“There is a really deep connection between the chip industry and the US defense industry,” Chris Milleran assistant professor at Tufts University and the author of Chip Wars: The Battle for the World’s Most Important Technology, an upcoming book about the race between the US and China for chip dominance. “Both countries are preparing for a future of computer-based warfare.”
The legislation shows the risk posed by China is one of the few things Democratic and Republican politicians can agree on. And it marked the government’s shift from a belief in the free market to a kind of industrial policy that had long since fallen out of favor. On Wednesday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo described the move as “an important step toward securing U.S. scientific leadership and revitalizing America’s ability to make chips that keep our cars on the road and our fighters in the air.”
Not all chip manufacturers follow the law completely, with some worries that it could unfairly benefit the biggest chip companies like Intel, which have been lobbying for money. Senator Bernie Sanders Criticize previous manuscripts of the law, noting that companies queuing to receive money had previously sent work abroad, a concern that persisted in the final version.
“There are still questions about how the money will be distributed,” Miller said. “We need to make sure we spend in ways that guide and don’t necessarily fit with lobbying.”
America not only needs to increase production capacity, but also to gain advantage in the most advanced technologies, say Jesus del Alamo, a professor at MIT who studies advanced semiconductor designs. “That requires investing in R&D and accelerating the flow of new technology from university labs,” he said.
This will leave leading chipmakers like Intel, a company that has made a lot of mistakes in recent years, with important decisions about which technologies to invest in. For example, a technology called advanced packaging, which refers to a way of linking together different types of chips, promises to create new possibilities for chipmakers. The approach is used by Taiwanese company TSMC to create Apple’s most powerful chip So far, the M1 Ultra.
Del Alamo is the lead author of a 2021 white paper argued that government funding should include money for academic research on new chip technologies, programs to help universities create new chip companies, and resources to encourage student training. new member. He is involved with a consortium of universities and companies that plan to offer specific funding proposals, with substantial amounts earmarked for scientific research.
It is important that chips remain the focus of the government beyond this funding, Del Alamo said. “In this game, the winner has it all,” he said. “Whoever comes up with the next most advanced technology first gets a disproportionate profit, and that company can then invest a lot of money in R&D to maintain its lead.”
