Mackenzie Hawkins
@mackhawk
Followers
5,360
Following
1,282
Media
106
Statuses
2,207
I write for @technology , mostly about the chip war. mhawkins71 @bloomberg .net/mackhawk.71 on Signal
DC / SF
Joined August 2015
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
North Carolina
• 933452 Tweets
Hurricane Helene
• 744146 Tweets
FEMA
• 379638 Tweets
Dikembe Mutombo
• 155235 Tweets
Mets
• 133684 Tweets
Game 2
• 89761 Tweets
Verizon
• 87714 Tweets
Diaz
• 87586 Tweets
Lübnan
• 73206 Tweets
Braves
• 72183 Tweets
#النصر_الريان
• 66644 Tweets
Franklin Graham
• 46002 Tweets
Kemp
• 43599 Tweets
#KızılGoncalar
• 38529 Tweets
#KYSvBJK
• 36860 Tweets
Jessica
• 34935 Tweets
Lindor
• 24041 Tweets
Onana
• 23151 Tweets
رونالدو
• 21250 Tweets
Zeynep
• 20942 Tweets
الجيش اللبناني
• 19899 Tweets
Gavin Creel
• 14027 Tweets
Bournemouth
• 12512 Tweets
Southampton
• 12422 Tweets
Ozzie
• 10588 Tweets
#الاجتياح_البري
• 10426 Tweets
تاليسكا
• 10336 Tweets
Pinned Tweet
New: Two years after Biden signed the Chips Act, $39b in grants is mostly divvied up & firms say they’ll invest 10x that in the US
I talked to the man in charge — & many others — about what it’ll take to turn those promises into factories
🧵& free link:
10
48
155
Good news: TSMC achieved yields at its AZ facility on par w plants back home — an early indicator that its US project is on track to achieve targets, incl. full production in 2025
TSMC is in line for a $6.6b Chips Act grant & $5b loan (no $ disbursed yet)
43
448
2K
Ralph Lauren, who designed Jill Biden’s dress for tonight, shows up to the White House in New Balance sneakers
cc
@dieworkwear
43
53
505
SCOOP: Sen. Jon
@Ossoff
is poised to introduce legislation establishing a tax credit for domestic solar manufacturers that he hopes will pass as part of a larger infrastructure package later this year.
My first for
@business
w/
@brianreports
13
85
493
Some news: I have post-grad plans!
I’m returning to
@business
full time in July, spending six months in New York then moving to DC to cover politics, policy & other things that happen in the nation’s capital.
Currently dancing around my apartment, feeling very lucky & thankful
54
8
386
Rachael was kind and witty. She loved the viola and her poodle Teddy. She was an advocate for her community and she cared deeply about fairness and justice. She dreamt of studying constitutional law.
Rachael touched so many lives, in such beautiful ways:
0
86
343
I can’t stop thinking about how often I talk to other Ivy League newspaper editors about reporting on death. We lost so many people — students, faculty and staff — and our universities didn’t give us even a moment to grieve.
Here are the obits the YDN published this school year:
1
25
325
This puppy represents me leaving the hill when vote-a-rama ends
1
7
303
Intel is officially set to win $3.5b to make military chips. Company was always the sole intended recipient & has now solidified the deal, which could be announced next week
This is separate from an $8.5b Chips Act award that Intel’s still negotiating
1/
10
91
289
!!! This is a really big deal. Brown University — which, like its Ivy peers, has long been criticized for punitive mental health policies around leaves of absence — has settled with the DOJ and agreed to revise its policies and pay $684k to students wrongly denied readmission.
DoJ reaches settlement with Brown University after DoJ found school was denying readmission to dozens of students who took a leave of absence for mental health reasons. Brown agrees to revise practices any pay $684K to those wrongly blocked from returning
1
88
312
2
53
280
I’m moving into a new role on Bloomberg’s
@technology
team, covering industrial policy, geopolitics & the fight for supremacy in strategic tech sectors — especially semiconductors
I officially start in April, but you should say hi now! mhawkins71
@bloomberg
.net/DM for Signal
27
17
285
New: Intel is hemorrhaging cash. It wants $ from the Chips Act, up to an $8.5b grant & $11b loan, ASAP
Right now the company & Biden admin are stuck in a holding pattern — with no guarantee of when, or if, that money will be disbursed
🧵& free link:
12
95
242
Yale has quietly made some significant changes to its first — and only — public statement on Rachael’s death, which did not originally include a message of grief.
Yale told the YDN that the statement was “lightly edited.” First two photos are the original, second are the update.
@catlenihan
Yale College would never deny anyone permission to take time off to address a health concern; anyone who asks for that permission receives it.
20
1
7
0
50
221
SCOOP: Micron, the largest US maker of computer-memory chips, is poised to get more than $6 billion in Chips Act grants
Firm plans to build factories in Idaho and New York
Award could be announced as soon as next week
5
62
216
The Netherlands plans to limit ASML’s ability to repair & maintain its semiconductor equipment in China, a potentially painful blow to Beijing’s efforts to develop a world-class chip industry
22
90
216
Some
@yaledailynews
news I’m really excited to share!
We’ve increased funding for our stipend program, which supports staffers on financial aid, by more than 50% — the first increase in three years, and the largest since and including the program’s founding allocation.
Thread:
4
16
205
Not a novel take, but Yale has a truly bad communication system. COVID announcements (& many other types of announcements!) should come through university-wide channels that reach all students, faculty & staff — not via sporadic emails from individual administrators. I’m tired!!!
2
16
203
Professional update: I’m back at Bloomberg News
@business
!
Excited to join the municipal finance team, where I’ll cover the bond market & city/state spending (or lack thereof) on housing, education, criminal justice, climate, transit, etc.
Say hi: mhawkins71
@bloomberg
.net
11
14
190
BREAKING: Multiple Yale dormitories have lost power and there appears to be flooding in the first floors of several. Story TK, check back for updates.
7
49
169
I asked
@AOC
about Biden’s plea for Congress to extend the eviction moratorium:
“What this is, is reckless and irresponsible. And so now we’re scrambling but it could have been avoided with better communication and frankly more forthright leadership from the White House.”
8
28
141
Excited to share that I have a new role
@business
covering economic policy on Capitol Hill & in the Biden admin, focused on whether US industrial strategy meets its goals & what that means for everyday people
Talk to me about chips/IRA/infrastructure: mhawkins71
@bloomberg
.net !
10
9
141
It looks like chipmakers could get a US environmental permitting exemption after all,
@RepMcCaul
tells me, after a key Republican dropped her opposition to a measure designed to speed up construction at sites that win Chips Act $$ — like those from Intel, TSMC, Samsung & Micron
NEW: Semiconductor sites could be forced to pause construction for *years* after House Republicans blocked a measure exempting projects that win Chips Act $ from environmental review,
@SecRaimondo
tells me
🎁🔗 for lovers & haters of US industrial policy:
1
6
18
6
26
134
It’s my last day covering Congress for
@business
, which was a crash course in DC politics & an affirmation of why I want to be a journalist.
I’m so grateful to my team & the Capitol press corps for showing me the ropes this (mad lib your own hill adjective) summer. I’ll be back!
2
2
133
SCOOP: The Pentagon pulled out of a plan to spend as much as $2.5 billion on a chip grant to Intel
Lawmakers then directed Commerce to make up for the shortfall using Chips Act $$
That’s created some… complications
More details in my story w/
@ianmking
5
65
125
Yale students: Rachael’s friends from Anchorage are organizing a gathering in her honor and would love for her friends from New Haven to join in celebrating her life.
It’s this Saturday at 7:00 p.m. AKT / 11:00 p.m. EST. Zoom link in replies of quoted tweet.
0
41
114
Scoop: A senior US official plans to visit Japan & the Netherlands to ask for tougher curbs on chip equipment makers’ activities in China
His requests, part of ongoing talks, will highlight Chinese high-bandwidth memory fabs
w/
@cagankoc
& Yuki Furukawa
4
60
109
SCOOP: Intel is in talks w the Biden admin for more than $10b in semiconductor subsidies — a combination of grants & loans
The Chips Act set aside $39b for grants & $75b for loans/guarantees. Intel award would come from both pools
w/
@sridinats
@ianmking
7
43
105
So many hundreds of hours later, the
@yaledailynews
HAS A NEW WEBSITE 🎉🥳
I have nothing but admiration & gratitude for
@YaaOwusu4
,
@juliaburgiel
& our web development team, which turned around a complete redesign in a matter of months
Also we are now on
@AppleNews
!
🧵 🧵 🧵
7
24
103
BREAKING: Yale is planning for a mostly normal fall 2021 semester, including a full residential program for undergrads and primarily in person instruction, with a potential “brief period of remote instruction” depending on public health conditions and community vaccination levels
1
5
100
Scoop: Applied Materials was denied a Chips Act grant for a $4 billion R&D project in the heart of Silicon Valley — a decision that highlights gaps in how the US government is approaching semiconductor research
3
30
100
Ralph Lauren, who designed Jill Biden’s dress for tonight, shows up to the White House in New Balance sneakers
cc
@dieworkwear
43
53
505
10
18
95
WARREN in response to my question on whether Biden should reappoint Jerome Powell as chairman of the Fed:
“I have asked the chairman repeatedly from the time he was nominated about his views on regulation. I am concerned when I see the rules weakened rather than strengthened.”
4
12
94
New: To reshore manufacturing, the US needs trained workers — but for decades, it hasn’t invested in the actual training
@readep
& I looked at Tennessee, an EV hotspot, to understand what it’ll mean to play catch up
Gift link:
10
36
88
Among many striking things about tonight’s storm: Yale took two hours to send any campus-wide alert — and that alert only referenced “a number of university buildings.”
By that time
@yaledailynews
had confirmed blackouts in all residential colleges and flooding in most.
3
10
94
BREAKING: Yale has enough doses of the Pfizer vaccine to vaccinate ALL students by the end of the term (!!!)
Schedule your appointment on MyChart:
2
15
91
Scoop: Micron is entering a project labor agreement with local unions to build its $15b Idaho site — a move that could boost its bid for Chips Act funds
Union deals are very rare in the industry. But there have been a couple recently!
🎁 link & 🧵:
1
31
81
Good omen for the semester (this will be my first and last wordle tweet)
Wordle 220 1/6
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
2
0
81
Some Chips Act thoughts…🧵
600 firms want a slice of a $39b grant pool. With Micron’s $6.1b award next week, almost 85% of that money will be spoken for — vast majority going to four companies that’ll produce advanced chips
Here’s what’s been announced (or legislated) so far:
4
32
78
Tim Cook and celebrities such as M. Night Shyamalan are dining on a multi-course vegetarian feast via
@bpolitics
7
28
68
PR pitches this morning have been both targeted and false
0
0
73
@Sammy_westfall
left me big shoes to fill! I’m now Editor in Chief of the
@yaledailynews
— an organization that has given me a sense of purpose, a home on campus and the best team and friends I could ask for as we take on this strange, exciting year together. Cheers to 143 :) 🎉
the
@yaledailynews
incoming board is amazing! it only took a 16-hour Zoom election to arrive at this fantastic masthead:
0
4
60
4
7
72
Scoop: Intel plans to eliminate thousands of jobs to reduce costs and fund an ambitious effort to rebound from an earnings slump and market share losses
Could be announced as soon as this week. Intel reports Q2 earnings Thursday
w
@leejane71
7
22
70
SCOOP: Chinese tech giants Huawei & SMIC used American gear to make an advanced 7-nm chip that debuted in Huawei’s Mate 60 phone last year
They used Applied Materials & Lam equipment in addition to machines from Dutch firm ASML
@cagankoc
& me:
19
20
68
Life update: I moved to DC & have a fancy new email! Send me all things Congress at mhawkins71
@bloomberg
.net
0
1
66
The US plans to award $1.5 billion to GlobalFoundries, the largest domestic maker of made-to-order semiconductors
This marks the first major Chips Act grant after two smaller ones to BAE Systems & Microchip Technology
5
20
62
Of note to Yale students: Connecticut residents ages 16-34 will be eligible for the vaccine on May 3 (which happens to be the beginning of the last week of classes)
BREAKING:
@GovNedLamont
is changing CT's covid vaccination plan.
The new plan will be based solely on age, with one exception: teachers.
Beginning March 1, teachers and residents aged 55+ will be eligible.
Full story from me and
@AlexPutterman
:
5
31
65
0
8
64
If you’re a Brown student who has taken or considered a leave of absence for mental health reasons, 1) I hope you’re taking care and able to get the help you need, and 2) I would love to talk to you for a Bloomberg News story. Email me at mhawkins71
@bloomberg
.net, DMs open.
!!! This is a really big deal. Brown University — which, like its Ivy peers, has long been criticized for punitive mental health policies around leaves of absence — has settled with the DOJ and agreed to revise its policies and pay $684k to students wrongly denied readmission.
2
53
280
0
34
62
TSMC has reached a preliminary agreement for up to $6.6b in grants & $5b in loans from the Chips Act
The biggest news: The firm will build a third fab in AZ — for 2nm or possibly even more advanced chips — bringing its total US investment to $65b
4
25
61
The Biden admin plans to award $75 million in Chips Act subsidies to Entegris Inc., marking the first grant to a company focused on supplying parts to chipmaking factories
Officials have around $6 billion left to allocate & have unveiled 11 preliminary awards so far:
2
31
61
Some personal news 🎉
(Thank you Lukas for taking THE most dramatic exit photo. I swear this was not staged)
@mackhawk
looks out of the window at the
@yaledailynews
on our 2022 board's final night of production ❤
0
1
10
2
0
60
.
@KamalaHarris
is on the hill this afternoon. Dodges a question from
@mkraju
on why the White House hasn’t unilaterally extended the eviction moratorium:
“It’s an important issue, a very important issue,” she says.
13
18
59
Lastly: some lawmakers who voted against the Chips Act are coming around (kinda)
In public, to the effect of “sure, it could work, but Biden’s done it all wrong”
In private, Chips Act champion
@SenToddYoung
told me, some GOP colleagues are embarrassed by how well it’s gone
4/4
2
10
60
More than half of US chip workers are at least somewhat likely to quit in the next 3-6 months, compounding the industry’s labor challenges
New training programs are a promising start but not currently on track to fill the shortfall, per a McKinsey report
12
18
54
🚨 🚨 All 14 residential colleges and Old Campus have lost power, according to dozens of students housed in them.
At least eight residential college basements are flooded, according to student statements, videos and photos.
2
22
59
New: Superpowers led by the US & EU have funneled nearly $81b — of almost $380b planned — toward the race for chip supremacy, escalating a global showdown with China
Here's a gift link to today's Big Take:
2
31
56
The Biden admin advanced plans to restrict investments by US individuals and companies into China, with a focus on curbing China's ability to gain ground in chips, quantum & AI
26
28
53
The US has finalized its first Chips Act award: $123m to Polar Semiconductor
All the announcements so far — more than $35b in grants — have been preliminary. Polar is the first to reach a final term sheet, and $ will go out when projects hit milestones
0
18
58
SCOOP: Intel is poised to get $3.5b in Chips Act funding for military/intelligence chips, I’m told. WSJ earlier reported the talks for $3b to $4b from the “secure enclave” program
Intel’s total Chips Act package will be more than $10b, we’ve reported
1
31
54
SCOOP: Biden admin is weighing sanctions on six Chinese tech firms including chipmaker CXMT
Comes as a reaction to Huawei’s chip breakthrough last year & as the US pushes allies to further squeeze China on chip tech
With
@BrodyFord_
&
@JenniferJJacobs
2
31
51
Intel is resisting certain due diligence requests, arguing it’s already spent a lot on US projects & provided enough assurances in earlier talks
But the government has always been clear about the process — & there are serious reasons to interrogate Intel’s ability to deliver
3/
1
6
55
Some quick thoughts on Chips Act politics:
I’ve asked a lot of people whether there’s a political coalition for a Chips Act II. Consensus is that if there is, it’s a lot less robust than the first go around. August 2022 was a unique moment
1/
Excellent article by
@mackhawk
re: progress on Chips Act implementation 2 years in.
As she reports, investments have been made, construction is underway, but there have been delays, internal govt battles & regulatory & labor hurdles.
Key question is what comes after November…
1
1
8
3
22
53
Scoop: US officials have slowed the issuing of licenses to chipmakers such as Nvidia and AMD for large-scale AI accelerator shipments to the Middle East over concerns about diversion to China, people familiar with the matter told
@ianmking
& me
2
23
51
Some news! Very excited to be part of this inaugural class
Meet the first cohort of collegiate student journalists participating in SPJ's Student Leadership Institute this summer!
8
13
44
2
0
52
After more than five months with
@politico
and nearly nine on the beat, today was my last with the best team in California politics.
Playbook will still be the first thing I check every morning — just now at a slightly (read: much) later hour, and in my inbox instead of the CMS
1
0
51
Feels worth noting here that Yale never said students “may not” eat at outdoor restaurants.
Email says: “If your arrival test is negative, you may move around campus, but avoid local businesses, restaurants, and bars, including outdoor drinking or dining.”
Language matters!
Yale tells students—all of whom are required to be boosted—that they may not eat at outdoor restaurants.
444
748
4K
5
0
51
This would be a very big deal for semiconductor projects
Efforts to create a one-off NEPA exemption for Chips Act-funded factories have stalled on the hill, & officials have long worried that environmental review could cause significant delays:
1. The bill would exclude the provision of federal funds — grants, loans, and other funding — from NEPA review.
This is huge. Think CHIPS, IIJA, etc — no longer subject to NEPA!
6
13
200
1
14
52
BREAKING: Yale mandates Covid-19 vaccines for all students who plan to be on campus in fall 2021, per an email from President Peter Salovey.
Yale also expects those who will study or work on campus this summer "to be inoculated as soon as vaccinations are available to them."
1
4
51
Scoop: The US is considering restrictions on China’s access to AI memory chips & equipment, as part of a massive export controls package that could be unveiled as soon as next month
Would affect HBM2/more advanced chips from Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron
4
24
51
NEW: In a key swing state, Biden finds himself caught between business & labor as he executes his economic vision — & no, this isn't a UAW story
Read our deep dive into Arizona union talks with TSMC, the world's biggest chipmaker
Gift link & short 🧵:
4
46
47
Good morning from Lake Michigan! I’ll be covering Chicago & IL for the next few months, & am in town this week to get to know folks who shape policy & public finance in the city & state — if that’s you, let’s meet! mhawkins71
@bloomberg
.net
First-timer Chicago recs appreciated :)
6
7
50
To be clear: Intel, like other Chips Act winners, hasn’t gotten any money yet
What Biden announced in March was a preliminary agreement that kicked off months of due diligence & outlined milestones Intel must meet to receive reimbursements for company spending
2/
2
8
46
I know I think too much about chips bc my favorite pieces at the national gallery textile exhibit were…
Replica of a Chip by Marilou Schultz (commissioned by Intel)
Copper Tapestry (Riva 128 Graphics Card, Nvidia, 1997) by Analia Saban
Untitled (Unknown Chip) by Schultz
4
4
45
BIG TAKE: Trump’s pledging 60%+ China tariffs that’d shrink $575b in trade to nearly nothing. Biden’s eyeing new curbs on data, cloud, EVs
In a rematch, the only sure loser is China
@TomOrlik
@ThatJennieWelch
@MarioDParker
@emavroeidi
@BenHollandDC
🎁🔗:
7
20
42
The most difficult story I’ve ever written was about how Yale’s women’s soccer coach abused a prior position to take advantage of his players. He left Yale as a result.
The AD who hired him just talked to the
@nhregister
about it, more than a year later:
1
1
45
.
@SenSanders
joins House progressives on the steps of the capitol, where
@CoriBush
,
@AOC
& others have been protesting the end of the eviction moratorium. Bush has slept on the steps of the Capitol since Friday.
0
12
44
For my last ever
@yaledailynews
piece & first ever op-ed, I wrote about time — losing it, having agency over it, & spending it well (which, thanks to the kindest friends I’ve ever known, I’m glad to say I have)
I’m so proud of our class. Happy graduation
1
7
43
A wistful piece about Zoom teaching by my former poetry professor, published a few months ago in the Yale Alumni Magazine.
He sent it to me this morning and I thought the last line was lovely: “I teach poetry, and I’ve always urged students to bring the weather in with them.”
0
5
42
Last point here is that two things can be true:
1. Intel’s in dire straits, a bad sign for US goals & a potential political liability
2. That Intel hasn’t gotten $ yet reflects a rigorous process
Everything else is in the piece! Which is free:
6/6
3
6
42
This was the first day of classes. Thousands of students had just moved into college dorms for the first time, or the first time in 18 months.
It took Yale two hours (!!!) to issue an emergency alert
3
4
41
One student, Malcolm Keys, says that a security guard has propped open the gate to Benjamin Franklin college. Outside, he says, a “geyser of water” is coming from a drain on the canal trail.
Here’s a video he sent us:
1
9
41
We talked to 20 students about their experiences with Yale’s mental health services.
They described a system that, in its attempts to offer care to all students, falls woefully short for so many.
Read more via
@juliabialek_
:
1
8
41
The US is preparing to widen its tech battle with China to include the rapidly emerging field of autonomous and internet-connected vehicles
Curbs on Chinese vehicle software are expected as soon as this month, following a probe Biden launched in March
5
23
40
Receiving lots of photos of campus buildings completely dark. Here’s one of Berkeley College’s north court, with the law school in back (from undergraduate Max Krupnick):
1
9
39
The US has kicked off the first Chips Act program dedicated specifically to workforce. Officials plan to award $500,000 to $2m to as many as ten projects (no set funding ceiling)
Goal is to stave off labor shortages that could reach 90,000 workers by 2030
1
13
38
More than 125 people joined
@yaledailynews
staff this semester. Congratulations — we are SO excited to have you :)
0
3
38
It’s official: Rounding out major Chips Act awards for advanced semiconductor manufacturers, Micron is in line to receive $6.1b in grants & up to $7.5b in loans
Firm has pledged to invest $125b across New York & Idaho — more than they initially promised
3
10
38
BREAKING: Yale will require all faculty, staff and postdoctoral and postgraduate trainees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by August, per a community-wide email from President Peter Salovey and Provost Scott Strobel.
0
2
37
Inbox: Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services, a New Haven-based nonprofit, expects to resettle hundreds of refugees fleeing the Taliban this year, per Mayor Justin Elicker’s office
1
3
37
ICYMI this week: the
@yaledailynews
now has an editorial board and public editors! They’re both institutional voices (that don’t necessarily represent the entire institution) designed to help us better reflect and serve our readers. Here’s what they do 🧵
1
4
36
NEW:
@SecRaimondo
tells me that the US will take the “strongest possible” action on China’s chip breakthrough
She declined to confirm a formal Huawei/SMIC probe but said investigations “take time” & need to “stick”
🧵! & read my exclusive interview here:
1
14
36