So, apparently the United States is investing a whopping $11 billion into the semiconductor industry. Laurie Giandomenico from MITRE, a nonprofit organization that probably does important things, called this a big deal. She says the industry only spent $70 billion globally on research and development, so this is basically like winning the lottery.
But, hold up, there’s a catch. The challenge will be spending that money wisely to encourage collaborative research, instead of “siloed innovation.” I don’t know about you, but I have no idea what “siloed innovation” means. Basically, chip companies need to work together to solve the big problems.
Everyone and their grandmother has been begging for an outpost of this new organization in their area. Can I get one in my backyard, please? But, don’t worry, it’s going to be “trusted.” Yeah, because that totally means something. Board members will be appointed by a separate selection committee, so we’ll see how that goes. And there will be strict controls for protecting intellectual property, so don’t even think about stealing some chip designs.

Serious News: nytimes