Overview
- The Department of Commerce executed a definitive $250 million CHIPS Office R&D agreement with I-Pulse on June 25, 2026 to accelerate pulsed-power approaches for high-temperature, high-performance semiconductors.
- The award is a federal research grant that requires I-Pulse to meet specific technical milestones and workforce commitments rather than a venture capital investment.
- I-Pulse traces its pulsed-power technology to Sandia National Laboratories and is led by co-founder and CEO Robert Friedland as it shifts from mining and geothermal uses toward semiconductor R&D.
- Before the award the company had raised more than $324 million, so the federal infusion nearly doubles its capital base and supports Friedland’s stated aim to reduce reliance on foreign chip supplies.
- The deal marks a shift in CHIPS policy toward funding niche, defense-rooted technologies and carries clear scale-up risks for commercial chip production while also pushing workforce development and possible new manufacturing approaches.