Financial Intel Monthly

In late May 2023, Congress sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel saying that it will introduce legislation to correct several technical errors in the SECURE 2.0 Act. The letter, signed by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Mike Crapo (R-ID), chair and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, respectively, and Representatives Jason Smith (R-MO) and Richard Neal (D-MA), chair and ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, respectively, describes four provisions in SECURE 2.0 with problematic language.

A chatbot with uncanny human-like writing abilities has become the poster child for artificial intelligence (AI) since it was released in late 2022, inspiring new levels of attention, excitement, and concern about recent advances in this life-changing technology.

As the race among tech companies to monetize AI picks up speed, it's worth considering how widespread adoption of AI-enabled technologies might affect the economic prospects of workers and businesses.

Many Fortune 500 employees have been asking about The CHIPs and Science Act of 2022. This act signed into law on August 9, is a bipartisan legislation package that provides more than $50 billion in direct financial assistance for semiconductor companies to increase U.S.-based design, research, and manufacturing capabilities. In addition, the legislation authorizes nearly $170 billion in federal funding over five years for research and development (R&D) programs in strategic areas of science and technology, such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, wireless communications, clean energy, and precision agriculture.

In a significant expansion of industrial policy, federal subsidies are being offered to help reduce the nation's reliance on semiconductors produced mostly overseas and forge a more resilient supply chain. The largest-ever U.S. investment in public R&D (in dollar terms) is intended to fuel technological innovation more broadly and help ensure U.S. economic competitiveness — primarily against China — in the future.

CHIP independence
A semiconductor (also called a microchip or chip) is a tiny set of electronic circuits on a small piece of silicon or germanium. A single advanced chip may have more than 50 billion microscopic transistors. Chips power nearly all electronic devices used by consumers, including computers, mobile phones, vehicles, and medical devices. The crucial role that chips play in the economy became more evident during the pandemic, when a surge in demand kicked off a global shortage that disrupted supply chains and later helped drive up inflation. A dependable supply of chips is also important for national security reasons — the U.S. Department of Defense purchases 1.9 billion semiconductors annually for its communications and weapons systems.¹