The announcement comes a week after the U.S. Department of Commerce and the White House awarded $1.5 billion in direct funding to GlobalFoundries, the world’s third-largest contract chip maker, from the $50 billion CHIPS and Science Act. The act aims to strengthen U.S. domestic supply chain resilience, bolster U.S. competitiveness in semiconductor production, and support domestic economic and national security capabilities. The demand for AI chips is so high that Nvidia, the dominant player in the market, saw its market value surge to $2 trillion, making it the third most valuable company in the U.S.
Key takeaways:
- Spain is launching a new state-owned technology investment company, the Spanish Society for Technological Transformation (SETT), with a capital of €20 billion ($22 billion) to boost its semiconductor and audiovisual industries.
- The SETT will focus on promoting investments in strategic high-tech sectors, providing consultancy services, and helping to build infrastructure for the semiconductor industry.
- The company also aims to attract investors and technical know-how to public-private partnerships, and may be used to secure a stake in Telefonica in the future.
- The announcement comes a week after the U.S. Department of Commerce and the White House announced an award of $1.5 billion in direct funding to GlobalFoundries, the world’s third-largest contract chip maker, from the $50 billion CHIPS and Science Act.