Chip-Making Push Expected to Boost U.S. Innovation

"Two guys in a garage is great," said Edlyn Levine, co-founder and chief science officer at America's Frontier Fund, a nonprofit venture-capital fund aimed at investing in chip makers. But taking that idea and scaling into a company requires access to multibillion-dollar facilities, she said. The Morning Download delivers daily insights and news on business technology from the CIO Journal team. Ms. Levine, speaking Tuesday at The Wall Street Journal's CIO Network online summit, said a robust domestic semiconductor industry can help unlock downstream innovation. Chips are a key component of technologies including 5G wireless devices, artificial-intelligence software, autonomous vehicles and cryptocurrencies, she noted.