Laurie Locascio, Director of the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has announced a plan to support chip package technology with a funding infusion of $1.6 billion from the Chips Act, approximately 50,000 million baht, allowing companies to apply for grants of up to $150 million.
Chip packaging technology plays a crucial role in the production of new-generation chips because these new chips often consist of more than just a single piece of silicon but rely on numerous interconnected silicon pieces to form chips that are used in real-world applications.
One of the leading companies in advanced chip packaging technology is TSMC, which recently introduced the TSMC-System-on-Wafer technology, almost entirely assembling servers directly onto a silicon wafer. Even established chip manufacturers like Intel have their own packaging technology, although they may outsource the production of certain chips to external companies.
Chip packaging facilities are scattered throughout Asia, including Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam, and China. Meanwhile, factories in the United States account for only 3% of global chip production. This means that even new chip factories funded by the Chips Act in the United States may still have to send their chips back to Asia for packaging.
Source: Strait Times
TLDR: NIST’s Director, Laurie Locascio, reveals a $1.6 billion funding plan for chip package technology, allowing companies to apply for grants up to $150 million. Asian countries dominate chip packaging facilities, posing a challenge for new U.S. chip factories funded by the Chips Act.
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