Applied Materials to Build $4 Billion Chip Research Facility in Silicon Valley

WASHINGTON—Applied Materials AMAT -2.29%decrease; red down pointing triangle said it would invest up to $4 billion in a new California facility to conduct research on tools for making semiconductors, adding to a wave of chip-industry projects in the U.S. spurred on by federal government subsidies. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company, a leading maker of machines used to make advanced chips increasingly seen as crucial to modern economies and geopolitical power, will invite chip makers and universities to collaborate and experiment with its equipment at the facility, which is expected to...