American companies outperform European companies in innovation and technology.
This is what the head of Norway's $1.6 trillion oil fund told the Financial Times on Wednesday (April 24), and his comments came just one day later on Thursday (April 25) in France. The announcement comes after President Emmanuel Macron urged the European Union (EU) to take action. The 27-member bloc is unprepared for the “paradigm change” currently facing the world – towards greater economic self-sufficiency.
And on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced it had reached a preliminary agreement with Micron, the largest U.S. computer memory chip maker, to provide up to $6.14 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act, giving the U.S. Innovation and the future – preparation is paramount.
That's because new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) are at the heart of a paradigm shift that is reshaping the world's macro environment. And with recent multibillion-dollar grants to Intel, TSMC, Samsung, and Micron, the U.S. government is taking important steps to ensure that the companies and industries building tomorrow's critical infrastructure are adequately supported. I am.
Semiconductors were invented in America and power everything from cell phones to electric cars, refrigerators, satellites, and defense systems. But the United States currently produces only about 10% of the world's chips, and none of them are cutting-edge, the White House statement said.
Including Thursday's Micron grant, the U.S. government is currently spending more than half of its $39 billion in CHIPS Act incentives, and these investments will not only help power the connected economy of the near future, but will also support payments and It is also poised to help transform the fundamental architecture that supports commerce.
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Winning with innovation requires investing in infrastructure
Cutting-edge memory chips like those manufactured by Micron are essential for advanced technologies such as AI, advanced computing, and communications.
“Semiconductors are the brains of modern technology. They are no bigger than a fingernail or thicker than a piece of paper, but they are essential to every electronic device we use today, from computers and televisions to cars and washing machines. ,” Vice President Kamala Harris said in an earlier statement.
However, as developing industries such as AI, electric vehicles (EVs), and other digitally powered innovations create significant demand for chips, current global production capacity is strained and the supply chain Shortages could cause hundreds of billions of dollars in economic damage in a variety of sectors. As the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, there is a decline in industry.
To that end, the United States has already announced six major spending commitments in 2024 alone to domestic companies building key components of the connected economy's most innovative products.
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Ensuring a stable supply chain for important technologies
Samsung received a $6.4 billion grant this month to build a state-of-the-art logic, R&D and advanced packaging factory in Taylor, Texas, and expand its current generation mature node facility in Austin, Texas Ta. Meanwhile, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) received $6.6 billion to support the development of three greenfield state-of-the-art factories in Phoenix, Arizona.
In early March, the United States awarded Intel 85 to help invest in the construction of new state-of-the-art logic fabs across four states: Chandler, Arizona, Rio Rancho, New Mexico, New Albany, Ohio, and Hillsboro, Oregon. Announced $1 billion in grants. Modernize advanced packaging facilities and invest in research and development.
As reported here, in February the United States announced $1.5 billion to GlobalFoundries to support the development and expansion of facilities in Malta, New York, and Burlington, Vermont. In January, the White House awarded $162 million to Microchip Technology to increase production of microcontroller units and other specialty semiconductors and to help modernize and expand its manufacturing facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I subsidized it. and Gresham, Oregon.
The grant is aimed at strengthening domestic supply chains for critical components that power consumer-popular connected devices, such as wearables, smart home devices, and connected cars.
“From smartphones to artificial intelligence to our nation's most sensitive defense technology, the memory chips Micron makes are used in nearly every product in the modern economy,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck, D-N.Y. – Schumer said in a statement regarding recent government grants. micron. “But as the pandemic has shown, without strengthening our supply chains and making these chips in the United States, we remain vulnerable, prices can soar, and our national security can be threatened. there is.”
