CHIPS announcements include a $285M to establish SMART USA Institute, incentives with TSMC Arizona, and $300M for semiconductor packaging R&D

CHIPS for America recently announced $285 million to establish the Semiconductor Manufacturing and Advanced Research with Twins (SMART) USA Institute, which will focus on semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging. SMART USA is a consortium spanning more than 30 states and comprising more than 150 expected partners in industry, academia, national labs, and the full spectrum of supply chain design and manufacturing, according to a press release from Purdue University. The consortium is led by Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), located in Durham, North Carolina.

A press release from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC) noted that Commerce and the Semiconductor Research Corporation Manufacturing Consortium Corporation (SRC) “are entering negotiations for the department to provide SRC $285 million to establish and operate a Manufacturing USA institute headquartered in Durham, North Carolina. With combined funding totaling $1 billion, this investment will support the launch of the first-of-its-kind CHIPS Manufacturing USA Institute.”

Purdue is the lead academic institution of the SRC-led consortium.

DoC awarded TSMC Arizona Corporation (TSMC Arizona), a subsidiary of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), up to $6.6 billion in direct funding under the CHIPS Incentives Program’s Funding Opportunity for Commercial Fabrication Facilities. The award comes after the previously signed preliminary memorandum of terms, announced on April 8, 2024. The award will support the company’s planned investment of more than $65 billion in three greenfield leading-edge fabs in Phoenix, Arizona, according to a press release from DoC.

DoC is entering negotiations to invest up to $300 million in advanced packaging research projects in Georgia, California, and Arizona to accelerate the development of cutting-edge technologies essential to the semiconductor industry, according to a press release from the department. Absolics Inc. in Georgia, Applied Materials Inc. in California, and Arizona State University in Arizona are expected recipients. These competitively awarded research investments are each expected to total as much as $100 million.