The U.S. Commerce Department has finalised awards to Samsung Electronics, Texas Instruments, and Amkor Technology as part of the CHIPS Incentives Program’s Funding Opportunity for Commercial Fabrication facilities on December 20.
Under the award, Samsung received up to US$4.75 billion, and Texas Instruments and Amkor Technology received up to $1.6 billion.
The awards are part of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which was a key part of President Joe Biden's Investing in America agenda. It provides $52.7 billion in federal funding to revitalise the U.S. semiconductor industry.
The award will help each company invest in state-of-the-art facilities to create and test chips and boost job growth.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, said the investment into Samsung will make it the only country in the world to be home to all five leading-edge semiconductor manufacturers.
“This is an extraordinary achievement, which will ensure we have a steady, domestic supply of the most advanced semiconductors essential to AI and national security, while also creating tens of thousands of good-paying jobs and transforming communities across the country,” she said.
Young Hyun Jun, Vice Chairman and CEO of Device Solutions Division at Samsung Electronics, said the company's agreement with the U.S. government represents another milestone in investing and building a state-of-the-art semiconductor ecosystem in the U.S.
“With nearly 30 years of semiconductor manufacturing experience in the United States, we are proud and grateful for the long-standing relationships we have established with our American partners and customers, as well as communities across Texas,” he said.
“We look forward to further collaboration with our American partners to meet the evolving needs of the upcoming AI-driven era.”
Domestic focus
Texas Instruments is the leading global manufacturer of analog and embedded processing semiconductors and has played an important role in the U.S. economy.
They are also the leading provider of “foundational chips” - the building blocks for nearly all electronic systems.
“The increasing number of electronic devices in our lives depend on our foundational chips, and we appreciate the support from the U.S. government to make the semiconductor ecosystem stronger and more resilient,” president and CEO of Texas Instruments, Haviv Ilan said.
“With this major investment in TI to expand U.S. capacity of these foundational semiconductors, we are strengthening our economic security, making our country safer, and creating thousands of jobs in Texas and Utah.” Raimondo said.
Jobs for Arizona
Through the funding at Amkor Technologies, it is hoped 2,000 manufacturing and, at the peak of construction, more than 2,000 construction jobs will be created at Amkor’s packaging and test facility in Arizona.
“This new facility will serve as a critical cornerstone in establishing a robust semiconductor manufacturing supply chain within the United States. This milestone would not have been possible without the invaluable support from the Department of Commerce and our dedicated partners across federal, state, and local agencies,” Amkor president and CEO, Giel Rutten said.
“Thanks to Amkor’s investment in Arizona, the U.S. will have the world’s most leading-edge packaging technologies for the first time, enhancing domestic supply chain resilience and establishing the U.S. as a global technology leader for decades to come,” Raimondo said.
The U.S. government also invested in SK hynix, GlobalWafers and Micron under the award earlier this month.
