In a press release released on Monday, the Ministry of Commerce stated that under the arrangement, the agency will provide incentives to xLight, a startup attempting to improve the critical chip manufacturing process for extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV). In return, the government will receive equity, which may make it the largest shareholder of xLight. The Dutch company ASML is currently the only EUV lithography machine manufacturer in the world, with each machine potentially costing hundreds of millions of dollars. XLight is seeking to improve a component in EUV technology: the crucial laser that etches complex microscopic patterns onto chemically treated silicon wafers. This startup hopes to integrate its light source into ASML's machines.

XLight represents the "second act" of Pat Kissinger, former CEO of Intel who was fired by the board at the end of last year due to the chip manufacturer's weak financial performance and stagnant manufacturing expansion. Kissinger serves as the Executive Chairman of xLight's Board of Directors. I'm not finished yet, "Kissinger said in an interview on Monday. This is a very personal matter for me. Many current and former government officials have criticized Kissinger for making too many promises as CEO of Intel, but not fulfilling them after the government agreed to give the company billions of dollars in grants and other subsidies. The xLight transaction utilized funds allocated to early-stage companies with promising technologies under the 2022 Chip and Science Act. This is the first chip bill funding during Trump's second term, and it is a preliminary agreement that means it has not yet been finalized and may change. This partnership will support a technology that can fundamentally rewrite the limits of chip manufacturing, "Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnik said in a press release. Some analysts criticize the government's strategy of directly investing in companies such as Intel, calling this practice state capitalism, and accusing government officials of picking winners and losers. Lutnik stated that stimulating key industries and introducing other private sector partners is meaningful. The plan of this startup company is very bold. XLight plans to build a massive 'free electron laser' driven by particle accelerators to create more powerful and precise light sources for chip manufacturing plants. Each machine has a size of approximately 100 meters by 50 meters and will be installed as a utility scale solution outside the wafer fab walls. Kissinger said that this $150 million investment will help xLight achieve its goal of producing the first batch of silicon wafers by 2028. The CEO of the company is Nicholas Kalez, who has worked at a quantum computing company and a government research laboratory. XLight raised $40 million this summer from investors including Playground Global, of which Kissinger is now a general partner. The most advanced laser currently used by ASML produces extreme ultraviolet light with a wavelength of approximately 13.5 nanometers. The xLight laser targets more precise wavelengths, as low as 2 nanometers. If the company can achieve this level of precision, it can help chip manufacturers carve finer microscopic lines on silicon wafers. This can help the semiconductor industry continue to develop along the trajectory described by Moore's Law, which states that the number of transistors on each chip - and therefore the computing power of the chip - should double every two years. We are here to awaken Moore's Law, "Kissinger said. It keeps dozing off, "Kissinger said. This new technology can improve wafer processing efficiency by up to 30% to 40%, and he believes that xLight's laser uses much less energy than current light sources. If this company succeeds, we will change the semiconductor industry, "he said. We can improve the economics of EUV today and make EUV possible tomorrow. ”XLight's statement highlights the growing enthusiasm within the Trump administration for ideas on how to strengthen advanced semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. In October, Substrate, a semiconductor manufacturing startup supported by investor Peter Thiel, announced that it had raised $100 million to explore the development of a US chip wafer fab, which includes an EUV tool similar to xLight. The Ministry of Commerce has been pressuring chip manufacturers such as TSMC to expand their investments in the United States. Kissinger said he mentioned xLight to Lutnik in February, when he had not yet joined the startup and Lutnik's position had not been confirmed by the Senate. Kissinger said he described it over the phone as a company that can help the government achieve its goal of bringing more chip manufacturing processes back to the United States. He is very interested, "Kissinger said.