The Trump administration is putting up to $150 million into xLight, a U.S. startup working on free-electron laser technology that could reshape the future of advanced chipmaking. The Department of Commerce announced the plan Monday, confirming that the government will take an equity stake in the company as part of a fresh approach to semiconductor investment.
The funding comes through the CHIPS Research and Development Office, which recently shifted under Trump administration leadership after absorbing a $7.4 billion Biden-era semiconductor research institute. According to CNBC, officials said the partnership is based on a preliminary, non-binding letter of intent that outlines federal incentives in exchange for ownership interest.
xLight’s work focuses on one of the hardest problems in modern chip manufacturing: the lithography stage, where ultra-fine patterns are printed onto silicon wafers. Today, the process relies heavily on machines built by Dutch company ASML. Currently they are the only producer of extreme ultraviolet lithography systems. The most challenging part inside those machines is the laser, and that’s where xLight hopes to innovate.
Trump’s team is quietly making a very aggressive semiconductor bet.
They just agreed to invest up to $150M into a startup called xLight, which is trying to reinvent the lasers used in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography in the U.S.
A few key points:
•Funding comes from the… pic.twitter.com/SHX427ypeX
— Patient Investor (@PSInvestor) December 2, 2025
The startup believes free-electron lasers, the kind normally associated with particle accelerators, could drastically reduce the energy consumption and improve the performance of the lasers used in lithography machines. xLight is developing its prototype with several U.S. national labs and says the technology could eventually integrate with equipment made by ASML or other manufacturers.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the investment marks a turning point. “For far too long, America ceded the frontier of advanced lithography to others. Under President Donald Trump, those days are over,” he said in a statement. He added that backing xLight “can fundamentally rewrite the limits of chipmaking,” and that the administration wants those breakthroughs to happen inside the United States.
[xLight – Our Particle Accelerator Approach](https://t.co/zZeF0IS2Hf) pic.twitter.com/svo1GVSsvM
— outside five sigma (@jwt0625) July 29, 2025
The company has also strengthened its leadership bench. Former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger joined xLight earlier this year as executive chairman, bringing decades of advanced manufacturing expertise at a time when the entire industry is racing to shrink chip features even further.
According to the Commerce Department, the U.S. stake in xLight is part of a broader strategy to secure domestic control over critical technologies. Unlike previous administrations, which leaned heavily on grants and loans, the current approach favors direct equity investments. The government has recently taken stakes in Intel, U.S. Steel, and several mineral companies important to the chip supply chain, including Lithium Americas and MP Materials. And it’s also for this reason that the Trump administration has drawn a line around Nvidia’s Blackwell chip.
[xLight Facility and Fab Footprint](https://t.co/zDvde8cKmP)
I’m their second subscriber lol pic.twitter.com/0ZVFfDW9co
— outside five sigma (@jwt0625) July 29, 2025
The Hill reported that the administration sees xLight’s laser platform as a potential game-changer for how chips are made, especially as demand grows for faster and more efficient processors. The investment also signals confidence that free-electron lasers could help U.S. manufacturers compete with, and eventually reduce dependence on, ASML’s dominant technology.
The partnership arrives as the United States continues its push to become more self-reliant in semiconductor production after years of supply-chain disruptions and concerns about foreign control over key infrastructure. Even with billions flowing into chip plants across the country, the tools required to manufacture the world’s most advanced chips remain concentrated abroad, making the laser technology inside lithography systems a strategic priority.
If xLight succeeds, the technology could open the door to a new generation of chip fabrication tools designed and built domestically. The administration says this is the type of “breakthrough innovation” the CHIPS program was created to support. For now, xLight’s prototype work continues, backed by federal support and growing industry interest.
