Let’s rebuild the US microchip industry – not give it a $50bn-plus check | Hacker News Reader

Let’s rebuild the US microchip industry – not give it a $50bn-plus check

theguardian.com

This article's main premise is that everything can be blamed on 'bad rich CEO guy' making self-serving decisions to enrich themselves. This is probably partially true, but many others are guilty of playing this game, politicians and the entire financial industry has setup the environment to incentivize short-term gains by off-shoring resources and cannibalizing U.S. companies. There are multiple arenas involved though, so it is important to make a distinction between domestic squabbles and the global environment, which I don't think this article does. I think this bill should be pushed through because the alternative is almost surely Nothing. I didn't notice any alternative proposals? This would be a positive step towards addressing the legitimate concerns about the unbalanced global semiconductor landscape. At the same time, the U.S. should make internal changes to prioritize long-term tech investments over stock trading, get rid of the vulturous MBA style management, and shift back to start-up friendly communities instead of FAANG. Probably none of this will happen, but there is lots of blame to spread around. Just chanting dumb 'bad-billionaire' slogans is the least productive activity.

good thoughts, largely agreed.

another thread suggested perhaps there be some FRAND requirements on companies getting this money. i like the general sound but not sure if it'd work. Intel happens to be trying to restart this side of the business but kinda early days.

i do think, in general, cost of living, cost of doing business, and a heavy foot of government particularly for zoning &c all contribute to a condition where American industry in general is often remarkably uncompetitive globally. trying to make stuff here has high costs.

i think it's fair to raise criticism that we have given many chip companies vast sums of money already. i like the idea of having more competitive markets. bernie's not totally off. but it's unclear who else we'd give the money to to do better; on that i agree.

I hate this. I truly believe that Intel swindled the government by playing up the fear of TSMC taking over and China invading Taiwan to "acquire" TSMC. Also, chip shortages are ending fast. We might soon have a surplus of chips because of capacity expansion in response to Covid but demand is declining or returning to normal.

Now tax payers have to hand over $54 billion mostly to Intel and other $100B+ semiconductor companies.

How much does a top of the line ASML fab cost, for reference? Not sure what our alternatives here are to giving big players a bunch of money, hate to say it.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com