Since releasing the first CHIPS for America funding opportunity in February 2023, the Department of Commerce’s CHIPS Program Office has received more than 200 Statements of Interest (SOIs) from potential applicants.

The projects described in these statements cover 35 states and span the entire semiconductor ecosystem.

More than half of the statements indicate interest in the first funding opportunity covering commercial fabrication facilities, including for leading-edge, current-generation, and mature-node chips, as well as back-end packaging facilities.

The remainder of the statements indicate interest in the forthcoming funding opportunities for semiconductor suppliers and R&D facilities.

The potential applicants described in the statements include leading-edge fabs, facilities producing legacy chips, back-end packaging facilities, plants to make materials and chemicals, and more.

The CHIPS Program Office is continuing to accept Statements of Interest (SOIs) and will consider applications on a rolling basis and encourages all potential applicants seeking incentives for commercial fabrication facilities, upstream supply chain facilities, and R&D facilities to keep filing them.

The statements will continue helping the Department understand project interest and plan funding. While there is widespread interest in CHIPS for America funding, the Department will evaluate applications on whether projects advance U.S. economic and national security. These incentives are intended to spur investment and crowd in private capital–not replace it.

CHIPS Program Office Director Mike Schmidt and Chief Investment Officer Todd Fisher joined Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal on Bloomberg’s Odd Lots podcast to provide updates on implementing the CHIPS Act.

Bloomberg noted they joined to discuss “the act’s goals, what’s been achieved so far, and why they believe it can succeed.”

Schmidt and Fisher talked about how the CHIPS for America program is planning to evaluate how applications advance economic and national security, what Commerce is hearing from companies about the need for strong workforce development, and how the team is structured and planning to invest across the semiconductor ecosystem.

The CHIPS for America team runs a “Frequently Asked Questions” section at the CHIPS.gov FAQs

CHIPS for America continues to host a series of public webinars on application materials and resources where applicants and stakeholders have opportunity to ask questions.

Registration for upcoming webinars and access recordings of previous webinars, including this week’s webinars on pre-application and financial modeling, are on the CHIPS.gov website.

CHIPS.gov contains many resources including webinars, information about funding opportunities and implementation strategies, R&D updates, and more.

By: DocMemory
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