Infinera’s award will be used to support the construction of a new fab in San Jose, California, and a packaging facility in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The company suggests the projects could potentially increase its domestic manufacturing capabilities by a factor of 10.
The projects will create around 500 manufacturing jobs and 1,200 construction jobs. Once certain milestones are completed, project funds will be available.
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David Heard, CEO of Infinera, said: “We are honoured to announce that we have finalised the agreement to receive CHIPS Act funding to increase photonic semiconductor fabrication and packaging in the US and help protect our national security by enabling us to better compete with foreign adversary nations.”
“This funding will accelerate delivery of US photonic semiconductor innovations to meet the demands of critical network infrastructure in the era of AI.”
In addition to finalising Infinera’s award, the Commerce Department signed off on more subsidy deals including $32 million for Corning, $18 million for Edwards Vacuum, and $75 million for GlobalFoundries.
Corning plans to use the funds to expand production of its High Purity Fused Silica and Ultra Low Expansion Glass materials in New York’s North Country region, while Edwards Vacuum is investing in a new manufacturing facility in Genesee County.
GlobalFoundries, meanwhile, will use its CHIPS Act funds to expand its Malta, New York facility to support advanced packaging technologies.
The Commerce Department approved the latest deals as it works to finalise awards before President-Elect Trump’s inauguration next week. Trump has threatened to eliminate CHIPS Act subsidies in favour of imposing tariffs, previously calling the act “so bad”.
In recent weeks, the agency finalised deals including $53 million to HP and $325 million to Hemlock Semiconductor.
The Department has awarded over $33 billion since the introduction of the CHIPS Act in a bid to incentivise chipmakers to bring production away from Southeast Asia and back to the US.
“The bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act is a turning point for American innovation and manufacturing that is strengthening our economic and national security,” said Gina Raimondo, the US Secretary of Commerce. “The semiconductors that will be manufactured in the US are foundational to our technological and economic leadership of the 21st century.”
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