US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on Wednesday said that the US would need continued investments in semiconductor manufacturing to regain global leadership and meet demand from artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

“I suspect there will have to be — whether you call it ‘CHIPS Two’ or something else — continued investment if we want to lead the world,” Raimondo said during a virtual appearance at an Intel Corp event. “We fell pretty far. We took our eye off the ball.”

She pointed to the computing demands of AI, adding that she has spoken with OpenAI chief executive officer Sam Altman, who is working to secure US government approval for a massive venture to boost global manufacturing of AI chips.

Photo: AP

“When I talk to him or other customers in the industry, the volume of chips that they project they need is mind boggling,” she said.

The 2022 CHIPS and Science Act set aside US$39 billion in direct grants, plus loans and loan guarantees worth US$75 billion, to revitalize US semiconductor production.

The US Department of Commerce is in the process of allocating that money among hundreds of applicants, and has announced three awards so far to the American subsidiary of BAE Systems PLC, Microchip Technology Inc and GlobalFoundries Inc.

Intel, which has announced plans for a US$20 billion plant in Ohio and a US$20 billion expansion in Arizona, is in talks for more than US$10 billion in grant and loan incentives, Bloomberg reported last week.

Intel chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger on Wednesday said that an award announcement is coming “very soon.”

Raimondo did not comment on the timing of Intel’s award in her remarks, but called the firm “an American champion company,” adding that Intel “has a very huge role to play in this revitalization.”

Gelsinger has been one of the leading industry voices lobbying for US government support, and the firm has said its investment plans are contingent on that funding.