The US Commerce Department awarded $389 million in R&D funding to four companies working on semiconductor development, under the government’s CHIPS and Science Act.

In a statement, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick explained the funding “will accelerate American semiconductor innovation to enhance our domestic energy and power resources”.

As a condition of the close to $400 million outlay, the US government will receive minority, non-controlling and non-equity stakes in the four companies.

Washington-based Helion, which develops high-voltage power semiconductors and advanced energy power modules, will receive the biggest investment at $175 million.

Commonwealth Fusion Systems is in line for an $85 million investment, which it will use to develop semiconductor technologies for robotic maintenance.

Meanwhile, Vertical Semiconductors will get $73 million for its work across AI data centre racks and Sibelco North America will receive $56 million.

Bill Frauenhofer, executive director of Semiconductor Investment and Innovation at the Commerce Department added: “Accelerating domestic R&D across these technologies will strengthen America’s ability to convert and deliver power for the grid, advanced data centres, defence systems, and emerging fusion energy.”

Reuters reported the Commerce Department has awarded a total of 19 R&D grants to semiconductor companies, as part of the $10 billion fund under the CHIPS and Science Act approved by the government in 2022.

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Middle Eastern operators Zain Group and Ooredoo Group officially launched a joint venture tower platform after closing the first phase of the transaction by combining portfolios in their home markets.

The operators stated they have brought together the assets of Zain Kuwait and Ooredoo Qatar, comprising 4,000 towers in total.

They each own a 50% stake in the platform.

Announced in 2023, the tower company was pitched as the largest of its kind in the MENA region, with a combined value of $2.2 billion.

At the time, the companies and UAE-based TASC Towers stated the entity would comprise nearly 30,000 towers in Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Tunisia, Iraq and Algeria.

In the latest statement, the companies highlighted how the transaction is expected to create significant value through greater scale, capital efficiencies and a dedicated operating model focused on passive telecoms infrastructure.

Additional towers are expected “to be integrated progressively into the platform”, subject to closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

They further pointed to opportunities for operators to access infrastructure in a more capital-efficient manner while supporting the region’s digital infrastructure.

Zain CEO Bader Al-Kharafi said the first closing of the tower platform “reflects our shared strategy of creating focused, scalable and sustainable platforms”.

Ooredoo counterpart Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo added it is “now executing across every digital infrastructure segment identified in our strategy as we continue building a leading regional portfolio”.

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