After the commencement of policy work on the CHIPS (Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors) and Science act over a year ago, California has been selected as the headquarters for the new National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC).
The announcement was made by the US Department of Commerce and Natcast – a non-profit entity set-up by the Department of Commerce to run the NSTC, through the office of the governor for California.
The facility which will be known as the Design and Collaboration Facility (DCF) is one of the three research and design facilities for “CHIPS for America”.
According to Natcast, two more facilities will also need to be set up. These are:
• The Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Center and,
• The Prototyping and National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program (NAPMP) facility
The three facilities will see the “full” implementation of the CHIPS and Science act.
About the DCF
The multi-functional facility will be based in Sunnydale, and will serve as the central hub for a large array of functions not limited to:
• Operating as Natcast headquarters
• Hosting Natcast administrative functions
• Hosting convening NSTC consortium members
• Conducting NSTC programs like the NSTC Design Enablement Gateway program
• Overseeing semiconductor research and design in electronic design automation (EDA), chip and system architecture, and hardware security
What the project has to offer
• The facility is expected to bring more than $1 billion to Silicon Valley as research funding.
• More than 200 jobs positions for the facility are to be created in the coming decade. Jobs in the US semiconductor industry are also expected to grow by nearly 115,000 by 2030.
• Advanced research in various technological sublets like EDA and hardware security.
• The project is also seen as an integral part in the development of semiconductor workforce in the US.
• Boost semiconductor investment, tech startups, and businesses in the valley.
• Nurture and develop talent in the technology sector. California is also home to world-class research institutions like Stanford, alongside national labs like NASA Ames Research Center.
Key areas that are part of the strategic objectives for the project
The New US National Semiconductor Technology Center is technologically centered at its core. It will inseparably have impact on the following industries and sectors:
1. Sustainability
The manufacturing process of semiconductor chips includes many processes that encompasses needs like energy and their emissions, water, and polyfluoroalkyl (PFA) materials.
The facility will put in place mechanisms to abate the use of PFA materials in the manufacturing process of the American-made semiconductors. Other than the lessening of the usage of these materials, future plans will also be underway to fully replace them. The latter will feature in complementary funding for research and design.
2. Security
Semiconductors power a wide range of products, from those use in AI, to the military, healthcare systems, infrastructure, automotives, etc. When faced with dynamic and ever-changing threats in the technological space, tightening of security measures is paramount. The facility, and project at large, will see to it that the chips they manufacture are according to the industry’s best practices.
3. Boost in AI efficiency
AI has taken the world by storm, and the turbulence it effects across various industries and sectors does not look like its calming down any time soon. To take “advantage” of this, the DCF (while implementing the various policies in the act that bore it), is looking to make efficient the resources needed to run Large Language Models (LLMs).
LLMs, along side other AI models, require huge amounts of computing power, memory and other resources. The facility has it as its challenge to improve the execution of AI workload by 100,000 times more than what is being projected by the current tech industry trends.
The timeline and cost for the construction of the facility have not yet been disclosed. It is however, an anticipated project in the valley.
