GlobalFoundries bags a $1.5bn government grant
The US government has awarded USD 1.5 billion to contract chipmaker GlobalFoundries. The firm will use the funds to build a new site in New York and expand existing operations in Vermont.
This is the latest project to be backed by the US CHIPS and Science Act, which was introduced to help the US chip market to access investment and build a resilient supply chain on US soil. The grant package will see GlobalFoundries, the world's third-largest contract chipmaker, build a new semiconductor production facility in Malta, New York, and expand existing operations there and in Burlington, Vermont.
The latter plant will become the first in the US capable of high-volume manufacturing of next-generation gallium nitride on silicon semiconductors. They are used in electric vehicles, the power grid and smartphones. This should secure a stable supply of chips for auto manufacturers including General Motors (GM), which is a long-term customer of GlobalFoundries.
In addition to the grant, the government will make USD 1.6 billion available in loans. Overall, it expects the funding to generate USD 12.5 billion in overall potential investment, and create more than 10,000 jobs over a decade.
This is the third announcement by the USD 39 billion CHIPS Act programme. In December, the Commerce Department pledged USD 35 million to defence firm BAE Systems to boost its chip-making output for military aircraft. Shortly after it handed USD 162 million to Microchip Technology to improve its plants in Colorado Springs, Colorado and Gresham, Oregon. It is also rumoured to be in talks with Intel about a USD 10 billion package.
