14 June 2022
Globalfoundries and STMicroelectronics are exploring the possibility of jointly building a fab in France, anonymous sources told Bloomberg. The chip factory would most likely focus on FD-SOI chips, since the two recently teamed up to move this technology to lower nodes. Both companies refused to comment on the report specifically.
Last February, the European Union launched the European Chips Act, greenlighting substantial national subsidies for first-of-a-kind chip manufacturing initiatives in Europe. Intel will be the first beneficiary of this scheme, receiving 6.8 billion euros from the German state to build a CMOS fab complex in Magdeburg. Since Globalfoundries and ST focus on FD-SOI, they should be eligible for state aid as well.