“We have always been a nation of investment, entrepreneurship, and innovation. That is our edge. We have to keep our edge,” said Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo during her speech today at Georgetown University on the CHIPS Act.
Secretary Raimondo emphasized the importance of semiconductor research and manufacturing in the context of national and economic security. This demonstrated commitment to bringing our semiconductor industry home to the United States further strengthens our economy by creating thousands of jobs and our industry by promoting competition and innovation of semiconductor manufacturing and development companies.
We, at Quantum Computing Inc., stand with Secretary Raimondo and the U.S. investment into this vital industry.
“Semiconductors are unique… they form the foundation of every single advanced technology,” said Raimondo.
In case you missed the Secretary’s speech today (Feb 23, 2023), here’s a summary and the highlights we heard:
Overview
Today the Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo spoke at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. Secretary Raimondo discussed the CHIPS Act in the context of national security, global supply chains, international ally networks, and industry building.
The Secretary compared the semiconductor industry and the CHIPS Act to the 1960s space race that built a new generation of innovators and scientists which is what this administration aims to do with the CHIPS Act and the semiconductor industry. The CHIPS Act is the single largest public investment to date.
“Every one of those technologies (chips) can be used for good or in the wrong hands used for maligned purposes. The stakes could not be higher,” said Raimondo.
Main Takeaways
- On Tuesday February 28th the Department of Commerce will be releasing the first application for CHIPS funding for the $39 billon available to companies to develop chip manufacturing facilities.
- The goal of the Act is to create at least two larger clusters of fabs in the United States that will be a robust supplier ecosystem composed of research and development, design of hardware and software, manufacturing facilities, and packaging facilities.
- The U.S. is also prioritizing increasing the production of legacy chips for the healthcare and automotive industries.
- The Commerce Department will fund $11 billion for research and development to sustain the industry. Part of this $11 billion will go towards the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) which is a public and private partnership tasked with solving the most relevant research and development challenges of the industry.
- Opportunities for startups and smaller companies will be emphasized in this program to foster competition and innovation.
- The U.S. is not looking to be entirely self-sufficient; we will continue to rely on some of our allies to secure and develop these technologies but we will not rely on other countries for the development, manufacturing, and packaging of these materials.
Challenges
A publicly funded initiative of this scale is difficult to implement. With the implementation strategy they have they are prioritizing the longevity of the industry and not the fast start of manufacturing.
The U.S must also create packaging facilities for these technologies so that we do not have to export our products to be packaged but have a complete product ready for distribution within the U.S..
Call to Action
The Secretary of Commerce called to action universities, high schools, and community colleges to prioritize developing programs that will get students to be work ready from day one of working on the job. This includes offering apprenticeship programs in high schools and offering tailored courses to the semiconductor manufacturing industry.
Secretary Raimondo also called on private capital investment to build on the government investment in this industry to see demonstrated and sustainable growth. This includes private investment in manufacturing as well as private investment in semiconductor research.