GlobalFoundries signs $300M letter of intent with Commerce Dept.

GlobalFoundries (Nasdaq: GFS) has signed a letter of intent with the U.S. Department of Commerce under which the department's CHIPS Research and Development Office is expected to award the company $300 million to advance silicon photonics technology.

The funding is intended to accelerate development of next-generation silicon photonics wafer technologies, optical materials and advanced packaging, including 3D hybrid bonding, to support near-packaged optics and co-packaged optics architectures. The work is set to leverage GlobalFoundries' existing facilities in Malta, N.Y., and Burlington, Vt.

In a separate agreement, the U.S. Department of Commerce will receive an equity stake in GlobalFoundries representing approximately 1% ownership as of the announcement date.

The award builds on GlobalFoundries' SCALE platform, which the company says targets 400Gb/s performance and a fivefold increase in energy efficiency over current-generation implementations.

"GlobalFoundries has spent more than a decade building the technology, footprint and ecosystem to lead this transition, and we have the proven manufacturing foundation to scale it — in the United States," said Tim Breen, CEO of GlobalFoundries.

Several technology companies issued statements in connection with the announcement, including AMD, Broadcom, Cisco, Corning, Lumentum, Marvell, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Qualcomm, each noting the role of silicon photonics in scaling AI infrastructure.

"Rebuilding our supply chains is critical to the new industrial revolution," said Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang. "Silicon photonics is essential to that future, and GlobalFoundries brings the manufacturing expertise to help make it real in the United States."

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the investments are intended to enhance domestic capabilities and create jobs in the semiconductor industry.

The announcement is based on a letter of intent, and the final award remains subject to completion of negotiations and other conditions.

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