Commerce, DOD Sign Memorandum on Chip Industrial Base

The Commerce and Defense departments this week signed a memorandum of understanding to improve collaboration on their efforts to strengthen the American semiconductor defense industrial base, including through Chips Act funding. The memorandum will increase information sharing between the two agencies, including by allowing officials to coordinate on national security reviews of Chips Act funding applications, Chips Program Office Director Michael Schmidt said. Laura Taylor-Kale, assistant secretary of defense for industrial base policy, said it’s “essential for DoD and DoC to consult one another to ensure we are making complementary investments that support a robust semiconductor industrial base.”