The US Department of Commerce has finalized a subsidy of more than $6.1 billion for memory chip manufacturer Micron Technology to stimulate the construction of domestic semiconductor production facilities, Reuters writes, citing a White House statement.
Image source: Micron Technology
Micron Technology’s grant, unchanged from what was originally announced in April of this year, is one of the largest government grants awarded to chip companies under the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. ). The funds will finance the construction of Micron Technology plants in New York and Idaho, which is expected to create at least 20,000 jobs by the end of the decade.
The Commerce Department and Micron Technology also agreed to preliminary terms for an additional $275 million investment to expand the company’s Manassas, Virginia, plant, which primarily produces chips for the automotive, networking and industrial markets. The investment, the White House said, will help “secure critical technology that the defense, automotive and national security industries rely on.”
President Joe Biden’s administration has stepped up efforts to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing as it seeks to reduce reliance on supplies from China and Taiwan. The US has already completed a number of subsidies, including a grant of $7.86 billion for Intel, $6.6 billion for the US division of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and $1.5 billion for GlobalFoundries.
The final grants come just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump, who has criticized the Biden administration’s initiative, takes office.