Democratic U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Thursday that memory chip manufacturer Micron Technology is scheduled to receive $6.1 billion in funding from the U.S. Commerce Department to help pay for domestic chip plant projects according to Reuters.
The CHIPS & Science law will support chipmaking facilities in New York and Idaho with the grant, which is still pending, the senator from New York stated in a statement.
He said, “This monumental and historic federal investment will power and propel Micron to bring its transformative $100+ billion four-fab project in central New York to life, creating an estimated 50,000 jobs.”
The senator further stated that Micron intends to construct a complex of chip facilities in New York within the next 20 years.
As the US looks to boost its lagging chip output and lessen its reliance on China and Taiwan, the news caps off a string of Chips Act awards that the Biden administration has announced in recent weeks.
According to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the United States portion of the world's capacity for producing semiconductors has decreased from 37% in 1990 to 12% in 2020.
Lawmakers have warned that it would be dangerous for the United States to rely only on chips made in Taiwan by TSMC, the largest contract chip manufacturer in the world because China still claims the self-governing island as its territory and has the right to use force to recover it.
Taiwan's TSMC secured $6.6 billion in April to expand its manufacturing in the United States, while Intel secured $8.5 billion in funding last month.
This week, Samsung received a $6.4 billion award to increase production in Texas.
$52.6 billion is allotted for the industry's assistance under the landmark Chips Act.
Even though it has received over $70 billion in requests, the Commerce Department is allocating $28 billion for government subsidies for the production of advanced chip manufacturing. It also has the power to lend $75 billion.
The largest private investment in American history is headed to Central New York, according to a statement released by Governor Kathy Hochul of New York.
