Micron launches $15 billion semiconductor project in Idaho

micron idaho building

Micron announced Thursday that it would spend $15 billion to build a new semiconductor plant in Idaho. This came just a few weeks after Congress added $52 billion to chip manufacturing in the United States.

Micron's announcement is the latest in a string of multibillion-dollar plans to take advantage of the CHIPS and Science Act, which the Biden administration just passed. Last month, Micron said it would use the new subsidies in the act to invest $40 billion in memory fabs in the US by 2030. This would create about 40,000 new jobs. Over the next eight years, the new plant in Boise is expected to create 17,000 new jobs, including 2,000 jobs at Micron.

In a statement released on Thursday, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra thanked the Biden administration for finishing the bipartisan chips bill. Mehrotra said, "Our new state-of-the-art memory factory will help keep the US at the top of technology and ensure a steady supply of semiconductors in the US, which is important for the economy and national security."

In a statement on Thursday, President Joe Biden praised Micron's latest investment, calling it "another big win for America."

But until last month, it wasn't clear whether or not the CHIPS and Science Act would pass this year. Intel put off the groundbreaking ceremony for a new $20 billion chip plant in Ohio because it was stuck in Congress. Instead of waiting for the funding to be approved, Intel even suggested that it take over an abandoned Chinese plant to the Biden administration. The New York Times says these pitches scared lawmakers and made them pass the bill more quickly.

Shortly after Biden signed the bill into law, The Columbus Dispatch reported that the president would attend a groundbreaking for Intel's new plant this month. The company says it would be the "largest place on earth to make silicon" and would take 7,000 people to build.

Last week, Biden signed an order so that the billions of dollars in subsidies to companies like Micron and Intel could start going out. Biden's order set up a new interagency council to oversee the rollout, but it's unclear when the Commerce Department will make the new money available.

The federal government has spent billions on creating tech and manufacturing jobs in the US through Biden administration priorities like funding for CHIPs and the bipartisan infrastructure law.

Biden said on Thursday, "Just this week, First Solar, Toyota, Honda, and Corning have all made big announcements about new investments and jobs as a direct result of my economic plan." "In the future, we will make electric vehicles, chips, fiber optics, and other important parts here in the United States, and our economy will be built from the bottom up and the middle out."

In April, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm gave US companies $3.1 billion to build and recycle lithium-ion batteries. This was done to help more people buy EVs. This week, an energy startup called Sparkz announced plans to build a new battery factory in northern West Virginia.

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