U.S. to award SK Hynix up to $450m for chip-packaging facility

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The U.S. Commerce Department said on Tuesday it plans to award SK Hynix up to $450 million in grants to help fund an advanced packaging plant plus a research and development facility for artificial intelligence products in Indiana.

In April, SK Hynix, the world's second-largest memory chip maker, said it would invest around $3.87 billion to build the facility in West Lafayette, Indiana. It will include an advanced production line to mass-produce next-generation high-bandwidth memory chips, currently used in graphics processing units that train artificial intelligence systems, the Nvidia supplier said.

The department also plans to make available $500 million in government loans for the SK Hynix project, which is expected to qualify for a 25% investment tax credit.

The memory packaging plant for artificial intelligence products and an advanced packaging R&D facility will create 1,000 jobs and fill a key gap in the U.S. semiconductor supply chain, the department said.

Congress in August 2022 approved a $39 billion subsidy program for U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and related components along with $75 billion in government lending authority.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the department has announced term sheets with 15 companies, offering about $30 billion in funding that "will unlock another $300 billion of private capital."

The United States now has major commitments from all five major leading edge semiconductor chip manufacturers: TSMC, Intel, Samsung Electronics, Micron and SK Hynix.

"It means we in the United States will have the most secure and diverse supply chain in the world for the advanced semiconductors that power artificial intelligence," Raimondo told reporters. The department added