Trump administration ends $285 million CHIPS award for Durham semiconductor site
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- Trump administration cancels $285M CHIPS grant for Durham semiconductor group
- SRC met benchmarks but faces funding loss after White House shifts CHIPS strategy
- SMART USA’s $1B from university and private‑sector funding now faces uncertain future
The U.S. Department of Commerce has canceled CHIPS funding for a major semiconductor research center near Research Triangle Park, citing “refocused” priorities under President Donald Trump.
This comes less than a year after the Biden administration awarded the Durham nonprofit Semiconductor Research Corp. a five-year, $285-million contract to launch Semiconductor Manufacturing and Advanced Research with Twins, or SMART USA, an institute designed to improve domestic semiconductor manufacturing through the use of virtual replicas known as digital twins.
“While this transition is challenging, it does not define our future, Semiconductor Research Corp. CEO Todd Younkin said in an emailed statement to The News & Observer. “We have united the semiconductor community for decades, and will continue to do so.”
Founded in 1982, SRC is a consortium that manages university research to benefit its members, including the tech companies IBM, Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Semiconductors are a category of materials in the chips that power a range of applications, from cell phones to electric vehicles to fighter jets. Their importance to the U.S. economy and national security propelled passage of the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, which allocated more than $10 billion to support research and development initiatives.
On Jan. 3, the Commerce Department finalized its SMART USA award, one of many CHIPS contracts the outgoing Biden administration signed in the weeks before Trump’s inauguration. The institute opened at SRC’s campus to the east of RTP.
Digital twinning aims to save time and money by allowing researchers to pinpoint and patch production inefficiencies in a virtual space. It also facilitates greater information sharing between partners, said Laurie Locascio, then-undersecretary of commerce for standards and technology, during an event announcing SMART USA in November 2024.
U.S. Commerce steers CHIPS toward ‘venture-capital’ mindset
Under Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has sought to bring “a more venture capital-style approach” to the CHIPS Research and Development Office, informing recipients the federal government may seek equity, royalties or revenue sharing as a condition of awards. In August, the Department reversed Biden’s policy to create a nonprofit called Natcast to operate a $7.4 billion national hub for semiconductor research, choosing instead to administer these CHIPS funds itself.
“The Department of Commerce has opted to terminate its award to the SMART USA Institute, as the Administration’s vision for the CHIPS Research and Development program has been refocused to advance the President’s stated agenda of securing the U.S.’s position as the unrivaled world leader in critical and emerging technologies,” a spokesperson for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which oversees the R&D program, said in an emailed statement Tuesday.
Semicondcutor Research Corp. met all performance benchmarks under its contract, SRC spokesperson Paris Stringfellow said. SMART USA has 121 members, she noted in an email to The N&O, and the future of the nascent institute is unclear. University and private sector funding announced alongside the CHIPS award gave SMART USA more than $1 billion to operate.
SRC says the government told them of the termination on Dec. 10 The Triangle Business Journal first reported on the award ending Monday.
Stringfellow declined to share whether SRC received any money through its now-cancelled award but said the nonprofit had finished the initial phase of its contract. She also said SRC’s longer-running semiconductor research projects remain active.
SMART USA is one of 18 Manufacturing USA institutes, a nationwide group of public-private centers designed to advance domestic manufacturing. SRC said it is unaware of others in this network losing federal funding.
This story was originally published December 17, 2025 at 12:27 PM.
