Computer Chip Factories To Get $162 Million Boost From Biden

(NewsReady.com) – China currently holds a monopoly on microchips, and President Joe Biden’s administration wants to change that. The government is now pouring tens of millions of dollars into the technology.

On January 4, the administration announced the US Department of Commerce and Microchip Technology Inc. have come to an agreement that would provide the company with $162 million in federal grants. The Arizona-based semiconductor company supplies microchips to defense, automotive, and other industries.

Microchip Technology Inc. will use the money to ramp up the production of semiconductors used in appliances, cars, military products, and airplanes. Biden’s administration believes the grants will create over 700 direct jobs in manufacturing and construction.

The investment is part of the CHIPS and Science Act that the president signed into law in 2022. The bill gave the Commerce Department more than $50 billion to invest in semiconductors. About $39 billion will be doled out in the form of federal grants to encourage companies to set up facilities in the US.

The $162 million for Microchip Technologies Inc. will be split between two projects. About $72 million will be spent on an expansion of a fabrication facility in Gresham, Oregon. The other $90 million will be used to expand and modernize a fabrication facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado. According to the press release, the projects could triple the number of semiconductors Microchip Tech produces at its facilities. That would be a major step toward decreasing the United States’ reliance on foreign entities.

Microchip Tech is one of the multiple companies that are increasing their investments in their chip-making. In September, Intel announced it would be investing about $20 billion and building two new semiconductor factories. In October, Micron Technology celebrated a new manufacturing factory near Syracuse, New York. Then, in December, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company held an event in Phoenix where the company plans to build another new factory and invest $40 billion in microchips.