The Commerce Department announced on December 1 said that it has signed a nonbinding letter of intent to invest up to $150 million in the Palo Alto-based company. The US government is set to become a direct shareholder in the semiconductor startup xLight, which is chaired by Intel’s former CEO Pat Gelsinger. The move has been taken by the Trump administration in a bid to recapture domestic leadership in chip manufacturing. The startup is developing an approach to building advanced and cost-effective chips.
Under President Trump, those days are over,” said Lutnick in the press release. xLight claims its technology will enhance ASML’s machines, enabling them to “transform semiconductor fab capabilities and dramatically reduce capital and operating expenses. The startup has the potential to “drive the next era of Moore’s Law,” according to Pat Gelsinger. “For far too long, America ceded the frontier of advanced lithography to others.