According to a Bloomberg report on Thursday, Applied Materials Inc. was denied funding support for its proposed R&D center in Silicon Valley.
The report stated that Commerce Department officials rejected the chip manufacturing equipment maker's funding application to establish a $4 billion facility in Sunnyvale, California. Sources indicated that Applied Materials had announced plans to build the facility a year ago and had expressed hopes of obtaining government subsidies through the CHIPS and Science Act. The facility is expected to be completed by 2026.
However, reports from April indicated that the company has already faced difficulties in securing the necessary government approvals, particularly after the Biden administration indicated a "tremendous demand" for funding.
Applied Materials could not be immediately reached for comment.
The CHIPS and Science Act was signed into law in August 2022, authorizing approximately $280 billion in new funding to boost domestic research and development in chip manufacturing.
The act includes $39 billion in subsidies to facilitate chip manufacturing within the United States, with chipmakers such as TSMC, Samsung Electronics, and SK Hynix receiving support to establish chip manufacturing plants in the U.S.
