Industry Leaders Offer Input on Policies Needed to Strengthen U.S. Semiconductor Leadership

by Semiconductor Industry Association

SIA president and CEO John Neuffer on May 12 participated in a roundtable discussion hosted by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). The purpose of this roundtable was to discuss the challenges and opportunities for U.S. leadership in semiconductors, and especially to provide input on how the bipartisan innovation and competitiveness legislation passed by both the House and Senate, and in particular the CHIPS Act, would bolster semiconductor research and development and improve the U.S. STEM workforce.

The speakers emphasized several key points, including:

• The need for the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC), funded as part the CHIPS Act, to target the lab-to-fab transition for innovative technologies;
• The criticality of allowing industry voices to lead the R&D priorities for the NSTC and associated efforts;
• The value of R&D funding to U.S. workforce development and the virtuous cycle of innovation and workforce training;
• The assistance that low-volume prototyping and piloting capacity can provide to the startup ecosystem
• The partnerships required to enable success for the NSTC, both with earlier-stage U.S. organizations such as universities and national labs, as well as with international organizations like IMEC

These presentations, along with the Q&A session between the participants and PCAST members, will help prepare the administration to best implement the legislative agenda within the CHIPS Act to help fortify U.S. semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research and pave the way for continued U.S. leadership in this sector. Also participating in this discussion were Intel CEO and SIA board member Patrick Gelsinger, Stanford Professor Priyanka Raina, SambaNova founder and CEO Rodrigo Liang, and Synopsys co-founder Aart deGeus.