U.S. launches first funding opportunity under CHIPS Act
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The U.S. Commerce Department today launched the first CHIPS for America funding opportunity, enabling chipmakers to access $39B in incentives to build new factories and expand production.

Part of the CHIPS and Science Act, the aid is meant to revive domestic manufacturing of computer chips, while minimizing supply disruptions that occurred in 2021 and reliance on imported chips.

The department is currently seeking applications for projects to construct, expand or modernize commercial facilities for the production of advanced, mature-node semiconductors. It will also be releasing a funding opportunity for semiconductor materials and equipment facilities in the late spring.
Awards will be disbursed over time and take the form of direct funding, federal loans and/or federal guarantees of third-party loans.
Applicants seeking funds will be required to submit workforce development plans for the workers and are prohibited to use government funds for dividends or stock buybacks. In addition, the department will evaluate applications based on the extent of the applicant's commitments to refrain from stock buybacks.
Major chipmakers, such as Intel (INTC), TSMC (TSM), IBM (IBM), Micron (MU) and Texas Instruments (TXN) have already embarked on aggressive expansions tied to the support.