Schumer Announces: Thanks To CHIPS And Science Law, America’s First-Ever National Semiconductor Technology Center Officially Opens In Upstate New York, Cementing America As Global Epicenter For Advanced Chip Research & Manufacturing

Washington, D.C. Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) cut the ribbon for the grand opening of America’s first-ever National Semiconductor Technology Center Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Accelerator at Albany NanoTech, created by his CHIPS & Science Law, which will fuel the next frontier of semiconductor technology and ensure America leads the world in microchip R&D. Leader Schumer’s speech at the event can be seen here.

Following years of relentless advocacy to re-establish America as the leader in semiconductor manufacturing and keep the country on the cutting-edge of research and development, today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) cut the ribbon on America’s first-ever National Semiconductor Technology Center at Albany NanoTech, made possible by the passage of the CHIPS & Science Law. Albany will be home to the NSTC’s CHIPS for America Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Accelerator, creating a first-of-its-kind national lab with the most advanced chip making machinery, bringing together the nation’s top industry leaders, universities, innovators, and entrepreneurs under one roof to ensure the future of innovation in chipmaking happens here in the U.S.A.

“America’s first-ever National Semiconductor Technology Center is open for business! Today, sending the message loud and clear: the future of chips will not be discovered overseas. The world’s most advanced chips will not be made in China. They will be made in America, developed right here in the Capital Region. This facility will be the next frontier where the scientific and engineering breakthroughs in chipmaking that we cannot even fathom today will happen. The ribbon cutting for this facility will be heard like a sonic boom and make it clear that America will lead the future of semiconductor technology,” said Leader Schumer. “This is the day I long envisioned when I created the NSTC program in my CHIPS & Science Law. The NSTC will allow the nation’s top scientists, universities, and companies to come together under one roof to access the most advanced machinery in the world for developing microchips. It is the start of a historic new effort by the federal government. Today is the dawn of a new day, the start of the next chapter of America’s leadership in technology thanks to the CHIPS & Science Law.”

The National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) is a critical part of Schumer’s mission of solidifying America’s leadership in the semiconductor industry and will bring together industry leaders, researchers from the nation’s top universities, innovators, workers, and entrepreneurs to help give them access to the most advanced chip making machinery in the world and drive the next frontier of chip innovation and manufacturing.

Leader Schumer explained that the new state-of-the-art EUV facility at Albany NanoTech will help the United States establish dominance in advanced semiconductor research and development. The NSTC EUV Accelerator will help address gaps in American R&D and manufacturing of semiconductors and provide information to stakeholders, including universities, small businesses and entrepreneurs, large manufacturers, workers, and government agencies by providing NSTC members with access to EUV technology to facilitate research, commercialization, and workforce training. 

EUV technology is essential to the semiconductor industry and is some of the most advanced machinery in the world, in which light is used to print patterns and make chips on wafers. EUV lithography is what has allowed the breakthroughs to make this technology nanoscopic and allows for the chips that power everything from smartphones, computers, and vehicles to artificial intelligence. Albany NanoTech will be one of only two public facilities in the world with the most advanced EUV technology, a High NA Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography tool, and the only publicly-owned High NA EUV Center in North America.

The NSTC EUV Accelerator at Albany NanoTech is one of three major NSTC flagship facilities. The U.S. Department of Commerce has announced that California’s Silicon Valley will host NSTC’s Administrative and Design Facility and Phoenix, Arizona will host the Prototyping and Advanced Packaging Piloting Facility. Together, these three major hubs will lead the NSTC’s core functions and help fulfill the CHIPS and Science Law’s vision of developing more American-made technology and boosting America as a global semiconductor leader. The new NSTC EUV Accelerator at Albany NanoTech will also open the doors to opportunities for millions of dollars in additional future investment and partnership with the federal government, as well as help bring in additional industry partners to leverage the state-of-the-art facilities to develop and manufacture advanced chips.

###