TSMC is set to win more than $5 billion in federal grants to support a chipmaking project in Arizona, according to people familiar with the matter, in what would mark a major milestone in President Joe Biden's effort to revitalize American semiconductor manufacturing.

China is in the process of raising more than US$27 billion for its largest chip fund to date, accelerating the development of cutting-edge technologies to counter a US campaign to thwart its rise.

US chipmakers Intel and Micron are likely to win the largest share of the US$52 billion in CHIPS Act awards this year, analysts told EE Times. With the US 2024 presidential election approaching, the awards will help President Joe Biden show that he's creating jobs and returning semiconductor manufacturing to the nation following a long history of offshoring, the analysts said.

Kioxia and Western Digital's joint venture manufacturing facilities in Yokkaichi and Kitakami have been approved for up to JPY150 billion (US$1 billion) in government subsidies.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited the country's foremost developer of memory chips, in the latest show of government support for US-sanctioned Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) as the two powers clash over technology.

China's state-backed chip investment fund has invested CNY14.56 billion (US$1.99 billion) in a memory chip company called Changxin Xinqiao, records showed.

China's central bank has cut one of its key interest rates for the second time in three months as the world's second-largest economy struggles to bounce back from the pandemic.

Italy made an "improvised and atrocious" decision in joining China's Belt and Road (BRI) initiative, defence minister Guido Crosetto has said.

Scott White, of Pragmatic Semiconductor, said without a huge funding boost UK firms will go abroad.

Beijing has announced tens of billions of dollars in stimulus measures in a bid to shore up confidence as China's economy is battered by a snowballing property sector downturn and President Xi Jinping's stifling zero-Covid policies.

Keith Krach, former Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment in the Trump administration, speaks on the significance of the CHIPS Act, which has since been passed by the House in a 243-187 vote.

US Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo on Monday stepped up pressure on Congress to approve $52 billion in funding for chipmakers to expand operations, warning that firms would abandon American expansion plans without the legislation.

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) will offer subsidies worth up to JPY476 billion (US$3.5 billion) for a semiconductor plant being built in Kumamoto Prefecture by TSMC, Sony and Denso, the ministry said on Friday.

When the Senate passed a rare bipartisan measure last summer to spend US$52 billion subsidizing computer chip manufacturing and research in the United States, it seemed like an easy legislative priority for both parties. But one year later, the funding still isn't signed into law.

ASML said Zongchang Yu, a former employee, had transferred trade secrets to Dongfang Jingyuan Electron, a Chinese company supported by the country's Communist party.

Spain plans to invest EUR11 billion euros (US$12.4 billion) to develop microchips and semiconductors in a bid to modernize its tourism-dependent economy.

Reasons for the ongoing global chip shortage, which is set to last into 2022 and possibly 2023, are complex and multifaceted. However, nations are planning to pump billions of dollars into semiconductors over the coming years as part of an effort to sure up supply chains and become more self-reliant, with money going toward new chip plants, as well as research and development.

Governments around the world are subsidizing the construction of semiconductor factories as a chip shortage hobbles the auto and electronics industries and highlights the world's singular dependence on Taiwan for vital supplies.

The European Union is planning to produce its own advanced semiconductors by 2030, part of the bloc's plans to reduce "high-risk dependencies" on technology companies in the US and Asia.

A group of US senators last week proposed yet another bill to revive the domestic chip industry, the American Foundries Act of 2020 (AFA). This new bipartisan proposal is the second such measure in a month, following the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) act, introduced on June 10. The two initiatives highlight the effort by the US government to localize the electronics supply chain and rebuild the domestic semiconductor industry now that most of the world's production has shifted to Asia.

China will continue to invest in the development of high-end chips and will monitor the sector to ensure that only products of high quality are manufactured, said the head of the country's national semiconductor fund.

Japan Display Inc is in advanced talks to receive a bailout amount of about 75 billion yen ($704.49 million) from Innovation Network Corp of Japan (INCJ), a government-backed fund and the display maker's largest shareholder, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

For the second time in a little more than a year, the secretive US agency that vets global deals on national-security grounds is objecting to a Chinese takeover of a European company.

The all-American iPhone may remain somewhat of a fantasy for now, but at least a few more of its internal chips could end up being manufactured on home turf.

Europe needs to wake up to the fact that its best technology companies are being snapped up by overseas buyers at a rapid rate, and to decide whether its laissez-faire approach to these strategic takeovers is sensible.

Chipmakers plan to significantly expand capacity in China, with total investment expected to reach US$50 billion in the next five years, more than double what they spent during the preceding five years, according to a Nikkei survey.

Japan's cabinet has approved an economic stimulus package worth more than JPY28 trillion (US$275bn).

China's efforts to expand its reach into advanced semiconductors in the US drew fire on Capitol Hill as a key senator called on US officials to block a state-controlled firm's effort to buy an American memory chipmaker.

"To catch up with Qualcomm as soon as possible, we will pour 30 billion yuan, and probably even more, into the R&D of mobile chips in the next few years," Chairman Xu Jinghong was quoted as saying in an interview. A Tsinghua Holdings spokeswoman confirmed Xu's comments to the newspaper.

Leadcore Technology and Shanghai Pudong Science & Technology Investment are weighing offers for Marvell Technology's wireless chip unit, which Marvell values at about $1 billion.

Sales of PCs that used Micron's memory chips dropped faster than the company expected in 2015 triggering a 50% stock plunge. That drop helped set the stage for Micron, which is known for buying other companies' chip operations, to become a target.

Integrated Silicon Solution (ISSI) and a Chinese consortium of investors led by Summitview Capital have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which the consortium will acquire all of the outstanding shares of ISSI for US$19.25 per share in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2015.

China is aiming to purge most foreign technology from banks, the military, state-owned enterprises and key government agencies by 2020, stepping up efforts to shift to Chinese suppliers, according to people familiar with the effort.

Subsidy limit of EUR6.7 billion (US$8.7 billion) has been passed triggering a halt to future feed-in-tariff (FIT) payments from a point one month after the limit was reached in Italy.

India has filed a complaint to the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement body, saying that the US is offering subsidy programs in the solar industry for local content requirements.

German state bank KfW says it is ready to start support of storage systems for solar PV systems in early May.

The Japan government has approved a cut to the FIT for solar by 10%. The cut would see the tariff paid be reduced to JPY37.8/kWh (US$0.40/kWh) from the current rate of JPY42/kWh (US$0.45/kWh), as of April 1.

Samsung Semiconductor is moving swiftly to begin work on a new 680,000-square-foot office project that will be built on its existing 215,000-square-foot office complex at North First Street and West Tasman Drive.