1. Local residents file a lawsuit as Micron breaks ground in NY
Micron Corp. broke ground last week on the first phase of its $100 billion megafab in Clay, NY. The same day, CCU steering committee member Jobs to Move America and local residents filed a lawsuit raising concerns about the environmental, health, and community impacts of the planned facility. CCU’s local partners will formally launch a coalition on Wednesday Jan. 21st calling on Micron to negotiate a community benefits agreement with the company.
Here’s a cheezy photo of the groundbreaking, featuring Gov. Kathy Hochul, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra. (Hochul and Lutnick bickered over which party deserved credit for Micron’s new facility.)
2. Taiwan promises to spend $250 billion in the US
The US and Taiwan have to come to an agreement over tariffs, and the result will be more Taiwanese investment in US chip-making. Taiwan committed to invest $250 billion in the US, a sum that includes the $165 billion TSMC has already promised to invest in Arizona, “the mother of all US reshoring projects.” The company previously announced plans to build six factories manufacturing logic chips and two more advanced packaging facilities. As CCU friends in North Phoenix know, TSMC purchased a new plot of land earlier this month for the next phase in their expansion.
“Under the new deal, TSMC is expected to announce several more Arizona logic fabs and continue bringing more advanced capabilities to the U.S. The company said Thursday it plans up to $56 billion this year in capital expenditures.” Apparently, it costs TSMC 15 to 30% more to produce chips in Arizona than it does in Taiwan, but with 60 percent profit margins and a near monopoly market position, this cost increase is “an inconvenience, not a deal breaker.”
3. CHIPS Act investments keep on rolling
The US government plans to take a $150 million stake in xLight, a startup developing laser technology for use in semiconductor manufacturing. The Commerce Department has signed a non-binding preliminary letter of intent to provide federal incentives to xLight under the CHIPS and Science Act in exchange for equity. The Trump administration has also taken stakes in Intel, U.S. Steel, and several critical mineral firms, including MP Materials, Lithium Americas, and Trilogy Metals.
The US Government Accounting Office recently produced a report on CHIPS and Science Act investments. The report mostly tells us things we already knew, though I haven’t read it from end to end. “As of July 2025, the Department of Commerce has provided incentive awards to 19 companies for 40 projects to construct, expand, or modernize semiconductor facilities. Thirteen of the 19 companies received funding for workforce development activities associated with the projects. In total, Commerce awarded the 19 companies with $30.9 billion in direct funding and two of them with $5.5 billion in loans through the incentive awards.” One interesting thing: the GAO found that the government didn’t adequately prevent fraud in CHIPS Act implementation.
4. Members of Congress propose a strategic mineral reserve
Rare earth and other critical minerals are necessary for making semiconductors, EV batteries, and other kinds of advanced technology. But China controls most of the world’s supply, leaving the US vulnerable to supply chain disruptions. So a bipartisan group of lawmakers now propose the creation of a Strategic Resilience Reserve, modeled on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which was established in 1975 in response to the Arab oil embargo. The legislation also prioritizes support for projects that recycle, reuse, or repurpose critical minerals or extract minerals from mining or industrial waste.
5. Intel may be bouncing back
Intel has been in decline for years, but evidence suggests things might be turning around. First of all, Intel stocks rose after the president praised Intel and its CEO.
Second, new job listings posted by Intel’s Ohio contractor, Bechtel, suggest the company’s Ohio project is finally underway.
6. Data centers are pushing Arizona’s grid to the breaking point
“[D]ata centers are causing electricity demand to rise faster in Arizona than almost any other place in the country. In 2025, electricity demand in Arizona grew by 8%—a growth rate 4x larger than that of the United States as a whole.” And as data center projects advance, so do fights over power, water, and growth.
Researchers are hunting for hidden data centers. If you want to know more about data centers in your area, here’s a good source for data on data centers.
7. Bye bye, manufacturing jobs
Which states have lost the most manufacturing jobs? The answers aren’t very surprising, but it’s interesting to dig into the data. NY, RI, MA, VT, and WV lost the most jobs in the manufacturing sector between 2000 and 2024. Only six states saw an increase in manufacturing employment: AK, ID, SD, ND, UT, and NV. One challenge is the decoupling of manufacturing employment and output: manufacturing GDP grew in 46 states, but 40 of them saw a decline in jobs.
Here’s an analysis that argues America’s postwar economic glory (and manufacturing jobs) can’t return.
We’re Also Reading
Two fascinating articles on Apple’s evolving relationship to TSMC. Together they tell the story of how essential Apple was to TSMC. The contract to make chips for the iPhone was like rocket fuel for the Taiwanese company, boosting the chip-maker’s revenue, R&D spending, and technological advances. But today, things are changing. With the AI boom, chip-makers are making more chips for high-performance computing and fewer (relatively) for smartphones. As a result, Nvidia is replacing Apple as TSMC’s biggest customer.Let me know if this was useful, or send me something you think I should share with folks in the next newsletter.
