The Biden administration announced billions of dollars in new funding for Samsung Electronics to boost U.S. computer chip production.
The White House announced Monday that it has reached an agreement with the South Korea-based company to provide $6.4 billion in direct federal funding to develop a semiconductor manufacturing cluster in central Texas. The grant is part of President Joe Biden's CHIPS and Science Act, which was signed into law in 2022 to boost domestic development of chip manufacturing facilities.
Program helps students become semiconductor technicians in 10 days
The CHIPS Act provided $52 billion in funding for revitalizing the country's semiconductor industry.
The Commerce Department said the new funding, paired with private money, is expected to exceed $40 billion of investment in the region that will be split across several projects in Taylor, Texas, and Austin, Texas. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the investment will also help create tens of thousands of "good-paying" jobs.
"Proposed CHIPS investments like the ones we are announcing today will be a catalyst for continued private sector investments to help secure the long-term stability we need to put America at the beginning of our semiconductor supply chain and to safeguard a strong resilient ecosystem here at home," Raimondo said in a statement. "The chips that Samsung will be making in Texas are important components to our most advanced technologies, from artificial intelligence to high-performance computing and 5G communications."
Right now, more than 90% of advanced chips come from Taiwan, which officials have framed as an economic and national security risk for the U.S. The chips are used in everything from consumer goods and vehicles to military applications.
