U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Thursday that Albany NanoTech has been selected as America’s first location for the National Semiconductor Technology Center.

“Having the federal headquarters for EUV research that is critical to the most advanced chip development in the world will benefit every corner of New York,” Schumer said. “It will supercharge the historic investments and thousands of new, good-paying jobs the chip industry has proposed across the state, spurred by my CHIPS & Science Law."

The $825 million investment means Albany will become a hub for semiconductor research, which comes on the heels of other recent investments at the complex.

“Top notch researchers, top notch equipment, and the governor has already set aside money to build a new building and buy one of the most expensive machines,” he explained.

Gov. Kathy Hochul emphasized that this is all part of a long range effort to bringing advanced manufacturing back to upstate New York after a mass exodus of jobs in the late 20th Century.

“Creating more jobs and opportunities and really putting us at the center of the conversation about semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and the future of innovation in our nation,” she said.

Specifically, Spectrum News 1 is told the money will go toward conducting “extreme ultraviolet” research and development, as well as establishing offices and support services in Albany for the NSTC. New York Creates president Dave Anderson told reporters he hopes that’s only the beginning.

“We believe there will be much more activity beyond that with device makers, equipment manufacturers, and device companies,” he said.

The Albany lab's selection also advances longstanding efforts by Schumer and other government officials to make upstate New York a global center of semiconductor research and manufacturing.

Hochul late last year announced a partnership with the semiconductor industry to fund construction of the EUV Center, and the National Semiconductor Technology Center Extreme Ultraviolet Accelerator is scheduled to begin operating in 2025.

Schumer and Hochul both stressed that there are also national security reasons behind wanting to make chips domestically, and the research hub will allow the U.S. to be a self-propelling intellectual leader as well as a manufacturer.

While a priority of the CHIPS and Science Act is to make chips in the U.S., partly for national security reasons, Schumer said this will also allow the U.S. to be a self-propelling intellectual leader as well.

While it’s still unclear how many jobs the designation could bring to the Capital Region or when, Schumer underscored that this outcome was what he has had in mind since the beginning.

“To have this center be in the Capital Region is everything we wanted,” he said. “We are becoming the world center in research on chips, and chips run the world, so this makes the Capital Region a place people all over the globe are going to look toward.”

There will be two additional centers which are yet to be announced and will deal with other aspects of the manufacturing process.