A second semiconductor R&D facility is planned for Sunnyvale, California.

The Department of Commerce and Natcast, the operator of the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), announced last week that the state will house a CHIPS for America Design and Collaboration Facility (DCF).

In a statement, the department said the facility will play an important role in advancing semiconductor design research, workforce development, investment, and collaboration across the entire semiconductor supply chain.

Based in Silicon Valley, the DCF will support research in chip design, electronic design automation (EDA), chip and system architecture, and hardware security, while also enabling collaboration between industry, academia, investors, and government partners for the development of next-generation semiconductor technologies for use cases such as AI and 5G.

No information about how much funding has been allocated from the CHIPS and Science Act for the facility. That same week, $825 million in funding from the Act was awarded to NY Creates to establish an NSTC EUV (extreme ultraviolet lithography) Accelerator in Albany, New York.

“Silicon Valley is a broad, vibrant, and dynamic semiconductor ecosystem,” said Deirdre Hanford, Natcast CEO. “Surrounded by established companies and innovative startups, leading research and academic institutions, investors, and stakeholders from across the semiconductor value chain, the CHIPS for America Design and Collaboration Facility in Sunnyvale, California, will encourage and enable NSTC members to work together to address some of the most complex challenges we face as a nation and a world today.”

The $280bn CHIPS and Science Act, was approved by Congress in July 2022, with $52bn of the overall funding package designated as subsidies for US semiconductor manufacturers. Funding from the act has also been earmarked for semiconductor R&D, growing a skilled semiconductor workforce, and incentives for manufacturing chips and specialized tooling equipment.

Earlier this month, former President Donald Trump criticized the CHIPS and Science Act during a three-hour interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, saying that the government should have levied tariffs on the semiconductor industry instead of handing out grants and loans to chip companies.

Following that interview, House Speaker Mike Johnson said that the Republican party “probably will” try to repeal the US CHIPS Act, a statement he later walked back on after, claiming he meant to say the party would instead “further streamline and improve the primary purpose of the bill – to eliminate its costly regulations and Green New Deal requirements.”

https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/sunnyvale-california-chosen-as-location-for-second-chips-act-funded-semiconductor-rd-facility/