§3334i Seedling Investment in Next-generation Microelectronics in Support of Artificial Intelligence

Summary

The Director of National Intelligence, using the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), must give contracts, grants, or other agreements to support microelectronics research that helps artificial intelligence. Congress said faster, more energy‑efficient, and more reliable computing is important for U.S. national security and AI leadership, and that teams from different fields working together on microelectronics will create new capabilities. The money can pay for advanced engineering and applied research into new computing designs, materials, tiny devices, system layouts, and algorithms; work to solve physical limits in transistors, wiring, and memory; and long‑term projects that combine algorithm, architecture, device/circuit, and material science research. The Director can also fund other activities that help microelectronics development, but the total awarded cannot be more than $15,000,000.