Commerce signs letters of intent for up to $389 million in power-chip R&D

The Department of Commerce said on October 22, 2026 that it had signed four letters of intent to provide up to $389 million in federal research-and-development awards under the CHIPS and Science Act. The announcement, posted by NIST, says the money is aimed at semiconductors and materials used to control, convert, and deliver power, including for energy infrastructure and data centers. A letter of intent is not a check. The release says the research happens “under the final awards.”

The four ceilings in the release add up to the $389 million headline:

• Helion, up to $175 million, for high-voltage power semiconductors and advanced energy power modules for high-peak-current pulsed power in fusion generators. The release says those chips would power, control, and harvest energy from the magnets in Helion’s machines.
• Commonwealth Fusion Systems, up to $85 million, for semiconductors used in radio-frequency plasma heating, power electronics, embedded electronics for fusion diagnostics, and radiation-hardened electronics.
• Vertical Semiconductor, up to $73 million, for vertical gallium nitride power semiconductors, described as a way to deliver power more efficiently and in a smaller package for advanced computing. The release says the work is also to demonstrate the technology for what it calls “the world’s first 2.5 MW super intelligence data center rack.”
• Sibelco, up to $56 million, for next-generation purification and finishing of ultra-high-purity quartz used in crystal-growth crucibles, processing glassware, and other hardware in the semiconductor supply chain.

Equity, and what officials said

The department says that, as a condition of making the awards, it will receive a minority, non-controlling, non-voting equity stake in each company. The release describes that stake as a way to improve the return for the taxpayer. It does not publish the share count, the valuation, or the instrument.

Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick is quoted saying, “These investments expand domestic research, secure critical supply chains, and create high-paying American jobs.” Bill Frauenhofer, whom the release identifies as executive director of semiconductor investment and innovation, says the awards will support work on power semiconductor devices and critical materials, and that the point is a stronger ability to convert and deliver power for the grid, advanced data centers, defense systems, and emerging fusion energy.

The release does not say the funds have been disbursed. It does not give a construction schedule, a job count, or a date when a final agreement would be signed.

Why it matters (analysis)

The AI-relevant line is narrower than the headline total. Most of the $389 million, on the figures Commerce published, is for fusion power electronics and for quartz purification. The computing piece is Vertical Semiconductor’s award of up to $73 million, and even that is a letter of intent for research and a demonstration rack, not a shipment of chips into data centers. Readers looking at the companies as investments are looking at a proposed federal R&D deal with a government equity condition attached, not at revenue.

This report is not investment, tax, or legal advice, and it is not a statement that any award will close.

This report is not legal, financial, or health advice. See the disclaimer.