With Chips, Offense Is More Important Than Defense
The only way for the US to maintain its technological edge over China is through innovation, not just new fabs and tighter export controls.
Innovate or die.
Photographer: Cindy Schultz/Bloomberg
Two years into its high-tech cold war with China, the US has shored up its defenses — working to secure its supply of the most advanced semiconductors while keeping them out of Chinese hands. It’s time to focus more on staying ahead, not just holding China back.
Almost all of the $39 billion in grants set aside by the CHIPS and Science Act, signed into law in 2022, has now been allocated in preliminary awards. On paper, the subsidies have achieved their goal of persuading chip companies to set up production in the US: Recipients such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Intel Corp. have announced plans to invest more than $350 billion in new US facilities. If those projects succeed, the Semiconductor Industry Association predicts, the US will produce 28% of the world’s advanced logic chips in 2032, up from 0% in 2022.