Applied Materials denied US CHIPS grant for $4 bln R&D project- Bloomberg

Investing.com-- Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:AMAT) was rejected for funding under the Chips act for a research and development center in Silicon Valley, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. 

Commerce Department officials rejected the chipmaking equipment maker’s bid to gain U.S. funding for a $4 billion facility in Sunnyvale, California, the Bloomberg report said, citing people familiar with the matter. 

Applied Materials had unveiled plans to build the facility a year ago, and had said it wanted subsidies from the government through the Chips and Science Act. The facility was slated to be completed in 2026.

But reports in April had suggested that the firm was already facing difficulties gaining government approval for the required funds, especially after the Biden administration said it was facing “overwhelming demand” for funding rewards.

Applied Materials could not be immediately reached for a comment.

The CHIPS and Science Act was signed into law in August 2022, and was authorized about $280 billion in new funding for boosting domestic chipmaking research and development.

The act included $39 billion in subsidies for chip manufacturing on U.S. soil- with chipmakers including TSMC (NYSE:TSM), Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (KS:005930) and SK Hynix Inc (KS:000660) winning grants to build U.S. chipmaking factories.