Washington faces this daunting task as the United States is concerned that it is a national security concern in the debate over how semiconductor manufacturing can be returned to the country. An amazing group of connected millionaires quietly gathered to influence how they tackle.
For the past few months, without much attention, Google’s former CEO and longtime democratic donor Eric Schmidt is PayPal’s co-founder and vocal supporter of Trump. Joined Thiel and helped a rare non-profit venture capital firm. Funds to invest in chip manufacturing nationwide. The group also includes senior government officials such as former Secretary of Defense Ashton B. Carter and former National Security Adviser HR McMaster.
Billionaires aren’t just funding their efforts. The group wants to meet with lawmakers in Congress to help US taxpayers submit the bill.
Question: $ 1 billion.
Group called American Frontier FundSelf-proclaims “the first deep tech fund in Japan to invest for national interests”.
And the impact is already clear: at the end of last month, the White House directed Leading Fund in the Quad Investor NetworkThe White House describes it as “an independent consortium of investors seeking to promote access to capital for key emerging technologies” across the United States, Japan, India and Australia.
The CIA’s CEO is Gilman Louie, who turned from a game executive to a venture capitalist who led the CIA-backed venture fund In-Q-Tel. Louie is a familiar face in Washington.He was recently named President Biden’s Intelligence Advisory Board In front of the senator Supply chain..
However, the Schmidt-Thiel-backed organization has more than a few eyebrows and has questions. What do millionaires want? Do they direct government funds to invested or profitable businesses?
Mr. Schmidt has been criticized Because he had a great deal of influence over the Biden and Obama administrations. Mr. Thiel was seen as having the ears of former President Donald J. Trump.
Gaurav Gupta, an emerging technology analyst at industry research firm Gartner, said:
Loei said the skepticism was not justified. We need more influential technicians. “
In a statement to DealBook, Schmidt said: all. The American Frontier Fund is an important bridge in its efforts. “
“Advantages of the starting lineup”
At stake is the United States’ dominance in the global innovation competition that led the 20th century. This is largely due to the breakthroughs in US chips and all the benefits that come with them. According to industry experts, the risk of neglect is that recent investment in China’s deep science and technology puts it first, with Chinese technology, and perhaps even ideology, someday dominating the world. ..
“In our current orbit, the United States has lost that grip,” said a quantum physicist. Fund.. “Everyone who leads has the advantage of a starter and will actually dominate in that sector, just as the United States did with early semiconductors.”
In 2020, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, the United States accounted for only “12% of the world’s semiconductor manufacturing capacity.” That year, South Korean electronics giant Samsung’s revenue exceeded that of American chip pioneer Intel. In 2021, Intel did something unthinkable. The company has announced that it will outsource more production to Asia, especially Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing. Time, Bob Swan.
However, progress in measures that help fund these efforts has stagnated.Last year, Congress Creating useful incentives for creating semiconductor methods, Known as CHIPS, the bill remains unpaid as lawmakers are discussing the details of the bipartisan innovation law. It will provide more than $ 50 billion in semiconductor manufacturing efforts, including the kind of technology development that venture funds like the American Frontier Fund want. Invest
In a speech last month, frustrated Biden urged lawmakers to “pass a damn bill.” Senator Sherrod Brown, one of the authors of Ohio’s Democratic Party, told DealBook that the House of Representatives is working to bring it to the president’s desk, but he said when that would happen. There wasn’t.
“The president has made it clear that we have no time to waste,” said Michael Gwin, a White House spokesman.
It is clear that increasing chip capacity is a US priority and that the people who support the fund have deep ties to the expertise to take action in Washington and Wall Street. But whether this public-private effort can regain manufacturing in a country that has long relied on factories in Asia requires more than a broader business operation and a slight shift in large government funding. will do.
The founders say they are committed to their mission, whether or not they are federal-funded. (They also raised money from nonprofits and started related funds.) “I don’t need the government to give us permission to go to save the country,” Louie said. Told. “I hope they help us.”
