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Micron Launches $15 Billion Idaho Project Amidst Federal Push for US Tech Manufacturing

Micron Launches $15 Billion Idaho Project Amidst Federal Push for US Tech Manufacturing




On Thursday, Micron announced it would invest $15 billion to build a new semiconductor plant in Idaho -- just weeks after Congress passed $52 billion in new money to boost domestic chip manufacturing.

Micron's announcement is the latest in a series of multi-billion dollar plans to launch the Biden administration's recently approved Chips and Science Act. Last month, Micron said it would use the act's new subsidies to invest $40 billion in US-based memory fabs, or fabrication plants, by 2030, creating an estimated 40,000 new jobs. The new Boise plant is expected to create 17,000 new jobs over the next eight years, including 2,000 Micron jobs

In a statement on Thursday, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra thanked the Biden administration for scrapping the bipartisan chips law. "Our new pioneering memory manufacturing fab will foster American technology leadership, ensuring reliable domestic supplies of semiconductors that are critical to economic and national security," Mehrotra said.

President Joe Biden celebrated Micron's latest investment in a statement Thursday, calling it "another major victory for America."

But it was not clear until last month whether the Chips and Science Act would finalize it this year. As it stalled in Congress, Intel delayed an important ceremony for a new $20 billion Ohio chip plant and even opted to wait for funding approval from an abandoned Chinese plant. Chosen. , After leaving, Biden also pleaded with the administration. According to The New York Times, these pitches intimidated lawmakers, and prompted them to approve the bill more quickly.

Soon after the bill was signed into law, The Columbus Dispatch reported that the president would participate in an unprecedented new addition to Intel's plant this month. The company claims it will be the "largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet" and will require 7,000 workers to manufacture.

Last week, Biden signed an executive order to start subsidizing billions to manufacturers like Micron and Intel. Biden's order established a new interagency council to oversee the rollout, but it is unclear when the Commerce Department will officially make the new funding available.

Through the Biden administration's priorities such as CHIP funding and bipartisan infrastructure legislation, the federal government has invested billions into creating home tech and manufacturing jobs.

"This week, we've seen First Solar, Toyota, Honda and Corning make big announcements of new investments and new jobs as a direct result of my economic plan," Biden said on Thursday. “In our future, we will make EVs, chips, fiber optics and other critical components here in the US, and we will have a bottom-up and mid-to-outside economy.”

In April, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm gave US companies $3.1 billion in funding to manufacture and recycle lithium-ion batteries to help boost EV adoption. Earlier this week, an energy startup called Sparkz announced plans to build a new battery factory in northern West Virginia.

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