US to invest $825 million in New York chip facility

The US has announced a USD 825 million investment in a new semiconductor R&D facility in New York, part of ongoing attempts by the Biden administration to bolster high-tech manufacturing and reduce reliance on foreign tech.

The site in Albany, New York, will focus on extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, which is used to make the most advanced nodes for the next generation of chips and processors.

The National Semiconductor Technology Center Extreme Ultraviolet Accelerator is expected to begin operating next year. It is being funded under the CHIPS and Science Act, which seeks to create more high-tech jobs and help the US compete with rivals like China.  

“With this first proposed flagship facility, CHIPS for America is providing access to cutting-edge research and tools to the NSTC and its launch represents a key milestone in ensuring the United States remains a global leader in innovation and semiconductor research and development,” said US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “The research and development component of the CHIPS and Science Act is fundamental to our long-term national security and ensuring the US remains the most technologically competitive place on earth.”  

The lab will have the most advanced chip-making machinery in the world and allow researchers from the semiconductor industry to collaborate with their university counterparts, Chuck Schumer, the Senate’s Democratic majority leader, told AP.

“When you do the high-end research, which will be done here, and you can make the most advanced chips in the world, it makes sure that our military has the edge,” Schumer told AP in a telephone call. “It makes sure our economy and our companies have the cutting edge, as well,”

Currently, the Dutch firm ASML is the only company in the world that produces the high-NA EUV machines required to make these new generation semiconductor chips.