US commerce dept finalises $6.1 billion Micron chipmaking subsidy

The US Commerce Department said on Tuesday it had finalized a $6.165 billion government subsidy for Micron Technology to produce semiconductors in New York and Idaho. 

The funding will support Micron's long-term plan to invest around $100 billion in manufacturing in New York and $25 billion in Idaho and is one of the largest government awards to chip companies under the $52.7 billion 2022 CHIPS and Science Act. 

The new funding, $4.6 billion for New York and $1.5 billion for Idaho, is identical to the amount announced in April. 

Separately, the department said it has reached a preliminary agreement to award Micron up to $275 million in proposed funding to expand and modernize its facility in Manassas, Virginia to help it bring a more advanced technology to the United States boosting its wafer production. 

The department said the Micron investments will create approximately 20,000 jobs and help the US grow its share of advanced memory chip manufacturing from less than 2 per cent to approximately 10 per cent by 2035. 

Micron is working on a 1,400-acre mega campus to make dynamic random-access memory chips (DRAM) in central New York state. 

DRAM chips are key components in personal computing, cars, industrial operations, wireless communications and artificial intelligence and Micron's High-Bandwidth Memory is critical for enabling new AI models, the department said. 

Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said the award "will help drive economic growth and ensure that the US remains at the forefront of technological advancements." Micron shares were down less than 1 per cent on Tuesday. 

The White House said the investments will help "onshore a critical technology relied upon by our defense industry, automotive sector and national security community", President Joe Biden's administration has finalized a series of subsidies, including a $7.86 billion award for Intel, $6.6 billion for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's US unit and $1.5 billion for GlobalFoundries. 

The final awards come just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump, who has criticized the program, takes office.   

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