On Wednesday Eastern Time, American chip giant Intel held its first wafer foundry event in San Jose, California. US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo stated at the event that if the US wants to "lead the world" in the semiconductor industry, it needs to further increase government subsidy investment, such as enacting a second Chip Act.
The United States still needs to increase chip investment
US President Biden officially signed the Chip Act (CHIPS) in August 2022, promising to provide over $52 billion in government subsidies for research and production of American semiconductors, as well as investment tax credits for chip factories.
At Wednesday's event, Raymond stated that a single Chip Act alone is not enough to restore the United States to leadership in the semiconductor supply chain.
She said, "I suspect that if we want to lead the world, we must have some kind of sustained investment - whether you call it 'CHIPS Two' or anything else. We have fallen too far behind before."
"It needs to be clear that we cannot and do not want to manufacture everything in the United States. We do not want all chips to be produced in the United States. This is not a reasonable goal," Raymond added. "But we do need to diversify our semiconductor supply chain and have more manufacturing in the United States, especially cutting-edge chips, which is crucial for artificial intelligence."
Raymond also mentioned that she has spoken with Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, who is working hard to secure approval from the US government for a large-scale joint venture to promote global manufacturing of artificial intelligence chips.
"When I talk to him or other clients in the industry, they predict an incredible number of chips they need," she said.
Intel is expected to receive huge subsidies
Since the passage of the US Chip Act in 2022, although more than 170 chip companies worldwide have applied for subsidies under the Act, the US Department of Commerce has only issued three smaller subsidies. Earlier this week, chip manufacturer GlobalFoundries received the third and largest funding of $1.5 billion under the bill to date.
Raymond said on Wednesday that she is moving forward as quickly as possible in advancing the implementation of the first Chip Act.
As an American chip giant, Intel is also one of the companies applying for funding subsidies from the Chip Act. Earlier this month, it was reported that Intel had planned to postpone the completion time of its new Ohio chip factory to 2026. However, external speculation suggests that the delayed implementation of US government subsidies is one of the reasons for delaying Intel's factory construction progress.
However, recent reports have quoted informed officials as saying that the Biden administration is negotiating over $10 billion in subsidies to Intel.
At Wednesday's event, Intel CEO Pat Kissinger stated that the announcement of receiving subsidies will be released "soon". Raymond also hinted at this point again in his speech:
"Intel is a champion company in the United States and plays a very important role in this revival," Raymond said. Intel should be "prepared" for the upcoming chip bill funding.