The global battle for chip supremacy is intensifying, with superpowers led by the US and European Union channeling nearly $81 billion towards the production of next-generation semiconductors.
The first wave of close to $380 billion has been earmarked by governments worldwide for companies like Intel Corp. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to boost production of more powerful microprocessors. This surge in funding has pushed the Washington-led rivalry with Beijing over cutting-edge technology to a critical turning point that will shape the future of the global economy.
The rush of funding has hardened battle lines in the US-China trade war, including in places like Japan and the Middle East. It’s also giving a lifeline to Intel, the one-time global leader in chip manufacturing that in recent years has lost ground to rivals including Nvidia Corp. and TSMC.
Investment plans have reached a critical juncture in the US, where officials last month unveiled $6.1 billion in grants for Micron Technology Inc., the largest American maker of computer-memory chips. That was the final multibillion-dollar grant for an advanced chipmaking facility in the US, capping a flurry of commitments nearing $33 billion to companies including Intel, TSMC and Samsung Electronics Co.
President Joe Biden opened that funding spigot with his signature 2022 Chips and Science Act, promising a total of $39 billion in grants for chipmakers, sweetened by loans and guarantees worth an additional $75 billion plus tax credits of up to 25%. It’s the heart of his high-stakes bid to revive domestic semiconductor production — especially of leading-edge chips — and deliver a rush of new factory jobs to help convince voters he deserves reelection in November.
Read more: finance.yahoo.com