FEDERAL PROBE Infrastructure plan includes chip fab funds
Proposal has Samsung, Intel, Globalfoundries mulling building in N.Y.
President Joe Biden released his $2 trillion federal infrastructure plan Wednesday that includes $50 billion for the National Science Foundation, including a reported $37 billion for the U.S. semiconductor industry, spending that could lead to a new computer chip factory in Saratoga County and federal semiconductor research center in Albany.
The $37 billion is expected to fund the so-called CHIPS Act that former President Donald Trump signed into law earlier this year as part of the Defense
Department budget.
Biden has told Congress that he wants to spend $37 billion on the CHIPS Act, which as of yet has no funding authorization. The CHIPS Act is designed to reshape the U.S. computer chip industry, which has been moving its manufacturing increasingly offshore to Asia the past decade, alarming the U.S. military and causing shortages for companies in the U.S. that rely on chips, such as electronics makers and car companies.
Globalfoundries, which employs 3,000 people at its Fab 8 chip factory in Malta, says it would consider building a second factory known as Fab 8.2 if the CHIPS Act funding is approved to provide billions of dollars in incentives for new U.S.
factories. Samsung and Intel, Globalfoundries’ competitors, said they too might consider new factories, possibly in New York state, if they received CHIPS Act funding.
The state’s Albany Nanotech complex on Fuller Road, which is home to SUNY Polytechnic Institute, is also hopeful that it could land a federal semiconductor research center as part of the CHIPS Act, bringing in billions of dollars in potential new federal, state and corporate investment to the Capital Region.
Although Globalfoundries declined to comment for this story, its CEO is a board member of the Semiconductor Industry Association, which said Wednesday that Biden’s infrastructure proposal would “invest ambitiously” in the U.S. semiconductor market.
“We applaud the President’s leadership on this issue and look forward to working with the administration and Congress to promote America’s global competitiveness in semiconductors and the many essential technologies they enable, while also ensuring a globally competitive corporate tax system,” SIA’S CEO John Neuffer said in a statement.
Biden’s plan also excites General Electric Co., which has its global research center in Niskayuna.
GE has been especially interested in renewable energy technologies that it says will not only produce sustainable energy sources but also help combat global warming, a major initiative of the Biden administration.
“Climate change is an urgent global priority, and we applaud President Biden for his continued commitment to meeting this important moment.,” GE spokesman Todd Alhart said. “GE is already hard at work decreasing emissions today and developing innovative technology for the future — including onshore and offshore wind, grid resilience, hydrogen, carbon capture, and advanced nuclear energy. We look forward to working with lawmakers from both parties to speed the decarbonization of the energy sector while making energy more resilient for all Americans.”