We’ve had several clients in both the semiconductor and sustainability spaces this week giving a variety of opinions on how the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 – now formally signed into U.S. law – might affect their business.
CHIPS stands for Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors. The act primarily boosts the semiconductor industry and scientific research, with the goal of increasing the production of computer chips in the U.S. and helping to ease supply-chain issues. It also tucked in some NASA authorizations, the first since 2017.
There’s a lot of debate on the issue, particularly regarding the $52 billion earmarked to fund U.S. domestic semiconductor manufacturing with tax incentives, but here are seven areas in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 that you might have missed:
- The creation of a first-of-its-kind National Science Foundation for STEM education and building up the overall semiconductor workforce.
- Establishing a new federal AI scholarship-for-service program, a national network and four science research centers for microelectronics education, continued support for the cybersecurity workforce, and additional R&D to expand rural access to STEM education.
- Setting up 20 regional technology hubs across the U.S. over five years in areas that are not already leading technology centers, which will build regional innovation, create local jobs, and help support persistently distressed communities.
- Establishing a new regional clean energy program with partnerships across the U.S. that promote economic development through supporting the innovation of clean energy.
- Creation of a voluntary National Supply Chain database to combat supply-chain disruption at a state level.
- Funding of new biological, environmental, and climate-change research that could develop new energy technologies.
- Empowering NASA: The life of the International Space Station is extended to 2030, and NASA is required to pursue certain research and science goals, including the search for life in the universe, cleaner and quieter airplanes, Earth science research related to climate, and achieving human exploration on Mars.
Here’s a link to the full text of the law in our comment section so you can read it for yourself. What stands out to you? Is there something maybe you weren’t aware of before?
