Monday, Mar 01, 2021, 1:00pm
by Harry Clapsis, Manager, Government Affairs
Today, the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) released its final report outlining a comprehensive strategy to meet the opportunities and challenges of the emerging AI era. The report rightly asserts that U.S. leadership in microelectronics is critical to overall U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence and calls for the implementation of a national microelectronics strategy, revitalizing domestic microelectronics fabrication, and ramping up microelectronics research. SIA applauds the report’s call for $35 billion of increased federal support for semiconductor research and manufacturing, as well as the establishment of a refundable investment tax credit. We look forward to working with Congress and the Biden Administration to achieve that goal through full funding of the CHIPS for America Act and the enactment of an investment tax credit.
Congress established the NSCAI in the FY2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to “review advances in artificial intelligence, related machine learning developments, and associated technologies.” Over the past two years, the NSCAI has met with a variety of stakeholders, including SIA and member companies, to hear a range of views on what the government should do to support U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence.
In its microelectronics chapter, the NSCAI calls for three areas of focus for the U.S. government: implementing a national microelectronics strategy, revitalizing domestic microelectronics fabrication, and ramping up microelectronics research. The Commission’s recommendations largely echo provisions from the CHIPS for America Act, as passed in this year’s NDAA. On manufacturing, the NSCAI highlights the lack of funding for key semiconductor manufacturing provisions and calls for the establishment of a 40% refundable investment tax credit. On research, the NSCAI calls on significant semiconductor research investments, totaling $12 billion.
As SIA has highlighted, federal semiconductor manufacturing incentives and research investments are critical to reassert U.S. technological leadership, strengthen supply chains, and ensure the U.S. remains the leader in the game-changing technologies of today and tomorrow. We are encouraged by the NSCAI’s focus on the importance of the semiconductor industry and look forward to working with Congress and the Biden Administration to ensure the U.S. remains a global leader in this industry.