Semiconductor Industry Seeks $3.4B a Year in Federal R&D Funding

The world “has come to rely more heavily on semiconductor-enabled technology to work, study, communicate, treat illness, and do innumerable other tasks remotely” during the pandemic, said an interim “decadal” report Thursday from the Semiconductor Industry Association and Semiconductor Research Corp. that seeks $3.4 billion in federal R&D funding annually. “The future holds boundless potential for semiconductor technology, with emerging applications such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and advanced wireless technologies like 5G and 6G promising incalculable benefits.” It requires addressing five “seismic shifts shaping the future of chip technology,” including smart sensing, memory and storage, communication, security and energy efficiency, said the report. The U.S. semiconductor industry invests about a fifth of its revenue yearly in R&D, second only to pharmaceuticals, it said. The final report is due in December