September 25, 2023 - Washington - Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) last week congratulated Stanford University and the University of Southern California after the Defense Department awarded them two of the eight Microelectronic Commons regional innovation hubs under the first major award CHIPS Act that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden last year.

            “Congratulations to USC and my alma mater Stanford for receiving these awards to establish Microelectronic Commons under the CHIPS Act.  These innovation hubs will develop cutting-edge technologies in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, hardware for national defense and more. These hubs will create good-paying jobs and be a boon for the tech industry in both Northern and Southern California,” Senator Feinstein said. 

            USC received $26.9 million to establish the California Defense Ready Electronics and Microdevices Superhub (California DREAMS) Hub. Stanford received a $15.3 million award to establish the California-Northwest AI Hardware (Northwest-AI) Hub. The University of California, Berkley, will serve as the co-lead for the Northwest-AI Hub.

            With $2 billion in funding for fiscal years 2023 - 2027, the Microelectronics Commons program aims to leverage these hubs to accelerate domestic hardware prototyping and “lab-to-fab” transition of semiconductor technologies. This will help mitigate supply chain risks and ultimately expedite access to the most cutting-edge microchips for our troops.

            “Consistent with our warfighter-centric approach to innovation, these hubs will tackle many technical challenges relevant to DoD’s missions, to get the most cutting-edge microchips into systems our troops use every day: ships, planes, tanks, long-range munitions, communications gear, sensors and much more,” Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks said.
Source: Senator Dianne Feinstein