These eight hubs, which are in seven states, were awarded between $15 million and $40 million to establish initial operations for a total of $238 million. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks announced the"Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act" funding on Wednesday, which is the largest award to date under President Joe Biden's CHIPS and Science Act.
The Defense Department received $2 billion in CHIPS Act funding through 2027 and the hubs will focus on advancing six areas of U.S. technology: secure edge/internet of things computing, 5G/6G, artificial intelligence hardware, quantum technology, electromagnetic warfare, and commercial leap ahead technologies.
The eight hubs selected are Northeast Microelectronics Coalition Hub, which will be in Massachusetts; Silicon Crossroads Microelectronics Commons Hub, in Indiana at the Applied Research Institute; California Defense Ready Electronics and Microdevices Superhub Hub, at the University of Southern California; Commercial Leap Ahead for Wide Bandgap Semiconductors Hub, at North Carolina State University; Southwest Advanced Prototyping Hub, at Arizona State University; Midwest Microelectronics...
Hicks said the department received 83 proposals from potential hubs, while next month the department will host the first Microelectronics Commons Annual Meeting.President Joe Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act on Aug. 9, 2022, to boost domestic microelectronic production. The U.S. currently relies on East Asia for about 75% of chip production, a senior defense official told reporters.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told lawmakers on the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee on Tuesday that the CHIPS production would come to"a grinding halt" if the government shuts down at the end of the month.