They have already used their excess profits - many $10's of billions of dollars in recent years, for stock buybacks, but apparently they really, really need this money from taxpayers to stay a going concern.
It’s no different from grants to build renewables, farms, housing, munitions, whatever the government wants done in the country.
However, it is a very indirect way of getting what the government wants, prone to manipulation.
The more direct option is to contract and purchase the finished product.
The general problem is twofold. First, it can be more financially efficient to spend on incentives then finish product. Second, much of the public do not trust their representatives to perform this analysis and negotiate in good faith.
Is a 25 billion Upstream incentive cheap compared to the Chip Price premium the government would have to pay to have the same incentive?
The other question is who benefits from domestic chips and if the government is the right person to pay.