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Biden touts IBM's $20B investment in New York

U.S. President Joe Biden walks out from the White House in Washington, D.C., before his departure to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., to tour IBM on Thursday. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI
U.S. President Joe Biden walks out from the White House in Washington, D.C., before his departure to Poughkeepsie, N.Y., to tour IBM on Thursday. Photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 6 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden spoke Tuesday in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and touted IBM's announcement that it plans to invest $20 billion across the Hudson Valley on research and development initiatives over the next 10 years.

Biden hailed the investments and said that the supply chain crises during the COVID-19 pandemic have made Americans more aware of the issue. As a result, he has pushed for more semiconductor manufacturing to come back to the United States.

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"As we saw during the pandemic, when factories that make these chips shut down around the world, the global economy literally comes to a screeching halt," Biden said. "More Americans have learned the phrase 'supply chain.' Well, guess what? The supply chain is going to start here and end here, in the United States."

The IBM announcement comes after Micron said Tuesday it will build a $500 million semiconductor fabrication facility in New York.

The announcements highlight the recently signed Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act, also known as CHIPS, that Biden signed into law in August, which provided financial incentives for companies to build semiconductors critical to many components today in the United States.

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"IBM is deeply honored to host President Biden at our Poughkeepsie site today and we look forward to highlighting our commitments to the innovations that advance America's economy," Arvind Krishna, chairman and CEO of IBM, said in a statement.

"As we tackle large-scale technological challenges in climate, energy, transportation and more, we must continue to invest in innovation and discovery because advanced technologies are key to solving these problems and driving economic prosperity, including better jobs, for millions of Americans."

IBM said its Poughkeepsie site has manufactured armaments during World War II and developed the latest generation of mainframe computers. It also builds state-of-the-art mainframe computers that power the global economy.

"The site also is home to IBM's first Quantum Computation Center -- where a large number of real quantum computers run in the cloud," IBM said in a statement. "IBM's vision is for Poughkeepsie to become a global hub of the company's quantum computing development, just as it is today for mainframes."

The Poughkeepsie plant is home to about 3,000 workers while IBM hires more than 7,500 employees throughout the region.

The investment provides a much needed victory for the President, who is dealing with the beginnings of a possible downturn in the economy. Job openings in August fell to their lowest levels since August 2020 and the federal reserve has promised to keep tightening the economy until inflation is under control.

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