The CHIPS and Science Act carved out $39 billion in direct manufacturing grants to lure semiconductor fabrication back to U.S. soil. Commerce's CHIPS Program Office has been working through that stack — with INTC as the marquee announced recipient, TSM and MU in the queue. The mechanism is straightforward: the federal government subsidizes capital expenditure on domestic fabs to reduce dependence on Asian foundries, primarily TSMC's Taiwan operations and Samsung's Korean base. But the money doesn't stop with the building owners. Every fab that gets built — regardless of who cuts the ribbon — needs to be filled with equipment. That's where the real compounding begins.