1. CNY community calls for community benefits from Micron
On Jan. 21, community groups near Syracuse formally launched CNY United for Community Benefits, a coalition of workers, neighbors, and local organizations calling on Micron to ensure good jobs, healthy communities, and a fair deal for Central New York. If you need a refresher on Micron’s megafab, which broke ground last month, check out this (so-called) essential guide to the Micron project.
2. CCU’s friend Sandy Bahr is in the spotlight!
“Saint Sandy,” as she is apparently called, is the executive director of the Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club and one of Arizona’s environmental leaders. We’re so happy to see her get the recognition she deserves.
3. The Commerce Dept. invests in rare earth minerals
Did you think the CHIPS Act implementation phase was over? Nope. Using CHIPS Act dollars, the US Commerce Dept. plans to invest up to $277 million in direct funding and up to $1.3 billion in a secured loan to USA Rare Earth to support projects in Texas and Oklahoma with estimated private investments of $3.3 billion. The company will mine and process rare earth minerals, which are used in neodymium iron boron magnets. USA Rare Earth is just the latest in a series of critical mineral suppliers that the administration will be supporting through various federal agencies.
4. Looking back at the CHIPS and Science Act
Here at CCU, we’re a bit obsessed with the CHIPS Act, but admittedly we are weirdos. In the last few weeks, however, we’ve run across some other people who are also pondering the CHIPS Act and its legacy. I highly recommend the article by (my idol) Mariana Mazzucato, who analyzes how the CHIPS Act embodies some of the best and the worst of industrial policy. Another recent article argues that Trump’s trade policy has undermined the CHIPS Act. “President Trump’s reversal of a ban on sales of advanced semiconductors to China undercut the strategic logic behind years of American policy that was meant to keep the US ahead in the race to develop AI systems.” Despite it all, according to a Columbia professor, the CHIPS Act has created jobs in the US: between 15,000 to 16,000 direct jobs in the semiconductor sector and 28,000 to 35,000 indirect jobs in construction and other local industries. Finally, here’s a student-created database of state and local incentives associated with the CHIPS Act.
5. Intel stumbles
We’ve been following Intel’s woes for a while, and a few weeks ago I shared news suggesting the company was bouncing back after years of losses and tens of thousands of lay-offs. I hope you didn’t get too excited, because now Intel is slumping again. “Intel Corp. shares plunged about 17% after Chief Executive Officer Lip-Bu Tan gave a lackluster forecast and warned that the chipmaker was struggling with manufacturing problems. First-quarter projections for revenue and earnings both fell well short of Wall Street estimates. And a conference call with analysts, where Tan said it would take ‘time and resolve’ to turn around the company, sent the shares down further.”
Just for fun, here are videos of Intel’s Fab 52 in Chandler, AZ: exterior and interior footage.
6. TSMC is booming
Nvidia says it needs to manufacture so many chips that TSMC may need to double capacity. TSMC is so busy making chips for AI that Apple (which has used TSMC for virtually all their chips for years) may need to look elsewhere for chips for phones, computers, and tablets. (Samsung is the likeliest supplier.) Apple is making stunning profits, but the company’s sales are constrained by the lack of chips.
7. What about other companies?
After years of delay, Samsung seems (finally) to be producing chips at its facility in Taylor, TX. Bosch’s Roseville, CA plant is due to open this year. And Corning has come a long way, baby.
8. In case you wondered, US manufacturing is not doing well
Our president keeps saying that manufacturing is up 41% since he took office, but in fact the boom was created in the Biden years, and now manufacturing in the US is declining. “[M]anufacturing construction spending peaked in 2024 during the Biden administration and has edged downward since. Under President Joe Biden, manufacturing construction experienced an unprecedented surge. Annual average spending rose more than 200%, climbing from $75.5 billion in 2021 to $235.6 billion in 2024, driven largely by the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act and post-pandemic reshoring… However, quarterly Census data indicate that from late 2024 through the third quarter of 2025 — Trump’s first months back in office — spending declined 6.7%. Monthly figures show a 7.3% drop from January to October 2025.”
9. But how are we doing in the race against China?
We are not winning, says an Obama official. Tariffs won’t work. Export controls don’t work. “The only real solution,” he argues, “is to get our house in order and beat China at its own game.”
10. The global semiconductor industry is breaking records
Global chip sales in 2026 are expected to hit one trillion dollars. And McKinsey explains why analysts routinely underestimate the size of the industry.
11. What about Taiwan?
While the US president says he expects Taiwan to relocate 40% of its chip production to the US, Taiwan says that’s impossible. And here’s a great article on Taiwan’s critical but precarious role in the global economy. (Happy Lunar New Year to CCU’s friends in Taiwan, Korea, and the rest of Asia. I hope you’re eating good dumplings and having a much needed vacation!)
12. A training on environmental testing
Thanks to friend-of-CCU Dennis O’Mara, check out this free on-line training on grassroots environmental monitoring and testing, coming up next week.
