SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son agreed on Monday to double the company’s planned $100 billion investment in the United States to $200 billion. The decision came during an unexpected exchange with President-elect Donald Trump, showcasing Son’s willingness to respond […]
Micron Technology will receive more than $6.1 billion after the US Department of Commerce finalized one of the largest CHIPS Act awards ever to "the only US-based manufacturer of memory chips," Vice President Kamala Harris said in a press statement.
Micron will use the funding to construct "several state-of-the-art memory chips facilities" in New York and Idaho, Harris said. The chipmaker has committed to a "$125 billion investment over the next few decades" and promised to create "at least 20,000 jobs," Harris confirmed.
Additionally, Micron "agreed to preliminary terms for an additional investment of $275 million to expand" its facility in Manassas, Virginia, Harris confirmed. Those facilities will mostly be used to manufacture chips for automotive and defense industries, Harris noted.
Google has unveiled Willow, its latest quantum chip, marking a significant leap in quantum computing. This breakthrough chip addresses one of the field’s biggest hurdles: reducing errors as systems scale up. With Willow, Google claims to have solved a 30-year […]
Joe Biden's final move to stop China from racing ahead of the US in AI may be too little too late, reports say.
On Monday, the Biden administration announced new export controls, perhaps most notably restricting exports to China of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in AI applications. According to Reuters, additional export curbs are designed to also impede China from accessing "24 additional chipmaking tools and three software tools," as well as "chipmaking equipment made in countries such as Singapore and Malaysia."
Nearly two dozen Chinese semiconductor companies will be added to the US entity list restricting their access to US technology, Reuters reported, alongside more than 100 chipmaking toolmakers and two investment companies. These include many companies that Huawei Technologies—one of the biggest targets of US export controls for years—depends on.
Just a week after receiving an $8 billion funding boost from the Biden administration, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has stepped down from the helm of the struggling chipmaker. The announcement comes less than four years into his tenure, leaving the […]
On Tuesday, the Biden-Harris administration finalized a CHIPS award of up to $7.865 billion to help fund the expansion of Intel's commercial fabs in the US. By the end of the decade, these fabs are intended to decrease reliance on foreign adversaries and fill substantial gaps in America's domestic semiconductor supply chain.
Initially, Intel was awarded $8.5 billion, but it was decreased after Intel won a $3 billion subsidy from the Pentagon to expand Department of Defense semiconductor manufacturing. In a press release, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo boasted that the substantial award would set up "Intel to drive one of the most significant semiconductor manufacturing expansions in US history" and "supercharge American innovation" while making the US "more secure."
For Intel, the CHIPS funding supports an expected investment of nearly $90 billion by 2030 to expand projects in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oregon. Approximately 10,000 manufacturing jobs and 20,000 construction jobs will be created "across all four states," the Commerce Department's press release said. Additionally, Intel estimated that the funding will create "more than 50,000 indirect jobs with suppliers and supporting industries."
Taiwan plans to inject $3 billion over 3 years into its AI industry, the country's science and technology minister told Nikkei Asia.
Daniel Ceng/Anadolu via Getty Images
Taiwan is planning to inject $1 billion a year into its AI industry, its technology minister said.
Wu Cheng-wen told Nikkei Asia that "AI sovereignty" is critical and benefits Taiwan's security.
The nation has been diversifying away from semiconductors and China to strengthen its economy.
Taiwan is planning to spend about $1 billion a year on artificial intelligence as part of its efforts to shift its economy away from semiconductors.
On Thursday, Taiwan's science and technology minister told Nikkei Asia that the government would spend $3 billion over 3 years to ramp up AI data centers and their computing ability.
"AI sovereignty is a critical issue," Wu Cheng-wen told the outlet, adding that it "benefits Taiwan's security."
He also said that the country aims to generate at least a "tenfold" return on its investments.
This is a significant development for the Taiwanese economy — the world's leading producer of advanced chips. Taiwan's semiconductor industry accounts for over 90% of the global market, and contributed roughly 13 to 15% of Taiwan's GDP in recent years.
The move comes as the country is not only trying to diversify its economy toward industries like AI, but also away from China.
Wu told Nikkei Asia that the pivot to AI could help his country secure better trade relations with other countries in what he termed the "democratic camp."
Earlier this month, multiple outlets, including the Financial Times, reported that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, notified its Chinese clients it would no longer be providing them with its cutting-edge AI chips and that the US would likely be involved in the approval process for any future supplies to Chinese businesses.
President-elect Donald Trump's victory earlier this month and the threat of 60% tariffs on US imports from China are also pushing Taiwan to help its companies relocate production away from China, Reuters reported.
The US overtook China as Taiwan's top export destination at the end of 2023, for the first time since 2003, Bloomberg reported in April, citing data from Taiwan's finance ministry.
Wu told Nikkei Asia that he is looking forward to cooperating with the US after Trump takes office in January.
He told the outlet that if TSMC's 2-nanometer chip plant enters "mass" production as scheduled next year, and matures successfully, "we can plan on building similar state-of-the-art 2-nanometer plants in allied nations."
TSMC announced in April it would build a third facility in Arizona to meet strong customer demand.
"The Taiwanese government and the US work very closely together," Wu said.
Taiwan's latest moves come amid growing tensions in the Taiwan Strait and concerns about a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan, which some military analysts and defense officials said could happen in the next few years.
