Today, the Department of Commerce and Natcast, the operator of the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), announced the expected location for the first CHIPS for America research and development (R&D) flagship facility. The CHIPS for America Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Accelerator, an NSTC facility (EUV Accelerator), is expected to operate within NY CREATES' Albany NanoTech Complex in Albany, New York, supported by a proposed federal investment of an estimated $825 million. The EUV Accelerator will focus on advancing state of the art EUV technology and the R&D that relies on it.

As a key part of President Biden's Investing in America agenda, CHIPS for America is driven by the growing need to bolster the U.S. semiconductor supply chain, accelerate U.S. leading-edge R&D, and create good quality jobs around the country. This proposed facility will bring together NSTC members from across the ecosystem to accelerate semiconductor R&D and innovation by providing NSTC members access to technologies, capabilities, and critical resources.

As a part of the CHIPS act, the US government has announced that it will set up a network for advanced chip design that goes under the name of the National Semiconductor Technology Center or NSTC. The NSTC is intended to help the US pull ahead of other nations when it comes to advanced chip design, but it's also meant to help reduce the time and maybe more importantly the cost of going from a design concept to a final commercial product. A big part of this is said to be about helping startups and entrepreneurs make prototypes and pilot runs, to enable them to bring proof of concepts to the market, so they can raise funds for a full production run.

However, it doesn't stop there, as the US government also wants the NSTC to help build and sustain a suitable workforce for the semiconductor industry, suggesting that the NSTC will be involved in academia as well as the industry itself. The NSTC is backed by the Commerce Department and it's expected to involve multiple locations nationwide, although at this point in time, it's not clear if this involves new locations outside of areas where the US based semiconductor industry is located today. Even the NSTC headquarter location has as yet to be decided, but its location alongside other sites are said to be worked out over the next few months. Time will tell if the NSTC will help bring change to the US semiconductor industry, but it seems like a step in the right direction.