In the lead up to the fast-tracked vote yesterday, the U.S. chip industry was split over the CHIPS act benefits to Intel and chip designers were warming up to the bill despite the advantages afforded the Silicon-valley based U.S. pioneer and global leader in the semiconductor industry:  “The bill has been viewed as favoring Intel, which is establishing factories. But it’ll be important to see whether the final bill addresses funding for fabless chip design firms and what specific conditions are attached to funding…

Intel has been heavily lobbying for the passage of the CHIPS Act to partially fund new factories, including a new $20 billion factory near Columbus, Ohio. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung, which are building plants in the U.S., also have been lobbying to pass the bill as soon as possible. Chipmakers have said failure to pass the bill would lead to delays in starting the plants.”

Still,  even companies like Intel are not happy about some of the strings attached:

• “For example, earlier proposals that have been circulating include guardrails that would ban recipients for chips funding from making investments to expand chip manufacturing capacity in countries of concern, namely China.
• ‘The threshold that has been discussed is to exempt this restriction for manufacturing for chips at >28nm nodes. Senator Bernie Sanders has also pushed for restrictions on stock buybacks,’ Reva Goujon, senior manager at Rhodium Group said.
• ‘The guardrails being debated that prohibit <28nm fabs in China by companies that receive CHIPS Act funding are rubber stamps that achieve nothing,’ said Dylan Patel, founder of SemiAnalysis, a semiconductor research and consulting firm.
• “No company was planning to do that in China. The guardrail doesn’t change that most of Intel’s or Texas Instruments’ test and packaging is done in China and will continue to be done in China. What use are new fabs for national security if they have to go to China for test and packaging anyways?” Patel told HPCwire.”  (2)

What Next?

According to Agam Shah at HPCwire.com:  “The next steps would be for the Senate to pass a final vote on the modified CHIPS Act, which is being called CHIPS plus, and then pass it down to the House. Senators have urged quick passage of the final bill, but the time is tight, or it could face further delays.

The Senate will need to do another vote on the final bill in the coming days and then the House needs to vote before it adjourns on July 27, Reva Goujon, senior manager at Rhodium Group, told HPCwire.

The procedural vote was designed to take the Senate’s temperature on whether there are at least 60 votes for a ‘CHIPS plus’ bill, Goujon said.

‘Now comes the question of what goes into the ‘plus’ of ‘CHIPS plus’. There appears to be consensus for the $52 billion chips funding, tax credits, and potentially authorizations for science agencies,’ Goujon said. (2)

Andrews at the WSJ provided additional context on the potential scientific provisions:  “The vote paves the way for a larger package that would include additional funding for scientific research. Ahead of the vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said he would use the result to gauge whether there was enough Republican support for the additional funding, which has been under negotiation for more than a year.

‘This will be a test vote, and the outcome will decide whether the science portion of USICA is included,’ Mr. Schumer said, while adding he personally supports a larger proposal.

Tuesday’s motion needed only 51 votes to pass, but Mr. Schumer said because it received more than 60 votes, enough to comfortably overcome a Senate filibuster and advance, he would move forward with adding the science funding. That would back early-stage research using technology in water systems, technology, and behavioral health, precision agriculture, and other sectors. It would also bolster technology education.” (1)