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At the 1939 World’s Fair, General Motors demonstrated the world’s first self-driving car. It was an electric vehicle guided by radio-controlled electromagnetic fields and operated from magnetized metal spikes embedded in the roadway.

Just over 80 years later, the concept has evolved, although not to the point of filling our highways with autonomous vehicles— yet, at least. In 2018, ABI Research predicted that could change by 2025. It stated that, there will be approximately eight million autonomous vehicles on the roads by then. But we’re likely still a long way from that number. First, the technology must catch up.

The CHIPS for America Act and FABS Act represents a much-anticipated boon for the U.S. semiconductor industry, providing $52.7 billion for investment. 

In August 2022, the U.S. Congress approved the funds for semiconductor manufacturing and research, plus a 25% investment tax credit for chip plants (an estimated additional $24 billion). That credit applies to projects that start construction after January 1, 2023.

The third quarter of 2022 experienced major global semiconductor news. The U.S., along with Germany, have placed major new restrictions on China’s semiconductor sector. Four new chip factories broke ground from Boise, Idaho, to Chatham County, North Carolina, all with the benefit of funding from the CHIPS Act. 

Also, the U.S. Commerce Department announced that it will be accepting proposals for CHIPS Act funds by early 2023. All this activity took place on the back of a global semiconductor sales increase of 13.3% from Q2 2022 to Q2 2021.

As we approach the tail end of 2022, forward-looking predictions for cybersecurity threats companies will face in 2023 are coming in. Trends in threats include cybercriminals finding workarounds to some of the newest defense solutions, and, in some cases, fewer incidents but an increase in attack severity. 

Interest in photonic chips is expanding at lightning speed. The market for silicon photonics is expected to quintuple from 2020 ($516 million) to 2025 — reaching $2.6 billion, according to Gartner. In fact, speed is one of the three factors driving this accelerated growth. 

Photonic chips transmit signals with light instead of electricity. The advantage of photonics over electronics is that light is faster and more functional over large bandwidths. The most common method of deploying photonics in chip design currently is silicon photonics, which pairs photonic architecture with traditional circuits in a single chip.

When it comes to the global race in the semiconductor industry, it’s an ongoing competition among the three biggest players — Japan, China, and the United States. Here’s an overview of where they stand today:

Japan struggles to maintain its position

In August of 2021, news outlets reported that Japan was worried it could be left behind as the U.S. chip industry spent billions to gain an edge in an ongoing trade war with China. Japan, which once dominated in the semiconductor industry, worried it would be squeezed out. Its share of global chip manufacturing had fallen from a half to a tenth as it lost customers to less expensive rivals and lost ground with a lack of cutting-edge processes in the production of silicon wafers, chemical films, and machinery, according to Japan’s industry ministry.

On July 1^st, Kelley Blue Book asked the question on everyone’s mind: Is the end of the chip shortage in sight? Then it answered its own question with cautious optimism: yes, automotive chip production is catching up— slowly but surely. 

After months of dire reports predicting that the automotive chip crises could extend through 2022 and even into early 2023, there is now good news for automakers and their customers. Several automakers have reported that they are starting to feel the shortages easing up and their chip supply stabilizing.

In April 2022, the number of job openings in the U.S. decreased to 11.4 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ June 2022 Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary. However, the number of employees who quit their jobs in April remained steady at 4.4 million. 

Today’s organizations are looking for innovative ways to stem the flow of employee resignations and the subsequent loss of valuable skills. That’s why a growing number of organizations are turning to upskilling or reskilling their workforce. 

Upskilling employees has become a go-to strategy for many companies looking for a proactive approach to overcoming the persistent skills shortage and tight labor marketplace. Upskilling and reskilling an existing workforce yields several benefits, but in the current market, one of its most important functions is the retention of existing employees.

Despite the many reports that have painted a “doom and gloom” picture of the semiconductor industry due to chip shortages and hiring challenges, many companies around the world are not slowing down their growth plans. In fact, global semiconductor billings grew 5% year-over-year to $24.7 billion in the first quarter of 2022, as reported by SEMI in Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (WWSEMS) Report.

“Year-over-year first quarter equipment revenue growth is in sync with positive forecasts for 2022 as the semiconductor industry continues its robust increase of fab capacity,” said Ajit Manocha, SEMI president and CEO. “North America and Europe logged healthy quarter-over-quarter rises in equipment spending as they intensify efforts to bolster domestic chipmaking.”

In the second quarter of this year, several businesses announced their growth plans in locations around the world — from Connecticut to Taiwan. Here is an overview of just a few of the many initiatives underway in the semiconductor industry in Q2 2022.