Micron scores $6.2B from Uncle Sam as the China chip war sparks US investment
.jpg)
New York Chippy… The US is boosting domestic chip production by giving Micron $6.2B to churn out semiconductors in New York and Idaho. It’s one of the biggest awards under the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, and it’s the second time this year the gov’t has given Micron a $6.2B infusion. The Commerce Department said the fresh funds would help boost American production of advanced memory chips (think: AI semiconductors) from less than 2% to 10% by 2035.
Spendy: The Biden admin has doled out billions to chip cos including Intel and TSMC (which yesterday reported 34% quarterly sales growth). But incoming POTUS Trump has criticized the CHIPS Act’s huge price tag.
Made in the USA… The ramp-up in Stateside chip funding comes as China and the US increasingly cut each other off from their respective industries. Tensions have been simmering for years but recently escalated: this week China opened an antitrust investigation into Nvidia, whose shares fell after the news. Experts see Beijing’s move as tit-for-tat retaliation: last week the US added restrictions on sales of advanced chip tech to China and expanded export curbs to 140 Chinese companies. A day after, China restricted the US’s access to rare minerals that are key to producing chips and other tech.
Both countries say restrictions are meant to protect national-security interests, saying advanced chip tech could be used for military purposes.
Domestic matters more… when foreign trade’s fraught. Both China and the US have taken measures to make their chip industries more self-sufficient. China’s Huawei will reportedly mass-produce its advanced AI chips next year to try to rival Nvidia, despite the US’s efforts to cut the country off from leading tech.