GlobalFoundries Secures $300M CHIPS Act Funding to Accelerate Silicon Photonics for AI Data Centers
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US to award GlobalFoundries $300 million to develop faster AI chip links
July 29 (Reuters) - GlobalFoundries (GFS.O), opens new tab said on Wednesday the U.S. government will award $300 million to the chipmaker to bolster research and development of silicon photonics technology to power more efficient AI data centers. The award is part of President Donald Trump's
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GlobalFoundries wins $300 million CHIPS Act silicon photonics award
The semiconductor maker will use the funds to develop optical chip interconnect technologies aimed at boosting AI data center performance GlobalFoundries announced Wednesday that it has signed a letter of intent with the U.S. Department of Commerce for a $300 million CHIPS Act award to advance
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GlobalFoundries to receive $300M in federal funding for silicon photonics research
The U.S. government will provide GlobalFoundries with $300 million in funding to support its silicon photonics research. The U.S. Commerce Department committed to providing the capital in a letter of intent that was announced today. As part of the transaction, the government will take a 1% stake
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US to award GlobalFoundries $300 million to develop faster AI chip links
The award is part of President Donald Trump's effort to direct CHIPS Act research funding toward critical semiconductor technologies as Washington seeks to strengthen its position in the global race with China. GlobalFoundries said on Wednesday the US government will award $300 million to the
[5]
Trump Administration Unveils $874 Million CHIPS Act AI Push, With GlobalFoundries Securing Top Award - IB
The Commerce Department has signed letters of intent to provide $874 million in CHIPS and Science Act incentives to seven companies advancing semiconductor technologies for AI and high-performance computing. On Wednesday, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick stated that these incentives aim to
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GlobalFoundries to receive $300M for silicon photonics R&D By Investing.com
MALTA, N.Y. - GlobalFoundries (NASDAQ:GFS) announced today it has entered into a letter of intent with the U.S. Department of Commerce for $300 million in funding to advance silicon photonics research and development, according to a press release statement. The funding from the Department's CHIPS
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GLOBALFOUNDRIES Inc. Signs Letter of Intent with U.S. Department of Commerce for Usd 300 Million Award to Accelerate U.S. Silicon Photonics Leadership
GlobalFoundries Inc. announced that it has entered into a letter of intent with the U.S. Department of Commerce to accelerate research and development of next-generation silicon photonics. Under the letter of intent, the Department?s CHIPS Research and Development Office is expected to award
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The U.S. Department of Commerce awarded GlobalFoundries $300 million under the CHIPS Act to advance silicon photonics and co-packaged optics technology. The funding aims to strengthen domestic supply chains for AI infrastructure while targeting 400 gigabits per second data transfer speeds and five times better energy efficiency than current systems.
GlobalFoundries Lands Major CHIPS Act Investment for AI Infrastructure
GlobalFoundries announced Wednesday it has signed a letter of intent with the U.S. Department of Commerce for a $300 million CHIPS Act award to accelerate silicon photonics research and development
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. The funding represents part of President Donald Trump's broader effort to direct semiconductor technologies research toward critical areas as Washington strengthens its position in the global competition with China. As part of the agreement, the U.S. Department of Commerce will receive an equity stake in GlobalFoundries representing approximately 1% ownership2
.The investment forms part of an $874 million CHIPS and Science Act initiative spanning seven companies advancing semiconductor technologies for AI and high-performance computing
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. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stated the investment would "enhance our country's domestic capabilities, create high-paying jobs and keep America at the forefront of the semiconductor industry"2
. The administration has previously committed $150 million for semiconductor manufacturing equipment and $2 billion for quantum computing1
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Source: Benzinga
Silicon Photonics Technology Transforms AI Data Centers
Silicon photonics transmits data via light rather than electricity, which allows AI systems to achieve greater bandwidth while drawing less power
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. This technology represents a fundamental shift in how AI data centers move information between processors and network infrastructure. Server switches currently represent data traffic as electrical signals, using pluggable transceivers to convert these signals into light beams for transmission over optical networks3
.Traditional architectures require traffic to move through multiple hardware components—from the processor to its substrate, then to the motherboard, and finally to a network port before reaching the transceiver. Moving traffic through these intermediate components consumes significant power and often leads to traffic errors, necessitating error correction chips that increase the cost of building optical networks
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. Much of the supply chain for silicon photonics and advanced optical packaging is currently concentrated outside the United States, with major manufacturers including Taiwan's TSMC and Israel's Tower Semiconductor1
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Source: Reuters
Co-Packaged Optics Promises Revolutionary Efficiency Gains
The funding will specifically support co-packaged optics, an approach that places silicon photonics circuitry in direct proximity to AI processors
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. This technology integrates a transceiver directly into switch processors, removing the need for traffic to travel through multiple intermediate components and resulting in significant reductions in both power consumption and hardware costs3
.GlobalFoundries targets boosting data transfer speeds to 400 gigabits per second and achieving up to five times greater energy efficiency than current-generation implementations
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. In May, GlobalFoundries debuted a co-packaged optics manufacturing technology called SCALE, and the company also produces other transceiver components including photodiodes and modulators3
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Industry Leaders Rally Behind Silicon Photonics Investment
The announcement drew widespread support from major technology companies invested in AI infrastructure. NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang said in a statement that silicon photonics is "essential" to scaling U.S. manufacturing
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. Executives from AMD, Broadcom, Cisco, Meta, Microsoft, and Qualcomm also issued statements endorsing the investment, signaling the technology's critical importance to their AI roadmaps2
.GlobalFoundries CEO Tim Breen emphasized the company's readiness to lead this transition: "Silicon photonics is essential to AI infrastructure. For a decade, the industry talked about the shift from copper to optical as something that was coming—today it is here, moving data at higher bandwidth and improved power efficiency as workloads grow more complex"
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. Breen added that "GlobalFoundries has spent more than a decade building the technology, footprint and ecosystem to lead this transition, and we have the proven manufacturing foundation to scale it—in the United States"1
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Source: SiliconANGLE
Research Facilities and Advanced Packaging Development
The research will leverage GlobalFoundries' facilities in Malta, New York, and Burlington, Vermont
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. The company will use the federal funding to develop new optical materials, photonic wafer technologies, and advanced packaging3
. Efforts in advanced packaging will prioritize 3D hybrid bonding, a manufacturing method used to stack silicon dies atop one another3
.GlobalFoundries operates fabs that produce chips based on customer-provided designs, specializing in low-power processors that don't require the latest manufacturing technologies
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. The development comes two months after the chipmaker secured a separate $375 million federal grant for a new quantum chip foundry3
. Watch for developments in optical chip interconnects as faster AI chip links become essential for next-generation AI processors powering increasingly complex workloads across domestic supply chains.References
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