The Commerce Dept. signed letters of intent for $874M in CHIPS Act funding in exchange for minority stakes in GlobalFoundries, Kepler, and five other companies
The letters of intent add an ownership component to that support. That matters because it changes the government’s role from funder of semiconductor capacity and research to a minority financial participant in selected recipients.
First-order effects
GlobalFoundries, Kepler and five other companies gain access to proposed CHIPS Act funding totaling $874M, while Commerce would receive minority stakes rather than provide support solely through grants or loans.
The recipients must now account for a federal minority owner alongside the operational and funding commitments tied to their letters of intent.
Second-order effects
Other CHIPS applicants and recipients may face pressure to assess whether future federal support carries equity terms, changing the relative appeal and cost of public funding versus private capital.
For GlobalFoundries, the arrangement extends a funding relationship that recently included a proposed $300M award for silicon-photonics R&D, potentially tying public support more closely to commercially relevant AI-infrastructure research.
Third-order effects
If repeated, equity-for-support structures could make U.S. chip industrial policy more financially participatory: the government would share in selected companies’ upside as well as subsidize capacity and R&D.
The approach could sharpen debates over how the state selects strategic semiconductor companies and what governance rights, if any, accompany minority holdings.
The trend: CHIPS policy is evolving from capacity subsidies toward more state-aligned financing structures for strategically important semiconductor companies.
Oh look, the Commerce Department quietly announced 7 new equity stakes in private companies. Brought to you by the people fighting “communism.” https://thehill.com/...
For those keeping score at home*, this means the US government's equity portfolio now consists of THIRTY COMPANIES - up from ZERO just a year ago. (MP Materials was the 1st last July.) Bonus: it's all coming from the guy fighting “communism.” *Don't worry bc @CatoInstitute is
NEW: Commerce Department quietly announces 7 new equity stakes in private companies Commerce's CHIPS Research & Dev Office signed letters of intent w/ 7 companies to provide $874 million in federal funding in exchange for a non-majority equity stake.
While you were sleeping, the Commerce Department announced that it has - via the CHIPS Act* - taken SEVEN new equity stakes in private semiconductor firms. American Socialism continues apace. https://www.nist.gov/... *Which doesn't expressly authorize govt equity stakes. [image]
In communism, the government owns the means of production. Any Republicans in Congress willing to call out this outrageous and likely illegal move? thehill.com/policy/techn...
Trump keeps using tax money to buy stakes in previously private companies. He wants government and big business to be the same thing. Which is another way to describe ... communism.
Commerce Department quietly announces 7 new equity stakes in private companies... Remember the Republican “No More Solyndras Act” to restrict Department of Energy loan guarantees, to criticize the broader concept of government-driven stakes in “green jobs? — thehill.com/policy…
The Trump administration continues their don't-call-it-socialism of spending public money acquiring portions of private companies — thehill.com/policy/techn...
The first letters of intent in packaging research for the compute supply chain were announced in this group: Co-packaged optics, fine-pitched packaging and high-performance packaging. …