The Biden administration wants to attract companies working on digital twins for semiconductors using funding from the $280 billion CHIPS and Science Act and creating a chip manufacturing institute.
The CHIPS Manufacturing USA institute aims to establish regional networks to share resources with companies that develop and manufacture physical semiconductors and digital twins.
Digital twins, virtual representations of physical chips that mimic the real version, make it easy to simulate how a chip might react to an increase in power or a different data configuration. This helps researchers test new processors before putting them into production.
“Digital twin technology can help drive innovation in semiconductor research, development and manufacturing across the country, but only if we invest in America's understanding and capability of this new technology,” says Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, in a press release.
Research on digital twins has shown that it can be integrated with other emerging technologies, such as generative ai, to speed up simulation or conduct further studies on new semiconductor concepts.
Biden administration officials He says he will Hold informational meetings with stakeholders this month to discuss funding opportunities. The government will fund the institute's operational activities, research on digital twins, physical and digital facilities such as access to cloud environments, and workforce training.
The CHIPS Act was passed in 2022 to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing, but has struggled to meet capital demand. Raimondo previously said manufacturers applied for more than $70 billion in subsidies, more than the $28 billion the government budgeted in investments.
So far, companies like Intel and Micron will receive funding from the US government through the CHIPS Act. Part of the Biden administration's goal with the CHIPS Act is to encourage semiconductor companies to build new types of processors in the U.S., especially as demand for high-power chips has grown thanks to the rise of ai.
