It has been a little more than two years since the inception of the CHIPS and Science Act and the result will be a tripling of domestic semiconductor manufacturing capacity by 2032, according to new data from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).
The projected 203% growth — from 2022 — will represent the largest projected percent increase in the world during that time. Additionally, the U.S. will capture about one-quarter of total global capital expenditure from 2024-2032.
So far, the manufacturing incentives through the CHIPS Act have results in 90 new projects across 28 U.S. states. This equates to billions of dollars in private investments since the act was introduced and the creation of more than 58,000 jobs in the semiconductor ecosystem.
Final funding
The CHIPS Act continues to move forward with the finalization of the direct funding investments. The goal is to expand and boost domestic U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, up R&D spending and strengthen back-end technologies like packaging and assembly.
In the past few weeks, both pure play foundries GlobalFoundries and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) finalized their agreements with the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC) to receive direct funding through the CHIPS Act.
TSMC
TSMC received up to $6.6 billion through the CHIPS Act that will be used to support the construction of three semiconductor fabs in the Phoenix, Arizona, area. TSMC said it will invest about $65 billion in the facilities that will be leading-edge fabs. The DoC will disburse the funds based on TSMC’s competition of project milestones at the Arizona fabs.
TSMC originally planned one fab but quickly expanded it to two fabs. Once it was cleared to receive Chips Act funding the Taiwanese chip manufacturing giant said it now planned for three fabs to support its own endeavors of expanding its reach globally. This aligned with the America’s plans to up its semiconductor manufacturing in the next 10 years.
GlobalFoundries
The DoC also has finalized up to $1.5 billion in direct funding for GlobalFoundries through the CHIPS Act. The award comes after it originally made an agreement with GF back in February.
The funding will be used to help GF support its investment in new fabs and expansion of fabs at its manufacturing sites in New York and Vermont. GF is investing about $13 billion over the next 10 years in these chip fabs that produce semiconductors for the automotive, smart mobile, aerospace and defense and communications sectors.
These funds will also be disbursed on GF’s completion of project milestones.
“The new investments will advance essential semiconductor production for automotive, communications, and defense applications,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO of SIA. “We urge leaders in Washington to get more CHIPS agreements finalized expeditiously to help keep America on top in chip technology for many years to come.”
Digital Twins
Meanwhile, the DoC and the Semiconductor Research Corporation Manufacturing Consortium Corp. (SRC) are negotiating an investment of $285 million to establish and operate a Manufacturing USA institute to focus efforts to develop, validate and use digital twins to improve domestic chip design, manufacturing, advanced packaging, assembly and test processes.
Called Semiconductor Manufacturing and Advanced Research with Twins USA (SMART USA), the institute will join an existing network of 17 organizations designed to increase U.S. manufacturing competitiveness and promote R&D infrastructure.
The facility will be headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, and convene companies, startups, researchers and academia to:
- Speed up development and adoption of advanced chip technology.
- Shorten time and cost of chip production.
- Provide training opportunities for chip workers.
