Under terms of a cooperative research and development agreement signed on Tuesday (13th Sep), the duo hope to both develop and produce new chips to help drive innovations in the semiconductor space.
gasworld understands the chips will be manufactured by SkyWater Technology at its Bloomington semiconductor foundry in Minnesota. The circuitry for the chips will be designed by NIST, along with university research partners.
Google will pay the initial cost of setting up production and fund the first production run.
Laurie Locascio, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director, said, “By creating a new and affordable domestic supply of chips for research and development, this collaboration aims to unleash the innovative potential of researchers and start-ups across the nation.”
“This is a great example of how government, industry and academic researchers can work together to enhance US leadership in this critically important industry.”
Source: B. Hoskins/NIST
Formalisation of the partnership follows the President Joe Biden signed the $52bn CHIPS Act into law in order to place the US as a forerunner in the semiconductor market and revitalise domestic manufacturing.
Signed into law last month (August 2022), the Act sets aside funding for new semiconductor programmes, including $39bn for a grant programme available to semiconductor manufacturers as well as equipment and materials suppliers.
Further to the above, the Act also includes $2bn for the legacy chips used in automobiles and defence systems, $13.2bn in R&D and workforce development and $500m to provide for international information communications technology security and semiconductor supply chain activities.
Read more: President Biden signs $52bn CHIPS Act into law
Prior to the Act being signed into law, gasworld heard from those active in the semiconductor space that the market was at major risk, unless the right support was presented to the market, including the supply chain.
Read more: Exclusive: US semi supply chain at risk, major investment and support required
The collaboration between Google and NIST was planned before the signing of the CHIPS Act.