They demand that the authorities support not only automakers that have suffered from a shortage of chips.
Major technology companies have formed a coalition to convince members of the US Congress to allocate additional funding for the production of chips, writes Reuters.
The coalition includes Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft, infrastructure companies AT & T and Verizon, and processor makers Intel, Nvidia and Qualcomm. The requested funds are planned to be spent on increasing the capacity for the production of microchips in the United States.
The coalition supports the CHIPS for America Act, which includes federal investment in the development of semiconductor manufacturing in the United States. President Joe Biden has already referred to it when he requested $50 billion to finance the industry.
Some automakers, such as Ford, are asking to ensure the supply of chips exclusively for their factories, writes Reuters. The coalition believes that the government should not support only one industry, although the crisis has most affected the production of cars.
The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a shortage of microchips. As Bloomberg wrote, automakers suffered the most-according to their estimates, in 2021, the lost profit will be more than $60 billion. Major automakers Volkswagen and General Motors have cut production, and Ford has suspended several factories.
In April 2021, Taiwan’s TSMC, whose products use Apple, AMD, Qualcomm and Nvidia, announced that the shortage of chips will continue until 2022. Nvidia and Intel have similar forecasts.
Companies are investing in expanding production — TSMC is going to invest $100 billion over three years, and Intel announced that it will invest $20 billion in new factories and start producing chips for other companies.