Since releasing the first CHIPS for America funding opportunity in February 2023, the Department of Commerce’s CHIPS Program Office has received widespread interest and enthusiasm from the private sector. As of this week, the Department has received more than 200 Statements of Interest (SOIs) from potential applicants seeking incentives to manufacture more semiconductor chips in America, protect our long-term national security, and solidify America’s technological and innovation leadership.
Of the over 200 statements the Department has received:
- The projects described in these statements cover 35 states and span the entire semiconductor ecosystem.
- More than half of the statements indicate interest in the first funding opportunity covering commercial fabrication facilities, including for leading-edge, current-generation, and mature-node chips, as well as back-end packaging facilities.
- The remainder of the statements indicate interest in the forthcoming funding opportunities for semiconductor suppliers and R&D facilities.
President Biden’s Investing in America agenda has already attracted private investments rebuilding our supply chains to create a manufacturing resurgence, and it is clear the private sector remains eager to continue investing in America. The potential applicants described in the statements include leading-edge fabs, facilities producing legacy chips, back-end packaging facilities, plants to make materials and chemicals, and more.
Department Accepting Statements on Rolling Basis
The CHIPS Program Office is continuing to accept Statements of Interest (SOIs) and will consider applications on a rolling basis and encourages all potential applicants seeking incentives for commercial fabrication facilities, upstream supply chain facilities, and R&D facilities to keep filing them. The statements will continue helping the Department understand project interest and plan funding. While there is widespread interest in CHIPS for America funding, the Department will evaluate applications on whether projects advance U.S. economic and national security. These incentives are intended to spur investment and crowd in private capital–not replace it.
ICYMI: CHIPS for America on Bloomberg’s Odd Lots Podcast
This week, CHIPS Program Office Director Mike Schmidt and Chief Investment Officer Todd Fisher joined Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal on Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast to provide updates on implementing the CHIPS Act. Bloomberg noted they joined to discuss “the act’s goals, what’s been achieved so far, and why they believe it can succeed.” Schmidt and Fisher talked about how the CHIPS for America program is planning to evaluate how applications advance economic and national security, what Commerce is hearing from companies about the need for strong workforce development, and how the team is structured and planning to invest across the semiconductor ecosystem.
