All five of the world’s top chip producers have now secured subsidies from the U.S. Government.
South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix signed a non-binding agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce over $450 million in grants and $500 million in loans to construct a chip packaging and AI R&D facility in Indiana. The sum of $950 million is awarded under the Chips and Science Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022. Under the act, the U.S. aims to bolster the domestic semiconductor supply chain and reshore production with $39 billion in grants, $75 billion in loans and guarantees, and 25% tax credits. SK Hynix will use the investment to build a production base for semiconductor packaging in West Lafayette, Indiana. In April, the company announced it would invest $3.87 billion into the facility and signed a corresponding agreement.
Packaging in the chip industry means encasing chips into materials that protect them against external threats, such as contamination, light, or heat, while connecting the semiconductor to the surrounding infrastructure, such as circuit boards.
With the now-signed agreement, the U.S. Government has announced that it will grant subsidies to all five of the world’s largest chip companies: SK Hynix, Micron, Intel, Samsung, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
Under its subsidiary SK keyfoundry, SK Hynix is actively working on developing gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors. GaN semiconductors offer lower loss, higher efficiency, and miniaturization compared to commonly used silicon-based semiconductors, according to the company.
Photo: Sundry Photography
