Chipset companies, in collaboration with New York state, are making a $10 billion investment for a semiconductor research facility at the University at Albany, the media has reported. This facility is poised to incorporate cutting-edge chip-making equipment on a global scale, says a report by The Wall Street Journal. NY Creates, a non-profit responsible for managing the Albany NanoTech Complex, will oversee the construction of the facility.
The expansion could enhance New York’s pursuit of being recognised as a research hub under the $53 billion “Chips Act” from last year. This legislation allocated $11 billion for the establishment of a National Semiconductor Technology Center, aiming to promote domestic chip research and development, the report added.
It non-profit will also utilise state funds to procure chipset-making equipment from ASML Holding, a Dutch company renowned for machines that can cost hundreds of millions of dollars, playing a crucial role in producing the most advanced chips.
The project at the Albany complex, which began in the 1990s and has been expanded in several stages since, would create 700 jobs and bring in at least $9 billion of private money, the report quoted New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office as saying. New York is putting in $1 billion to buy the ASML equipment and construct a building with 50,000 square feet of chip-manufacturing space. Construction is liekly to begin in about two years.
Notably, several big chip factories, such as those run by GlobalFoundries, ON Semiconductor, and Wolfspeed, are located in New York. Micron is set to invest up to $100 billion in a sizable factory near Syracuse, seeking funding through the Chips Act, with additional incentives provided by state officials for the manufacturing facilities.
Domstic Chip Manufacturing Research A Priority
Increasing domestic chip manufacturing and research has emerged as a priority at both federal and state levels in recent years, worldwide.
This heightened focus is driven by growing concerns in the US regarding China’s expanding influence in the industry. Chips are now viewed as a pivotal element of geopolitical power, crucial for advanced weaponry in military applications and sophisticated artificial intelligence systems. In fact, India is set to welcome three new semiconductor chip fabrication units in the next few months, attracting investments from $8 billion to $12 billion, according to an announcement made by Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Minister for Electronics and Information Technology.
US-based semiconductor giant AMD is opening its largest global design centre, the AMD Technostar R&D campus, in the southern Indian state of Bengaluru, the company has recently anounced.
