Washington pours $3B into silicon smackdown to outpackage Asia

The US has earmarked $3 billion in funding it hopes will drive US leadership in advanced packaging technologies, seen as a key part of the future semiconductor industry.

As part of the CHIPS for America funding, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) said there will be approximately $3 billion available for a National Advanced Packaging Manufacturing Program (NAPMP) to research advanced semiconductor packaging.

An "initial funding opportunity" for this program is expected to be announced in early 2024, it said. This will form part of the research and development efforts funded by the Department of Commerce, which oversees the CHIPS for America scheme.

NIST Director Laurie E Locascio said in a statement that the goal of the investment is to ensure the US will be able to both manufacture and package the world's most sophisticated chips within a decade.

"This means both onshoring a high-volume advanced packaging ...