To Win the Chip War, the US Must Prioritize Revolutionary Research

Dear Sec. Raimondo, we need real moonshots!

Chris Miller (author of Chip War), Arrian Ebrahimi of

Chip Capitols

, and I published a piece in The Washington Post, arguing how the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) funded by the CHIPS Act can be structured to become a unique, enduring institution in the US chip ecosystem.

This op-ed follows our recent report entitled, How to Make the NSTC a Moonshot Success. Check out that report for all the bureaucratic nuts and bolts on how this once-in-a-generation public-private partnership can become a visionary innovation machine that is both cooperative with and independent of industry incumbents.

Check out the full WaPo op-ed here. Below is an excerpt:

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has described the effort to boost the U.S. semiconductor industry as a technological moonshot — a mirror of NASA’s famed Apollo program. But this moonshot can only succeed if those behind it dare to dream big — and dream up revolutionary technologies.

The Commerce Department has established a National Semiconductor Technology Center — the NSTC — to deploy up to $11 billion in R&D funds allocated by the Chips Act over the next five years. But what exactly should the NSTC do? We think it should focus on taking big swings, complementing industry while remaining independent of it.

The pace foreseen by Moore’s law — the prediction that the computing power of chips would double every few years — has slowed, imperiling the trend toward better, cheaper computing power. Sustaining Moore’s law is critical to our nation’s future prosperity and security, and to nearly every segment of technology. Guaranteeing another generation of exponential computing advances ought to be the NSTC’s central priority.

Industry naturally wants the NSTC to focus on supporting existing road maps. Memory-chip firms want a memory-focused R&D center, while companies making communications chips want research focused in that direction. But structuring itself around existing categories would bias the NSTC toward incremental improvements rather than new moonshot bets.

The NSTC can be only as ambitious as its structure allows. It needs support from industry, but, in its early years, it should establish its independence by focusing on long-term research that could transform the whole industry rather than simply aligning its aims with existing corporate road maps."… It needs support from industry, but, in its early years, it should establish its independence by focusing on long-term research that could transform the whole industry rather than simply aligning its aims with existing corporate road maps.

Taking big bets on moonshot technologies is the only approach that can sustain Moore’s law and guarantee that the United States continues to lead in the technologies of tomorrow.