U.S. lawmakers propose $22.8B in aid to semiconductor industry | Hacker News Reader

U.S. lawmakers propose $22.8B in aid to semiconductor industry

reuters.com

23 pointskitotik10 comments

Next generation computing is worth way way more than $23B, Congress should invest much more. I'm hopeful about the $100B NSF proposal.

[0] https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/us-lawmakers-unveil-...

Given the politics, I’d imagine this is less about R&D for the “next gen” and more about trying to move some fabrication to the US.

I’m curious what Europe would say about this move. I like it for sure, but it might invite accusations of subsidization.

It’s not even an accusation is it? Are government subsidies for chip makers prohibited or frowned upon?

Apparently only when china does it. Imagine the hypocritical hysteria if this was about the chinese government. Not just from the social media propagandists but also our elected leaders - many of them in congress supporting this "aid".

The internet was a government project. Silicon Valley is a government creation. The internet nor silicon valley exists without government funding. Government investment can be a good thing as long as they allow space for the private sector.

The EU should also look into subsidizing their tech stack ( hardware and software ) like they did with Airbus. Hopefully india will follow soon after and eventually ASEAN and africa. The more competition and diversity of options, the better.

Uh, what? China is already making state investments in domestic chip fabrication; it was in the news recently and even discussed on HN.

https://www.reuters.com/article/china-semiconductor-smic/chi...

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/04/china-ramps-up-own-semicondu...

These kinds of subsidies are brought up during negotiation as bargaining chips. You subsidize that such amount, we we get to subsidize by this amount without trade penalty.

I don’t trust China with very much, but I’m also a proponent of free trade, generally. I’m not sure how I feel about it

Governments all around the world push economic sectors with aid... This isn't anti free-trade, this is what governments do to boost economic activity.

it's surely related to anti-free-trade because the US is in the process of prohibiting semiconductor firms of doing business with Chinese companies, which is hitting their revenue.

This isn't just R&D spending, it's also plainly a bribe from the government to the private sector while it interrupts supply chains.

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