Response to Bloomberg Opinion Editors' Critique of CHIPS

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Liza Tobin and Brady Helwig

In a recent editorial, the Bloomberg Opinion Editorial Board raises several objections to implementation of the CHIPS Act – all of which relate to efforts to build chip fabs in the United States. But a focus on fab construction is the wrong measure. CHIPS Act programs should be judged by whether they catalyze disruptive innovation in new microelectronics paradigms, not just by how many months it takes to build a fab. 

Recent advances in AI are accelerating demand for computing power at an exponential rate, far above the doubling of computing power every two years predicted by Moore’s Law. Radical innovation is needed to fill the gap. CHIPS R&D investments create a once-in-a-lifetime window to rebuild America’s chip ecosystem.

At the top of the agenda is lowering barriers to entry for start-ups looking to invent the future by lowering the cost of design tools and creating new avenues for prototyping. Government investment should also be used to de-risk investment for researchers and companies pursuing moonshots across fields like new materials, tooling, and advanced packaging. Building leading-edge fabs is necessary to boost supply chain resilience, but U.S. leadership in microelectronics hinges on developing the technologies of the future.