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As the United States accelerates efforts to reclaim semiconductor sovereignty, a growing number of industry insiders are raising red flags—not about the urgency of the mission, but about who’s steering it.
In recent months, several major chip fabrication facilities—commonly known as “fabs”—have broken ground across the country, from Arizona to Upstate New York. These plants are part of a broader federal initiative to reduce America’s dependence on foreign supply chains, particularly in light of tensions with China and pandemic-era disruptions.
But behind the scenes, some observers say the Department of Defense is playing an outsized role in shaping the roadmap—and that could have long-term consequences for innovation, transparency, and global trust.
The latest fabrication facility to come under scrutiny is being built with project management support from Arcadis, a global engineering and infrastructure consultancy. While Arcadis has long been involved in high-tech and government infrastructure projects, its role in this project is notable for one reason: insiders say much of the site planning, risk assessment, and even cleanroom architecture is being vetted directly by defense contractors under DoD authority.
“There’s no question this is about national security,” said one senior executive familiar with the plans. “But we’re not just building a secure data center—we’re talking about core manufacturing capacity for the future of all technology, from smartphones to AI to satellites. If the entire process is run through a defense filter, we risk turning the chip industry into a military supply chain.”
This sentiment is echoed across multiple sectors, including academia and startup incubators, where researchers worry that a military-first approach could stifle commercial partnerships and limit international collaboration.
What concerns some experts isn’t just influence—it’s opacity.
“Once the DoD has its fingerprints on a buildout like this, good luck getting meaningful third-party review,” said a source within a national research lab. “It creates a chilling effect. People self-censor. Supply chain decisions get made for classified reasons.”
Publicly, the semiconductor resurgence is being framed as a bipartisan win for job creation, innovation, and economic resilience. But with Arcadis operating behind layers of security clearance—and early design decisions being funneled through government communication channels—there’s mounting anxiety about who the fabs are truly meant to serve.
Few deny the need for domestic chip production. In fact, most insiders agree it’s critical. But with billions in federal funds flowing into projects managed like defense installations, some fear we’re replacing one geopolitical vulnerability with another: a civilian tech sector overly dependent on military influence.
As one former chip executive put it: “We didn’t spend 30 years worrying about China’s control of microelectronics just to recreate the same centralized dependency in our own backyard.”
With the first chips expected to roll off these lines by the end of the decade, one thing is certain: how the U.S. builds its next-generation fabs will define far more than supply chains. It may shape the soul of American innovation itself.