The Zhitong Finance App learned that, according to media reports quoting people familiar with the matter, the largest US memory chip manufacturer Micron Technology (MU.US) is preparing to receive up to $6.1 billion in policy grants from the US Department of Commerce — this potential subsidy is second only to the three major chip manufacturing giants, Intel, TSMC, and Samsung, to cover the costs associated with chip factory construction projects in the US. Among them, two new US chip factories by Micron are expected to be officially put into operation by 2030. This is an important part of the US government's ambition to move the chip manufacturing process back to the mainland of the US, and accelerate the “return of chip manufacturing to the US” expected by the Biden administration. The ultimate goal is to once again make the US a chip manufacturing powerhouse.

According to people familiar with the matter, the subsidy has not yet been finalized and is expected to be officially announced next week. People familiar with the matter said that Micron, like chip-making giants Intel (INTC.US) and TSM.US, will also accept special loans as part of the factory construction subsidy program. The total value of these loans is still unclear. After the media reported on Micron's subsidy program, Micron's stock price once rose more than 3% in US stock after-market trading. By the close of Wednesday, Micron's stock price had risen about 36% since this year, driven by the global AI wave.

People familiar with the matter said that as part of the official announcement of the subsidy, US President Joe Biden is scheduled to travel to the Syracuse (Syracuse) region of New York on April 25 local time. Micron, headquartered in Boise, Idaho, is building plants near Syracuse and its location in Boise. Representatives from Micron, the US Department of Commerce, and the White House all declined to comment.

According to information, the “2022 Chips and Science Act” (2022 Chips and Science Act), passed by the US Congress in 2022, allocates a total of 39 billion US dollars to directly subsidize major chip giants, as well as special loans and loan guarantees worth 75 billion US dollars to revitalize the US chip manufacturing industry that has been shifting chip manufacturing to Asian production lines for decades. So far, the US Department of Commerce has announced six preliminary funding plans: including three companies making older generation chips, plus supporting the three giants in the global chip manufacturing sector: Intel, TSMC, and Samsung Electronics to build new large-scale chip factories in the US to expand production capacity.

According to statistics from the American Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), America's share of global semiconductor manufacturing capacity has declined from 37% once reached in 1990 to only 12% in 2020. Former US President Trump and current President Joe Biden have made chip manufacturing back to the US an important task during their term.

US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo (Gina Raimondo) said the agency plans to use $28 billion of the grant for cutting-edge projects in the global chip industry.

According to information, after the preliminary agreement is officially announced, Micron will conduct due diligence over a period of several months, and then receive subsidy funds in batches according to specific project benchmarks.

Micron has promised to build as many as four chip factories in New York State and one chip factory in Idaho. But Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra (Sanjay Mehrotra) said last month that these plans “require Micron to receive sufficient chip subsidies, investment tax credits, and local incentives to address the cost differences compared to overseas expansion.” The chip giant is also developing chip-making projects in China, India, and Japan.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul (Kathy Hochul) vigorously promoted the Micron subsidy agreement on Wednesday, saying it would help revitalize the northern region's economy. “The new federal funding grants provided by President Biden's Chip Act will help lock in up to 50,000 jobs, $100 billion in investments, and millions of dollars in community benefits,” she said in a statement.

US invests in semiconductor development — the Department of Commerce is allocating up to $39 billion in chip law grants

Raimundo said that the government agency she heads will prioritize funding for projects that will start production by the end of this decade (that is, before 2030). Micron said in a document recently submitted to the federal government that two of the company's four new plants in New York are expected to meet this standard, while the other two may not be put into operation until 2041. People familiar with the matter said earlier that meant that Micron's subsidy might only support the first two factories in New York State.

From smartphones to the world's largest data centers, memory chips can be described as one of the most important components of everything in the field of technology. This type of chip is responsible for storing information and helping to process it with advanced logic. The manufacturing process of memory chips is mainly completed in the Asian market, and Micron's largest rivals Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix Inc. (SK Hynix Inc.) occupy most of the storage market share.

The two major South Korean storage giants are also planning to build new chip manufacturing process plants in the US, and will also build chip packaging plants in the US, focusing on Chiplet's advanced packaging technology. It is expected that these factories will all receive subsidies from the US government to build factories in the US.

The process of “chip manufacturing returning to the US” is speeding up! Following Intel and TSMC, Samsung also received subsidies from the US government

The US Department of Commerce said on Monday local time that the government will provide direct subsidies of up to 6.4 billion US dollars to South Korean chip manufacturing giant Samsung Electronics to further expand Samsung's chip factory manufacturing capacity in central Texas. This is part of the US government's broader effort to boost the return of the chip manufacturing industry to the US. Government funding will also support the South Korean chipmaker to establish a 2nm advanced process chip production line and HBM advanced packaging production capacity in the US.

The newly built plant is located in Tyler, Texas, USA. Samsung will build a complete chip R&D and manufacturing ecosystem in Tyler, including an R&D facility dedicated to the “advanced generation” compared to current process nodes, and two factories focusing on large-scale production of 4nm and subsequent 2nm process chips. There is also a packaging factory that performs 3D advanced packaging for HBM storage systems, and a packaging factory with 2.5D advanced packaging capabilities. Both items are currently urgently needed production capacity for AI chips such as Nvidia and AMD. Currently, the production capacity of these two major advanced packaging is basically concentrated on TSMC.

Supporting Samsung to establish large-scale chip factories and advanced packaging factories in the US can be described as the latest move taken by the Biden administration to develop the US chip manufacturing industry. As a result, Samsung has become the third chip manufacturing giant to receive high subsidies.

As the world's top three chip makers — TSMC, Intel, and Samsung — have received high subsidies from the US government, the pace of “chip manufacturing returning to the US” can be described as rapidly accelerating. Since Biden took office, chip companies from around the world have announced investments of more than 200 billion US dollars in the US, with the largest share of investment concentrated on chip manufacturers such as TSMC and Samsung, with the largest clusters in Arizona, Texas, and New York. Direct subsidies of about US$21.5 billion received by TSMC, Intel, and Samsung account for nearly 55% of the total chip factory subsidies under the Chip Act.

Nearly 2 years after the US government's “Chip Act” was introduced, established chip giant Intel (INTC.US) announced in March that it would receive up to 8.5 billion US dollars in government subsidies and up to 11 billion US dollars in special loan support. According to information, the subsidy support received by Intel comes from the “Chip Act” introduced by the Biden administration in 2022. The bill aims to help chip companies build more chip factories in the US and make the US a chip manufacturing powerhouse. Intel can currently be described as the biggest beneficiary in the context of “the return of the chip manufacturing industry to the US.”

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSM.US) officially received high subsidies not long ago, marking another important milestone in the development of the US chip manufacturing industry through the “Chip Act” promoted and passed by the Biden administration in 2022. That is, chip companies from abroad are also expected to receive high subsidies. The US government plans to provide TSMC, which has the title of “King of Global Foundry,” with direct grants of up to US$6.6 billion and loans of up to US$5 billion to support the world's largest chip manufacturer to establish a 5nm and below advanced chip factory in Arizona, USA.

According to a preliminary agreement recently announced by the US government, TSMC will build a third large-scale chip factory in Phoenix, Arizona's largest city. The first and second large-scale chip plants previously announced in the state are expected to be put into large-scale operation in 2025 and 2028, respectively. TSMC is the core chip foundry for US chip design giants such as US tech giants Apple, Nvidia, and AMD. The US government's total subsidy program will support TSMC's investment in these three US chip factories of more than 65 billion US dollars.