The Biden administration on Tuesday released new details about how it plans to spend roughly $50 billion in public money to foster the production of computer chips in the U.S.
The funds – provided as part of the $280 billion legislative package focused on strategically important science and technology that was signed into law by President Joe Biden in August – will be distributed by the Department of Commerce.
About $28 billion will be used for grants and loans to help build facilities that will produce next-generation computer chips. An additional $10 billion will be used to expand existing facilities that produce the current generation of chips, such as those used in the automotive industry. And $11 billion will be dedicated to research and development of chip technology.
In order to win funding, companies will need to demonstrate that their projects will advance “long-term strategic goals,” according to a Commerce press release. Those goals include regaining manufacturing capabilities that have recently migrated to China and Taiwan. The department also wants to see evidence that the firms can attract additional sources of capital from private firms and state investment funds.
Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo told The New York Times that her department would start accepting applications for funding no later than February, and that money could start flowing next spring. The department will hire about 50 people to review applications.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a once-in-a-generation opportunity, to secure our national security and revitalize American manufacturing and revitalize American innovation and research and development,” Raimondo said. “So, although we’re working with urgency, we have to get it right, and that’s why we are laying out the strategy now.”
