Lizardi said. “China is the most competitive market. That’s where we have the best and most agile competitors.”

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Sharp considers major investment in India for display fab: Sources

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Sources have told CNBC-TV18 that Sharp Corporation has plans to establish a significant presence in India’s semiconductor market. Sharp is reportedly considering setting up and investing in a display fab facility, marking a substantial move that could position India as a key hub for its operations outside of Japan.

Per sources, meetings have taken place between Sharp representatives and senior government functionaries, where the company has expressed a clear intent to establish what could be the largest display fab facility outside of its home country. The discussions indicate that Sharp is actively exploring opportunities across various states in India, with plans for a sprawling 1,000-acre facility.

One of the primary motivations behind Sharp’s interest in India is to cater to the rapidly growing local demand for display technologies while also leveraging the country’s export potential. Sources suggest that the company is aiming to produce cutting-edge displays.

Also read: US to provide $6.1 billion to Micron Technology for chip plants in New York, Idaho

On Spectrum Allocaton

Meanwhile, government sources, shedding light on the telecom sector, have revealed ongoing developments in spectrum allocation. The government is currently engaged in an auction process for the allocation of spectrum for mobile services, emphasising a continued adherence to this method, sources said.

The recently passed Telecom Act has provisions for non-auction means of spectrum allocation, a move that is now being brought to the attention of the Supreme Court to ensure procedural propriety. Government officials have clarified that while the courts were not involved in the consultation process for the bill, steps are being taken to inform the judiciary of the decisions made.

It has been clarified that spectrum will primarily be assigned through auctions, with exceptions made for narrowly defined cases such as defence, police, aviation, and weather forecasting. Additionally, the Telecom Act provides for the allocation of spectrum for back-haul spectrum and satellite communications, highlighting a comprehensive approach to managing the country’s spectrum resources.

Also read: Intel to launch two AI chips for China with reduced capabilities

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

US to provide $6.1 billion to Micron Technology for chip plants in New York, Idaho

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The Biden administration has reached an agreement to provide $6.1 billion in government support for Micron Technology to produce advanced memory computer chips in New York and Idaho.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, personally courted Micron to build what would ultimately be a set of four chip factories near Syracuse in the town of Clay. He noted in a Wednesday interview that the announcement was a sign to voters about how Democrats were reviving the manufacturing sector.

”It will be the biggest memory chip plant in America,” said Schumer. “For the Syracuse area, this is the best thing that’s happened probably since the Erie Canal.”

The comparison to the 1825 infrastructure project that connected the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean is audacious, but it gets at the possible magnitude of the economic impact as well as the national security stakes in an increasingly digital world.

Including the government support, Micron plans to invest $100 billion in upstate New York over the next two decades. The investment would lead to an estimated 9,000 direct jobs and 40,000 construction jobs. Micron has also announced plans for a $15 billion memory chip plant in its hometown of Boise, Idaho.

The funding comes from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, which is set to provide government support for new and expanded facilities being developed by Intel, TSMC, Samsung and Global Foundries, among other chip companies.

The law included $52 billion to support the domestic semiconductor industry, reducing the risk that the chip shortages experienced amid the pandemic could hurt the US economy and national security.

The Democratic administration has set a goal for 20% of the world’s advanced chips to be made in the United States and has restricted the flow of chips into China.

A senior Biden administration official, insisting on anonymity to discuss the deal before its official announcement, confirmed the agreement with Micron.

President Joe Biden discussed in Pittsburgh on Wednesday the importance of computer chips that power everything from weapons to artificial intelligence to household appliances such as refrigerators.

Biden noted that Republican Donald Trump, the former president and his election-year rival, had not been as aggressive in boosting the sector and curbing China’s access to chips.

“For all this tough talk on China, it never occurred to my predecessor to do any of that,” Biden told a group of steelworkers.

Trump has told his supporters that China was “afraid” of him because he levied tariffs on the nation with the goal of supporting US factory jobs. Biden has kept the tariffs and on Wednesday suggested plans to expand them on steel and aluminum.

“I took on communist China like no administration in history,” Trump told supporters at a Saturday rally in Pennsylvania.

Also Read: US to award Samsung $6.4 billion in grants for Texas chip production complex

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3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow