CCU in the News
In New York, community members pushed back against the final Environmental Impact Statement for Micron’s planned megafab in Clay. “Micron must disclose to the community what toxics and ‘forever’ chemicals they will use to make microchips, including a rigorous plan to protect our air and water,” said Khadeejah Ahmad, a Syracuse-based organizer with Jobs to Move America. “So far Micron has not provided clear answers.”
CCU staff and many of our friends were quoted in this article about the ecological cost of artificial intelligence.
National News
Every now and then we get some surprisingly good news. Today’s good news is that despite all the anti-Science bullshit raging in Washington, the National Science Foundation avoided budget cuts in 2025! This is a semiconductor story because the NSF administers a lot of CHIPS Act research funding.
The US Commerce Department’s CHIPS Program Office hasn’t put out a press release or updated its website in months, and we know little about whether CHIPS Act money is being disbursed. Recently, however, we learned that the US government was investing $50 million of CHIPS Act dollars in a $1.4 billion partnership with South Carolina’s Vulcan Elements, which makes rare earth magnets.
Do you remember the 48D Advanced Manufacturing Tax Credit? It’s a sweet deal for semiconductor producers that gives them $25 back for every $100 they spend on chip manufacturing equipment and facilities. Courtesy of US taxpayers. Next year, this bonanza goes up to $35. (It’s set to expire at the end of 2026, but I’d be amazed if it wasn’t extended. You heard it here first.) It’s such a fabulous giveaway to corporations that everyone else wants in on it. Here are the latest efforts.
- Open AI’s Sam Altman proposes that the CHIPS Act’s lucrative advanced manufacturing tax credit be extended to data centers as well.
- A bipartisan group of Congress members are proposing to extend the tax credit to cover the materials that make chip manufacturing possible, like substrates, thin films, lithography materials, process chemicals, and other inputs.
Privately, US government officials are saying that the plan to put tariffs on semiconductors may not take place anytime soon.
News from Around the Country
Arizona: We’ve been tracking TSMC’s plans to build another fab on a 7,400 acre plot of land across the freeway from its current site. The neighbors are not happy, with good reason. Nonetheless, the local planning commission just greenlighted the rezoning that will be required to build heavy industry on suburban land.
In other TSMC news, first the company allegedly discriminated against a worker, then it retaliated against her for joining a class-action lawsuit.
California: Chip-making in California? There’s not much, but we have been hearing rumors. A bunch of tech billionaires bought farmland in Solano County and are hoping to build a dream city called California Forever. (This came to light in 2023.) Now California Forever is proposing to create a manufacturing campus in their fantasy town, and they’re calling it Solano Foundry. Maybe they want a chip fab? Then there’s a four-acre lot in Fresno that could be the site of an innovation hub. All this might explain why California lawmakers recently eliminated environmental review for semiconductor manufacturing.
A few months back, CCU connected with a former Apple employee who was basically poisoned when her apartment turned out to be adjacent to a secret, illegal Apple chip fab that was venting unfiltered toxic fumes in her window. Apple has now been fined $261,000 by the EPA for mishandling waste at the facility. (Additional complaints are pending.)
Colorado:Colorado Springs, home to chip companies Entegris and Microchip Enterprises, now wants to establish its own CHIPS Zone. As far as I can tell, this is an effort by the city to secure tax credits for chip producers.
Indiana: If you want to see some creative activism, check out the angry community members in hazmat suits at a recent West Lafayette city council meeting. Neighbors are protesting a zoning decision that will allow chip-maker SK hynix to build a chip factory adjacent to homes, schools, churches, parks, and daycare centers. Here’s more on the saga.
New York: Micron has pushed back the target date for opening its first fab in Clay.
In other matters, Micron has received massive tax breaks from New York state and local governments. A new article explores the impact of tax incentives on local schools. tl/dr: it’s not good!
Oregon: Intel just laid off another 669 workers in Oregon. You can stay current on the sad news by checking the CCU Intel layoff tracker.
Texas:Samsung is slow-walking its build-out in Taylor, and city officials are responding by modifying their incentive agreement. No points for you if you guessed that Taylor is clawing back its money and holding Samsung accountable to create the jobs they promised. Nope. Instead, the city is actually loosening the terms of its original deal so the chip-maker can keep its tax breaks and other giveaways despite violating the terms of the contract.
Do you remember DARPA, the federal agency that brought us the internet? Well apparently it’s still around and investing in a defunct Austin chip fab to create a state-of-the-art research foundry that some people are calling a “fab for weird chips.”
Vermont:The state is set to be the next semiconductor powerhouse, according to some corporate PR. GlobalFoundries and TSMC are teaming up to produce Gallium Nitride chips. (Gallium Nitride is an alternative to silicon that is currently used in LEDs and some other applications.)
Environmental News
The EPA is proposing to end its greenhouse gas reporting requirements (GHGRP) for the country’s top emitters. You might recall that chip factories emit a number of climate warming gases, including some that are tens of thousands of times more potent than CO2, and now they may no longer have to inform the government about these emissions. This is such a bad idea that even SEMI, a semiconductor industry group, urged the agency to reconsider.
Economic News
We’ve noted in previous newsletters that the alleged manufacturing boom hasn’t led to an increase in manufacturing jobs. A month ago, the manufacturing sector had shed 38,000 jobs since the start of the year. Recent news suggests things are only getting worse for manufacturers, thanks to tariffs, regulatory uncertainty, supply chain disruption, and a shortage of skilled labor,
Global Politics
The battle between the Netherlands and China over Nexperia seems to be easing a bit. This is good news for carmakers, who were facing a shortage of automotive chips.
We’re Also Reading
A long, interesting article on tariffs, trade, and semiconductors that also explores the different paths taken by TSMC and Intel. Definitely worth reading to understand how we got where we are today, including the fact that it was direct outreach to TSMC from the city of Phoenix that brought the chip-maker to the desert, even before the CHIPS and Science Act was signed.
Harvard’s Dani Rodrik, a brilliant economist who warned about the dangers of globalization before it was cool, says that the effort to bring back manufacturing is misguided.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! See you in December.
