According to insiders, due to a lack of government funding, American semiconductor and display equipment supplier Applied Materials may delay or abandon plans to invest $4 billion in building a chip research center in Silicon Valley. The Chip Program Office of the US Department of Commerce announced at the end of last month that due to the high demand for incentive funds under the Chip and Science Act, the office has decided not to proceed with the Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFO) for the construction, renewal, or expansion of semiconductor research and development facilities in the United States at this time.