The U.S. Department of Commerce invests $874 million in seven semiconductor companies for post-GPU era technologies.

ChainCatcher report: On July 29, the U.S. Department of Commerce signed letters of intent with seven companies, providing up to $874 million in equity investments to support seven foundational technology pathways for the "post-GPU era," including CPO, ferroelectric memory, and 3D packaging. This marks a shift in U.S. chip strategy from "production capacity repatriation" to "technology pathway selection." The seven companies and their respective technology focus areas are: GlobalFoundries (CPO silicon photonics integration, $300 million), Kepler Computing (ferroelectric 3D memory, $245 million), Multibeam (multi-electron beam direct-write lithography and advanced packaging, $140 million), Extropic (thermodynamic sampling unit, TSU, $75 million), Thintronics (ultra-low-loss dielectric materials, $50 million), Aeluma (large-area phosphor-free optoelectronic substrates, $30 million), and OBSIDIA (hardware-based zero-trust chip anti-counterfeiting, $34 million). All companies are required to provide the U.S. government with non-controlling minority equity stakes. This move signals a shift in CHIPS Act funding usage—from subsidizing wafer fabs—to directly holding equity stakes in frontier technology firms, aiming to secure control over the rules of the post-Moore era.