The Biden Administration on Monday said it was designating 31 tech hubs linked to 32 states and Puerto Rico to help stimulate innovation and create jobs.
“These Tech Hubs will catalyze investment in technologies critical to economic growth, national security, and job creation, and will help communities across the country become centers of innovation critical to American competitiveness,” the White House said in a statement.
The program was authorized by the CHIPS and Science Act, which President Biden signed in August 2022.
The tech hubs—communities that promote innovation for technology-based companies—are already focused on developing and growing innovative industries, including semiconductors, clean energy, critical minerals, biotechnology, precision medicine, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, the White House said.
The aim is to bring together private industries, state and local governments, institutions of higher education, labor unions, Tribal communities and nonprofit organizations.
According to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, her cabinet department has already received some 400 applications to compete for up to $75 million worth of implementation grants—the result of the program that Commerce launched in May to distribute a total of $500 million in grants into U.S. cities.
“I have to say, in my entire career in public service, I have never seen as much interest in any initiative than this one,” Raimondo told reporters during a conference call on Sunday.
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