Gorilla Glass maker Corning to receive up to $32 million under CHIPS Act

Corning, the maker of Gorilla Glass, is set to receive up to $32 million in funding under the CHIPS and Science Act. In an announcement on Friday, the US Commerce Department said the proposed funding will help Corning increase production of its glass products used in the chip-making process.

The announcement comes just days after the European Commission opened an antitrust investigation into Corning over whether it uses exclusive supply agreements to stifle competition. Both Samsung and Apple use Corning’s ultra-tough alkali-aluminosilicate glass — or Gorilla Glass — on their phones, tablets, and smartwatches.

However, the proposed CHIPS Act funding doesn’t have anything to do with Gorilla Glass. Corning will put the funding toward the production of its High Purity Fused Silica and Extreme Ultra-Low Expansion Glass. As noted in the press release, both types of glass are used in lithography machines and photomasks used to image a chip’s pattern onto a silicon wafer. It will also allow Corning to “scale a novel manufacturing process” in its Canton, New York plant, which is expected to create 130 new manufacturing jobs and more than 175 construction jobs.