NIST announces preliminary terms with Amkor Technology to bring advanced packaging technology to US for semiconductors

Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced that the U.S. Department of Commerce and Amkor Technology, Inc. have signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms (PMT) to provide up to $400 million in proposed direct funding under the CHIPS and Science Act. President Biden signed the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, a key component of his Investing in America agenda, to revitalize semiconductor manufacturing in America while strengthening our domestic supply chain, creating good-paying jobs, and supporting investments in the industries of the future. This proposed funding would support Amkor's investment of approximately $2 billion and 2,000 jobs in a greenfield project in Peoria, Arizona, which will provide full end-to-end advanced packaging for the world’s most advanced semiconductors for applications in high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, communications, and automotive, end markets.

With this proposed investment in Amkor, the largest U.S.-based outsourced semiconductor assembly and test company (OSAT), the Biden-Harris Administration would help strengthen resilience in key advanced packaging technologies, which will strengthen U.S. economic and national security by ensuring a reliable domestic advanced packaging ecosystem, supporting leading-edge clusters, and helping meet the growing demand for AI chips. Accordingly, companies such as TSMC, Apple, and GlobalFoundries—which power the world’s most advanced technologies—will be able to package and test their essential chips domestically, enabling the full end-to-end cycle of the chip manufacturing process to occur in the United States. As chip design approaches the technical limits of Moore’s Law, which posits that the number of transistors on a semiconductor doubles every two years, advanced packaging is widely believed to be the next frontier of innovation in the industry through its ability to drive enhanced power and performance. Consequently, as a result of proposed CHIPS funding, the U.S. will significantly expand domestic capacity for this critical piece of the semiconductor supply chain, further strengthening U.S. technology leadership.

When fully operational, Amkor will package and test millions of leading-edge chips serving autonomous vehicles, 5G/6G smartphones, and large-scale datacenters across a range of customers. Amkor's facility in Arizona will support approximately 2,000 jobs. As part of Amkor's commitment to develop talent locally and across the U.S., they have partnered with Arizona State University, Grand Canyon University, Northern Arizona University, Maricopa Community College, Purdue University, Western Maricopa Education Center. These partnerships build upon the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America Workforce Hub in Phoenix to create pipelines to good jobs.

The company has indicated that it plans to claim the Department of the Treasury's Investment Tax Credit, which is expected to be up to 25% of qualified capital expenditures. In addition to the proposed direct funding of up to $400 million, the CHIPS Program Office would make approximately $200 million of proposed loans – which is part of the $75 billion in loan authority provided by the CHIPS and Science Act – available to Amkor under the PMT.

Read the full press release here.

NIST