Michael Robbins Takes Over as President and CEO of the SIA

The Semiconductor Industry Association has named Michael Robbins as its president and chief executive officer, the Washington-based trade group announced on semiconductors.org.

Robbins steps into the top job at the body that represents the U.S. semiconductor industry in Washington, at a moment when the sector sits squarely at the center of federal industrial policy, export controls, and supply chain legislation. The SIA's member companies account for the large majority of U.S. semiconductor production by revenue, and the association has served as the industry's primary lobbying voice on Capitol Hill for decades.

The leadership change comes as the industry continues to digest the effects of the CHIPS and Science Act incentive program, expanded export restrictions on advanced chips and chipmaking tools bound for China, and ongoing debate over tariff policy affecting semiconductor imports. Each of those files lands on the desk of the association's chief executive, who coordinates member positions across companies with frequently divergent commercial interests — memory makers, logic foundries, chip designers, and equipment suppliers among them.

The SIA did not disclose further details of the appointment in its announcement. The organization has not said when Robbins formally assumes the role, nor has it outlined his immediate priorities. Prior reporting by the association typically frames the CEO position as the industry's lead advocate for federal investment in semiconductor manufacturing and research, workforce development, and trade policy.

Robbins inherits a portfolio shaped by the industry's volatile recent cycle. U.S. chipmakers rode record demand through 2021 and 2022, absorbed an inventory correction in 2023, and have since watched government incentives reshape the geography of fab construction, with multi-billion-dollar manufacturing projects announced across Arizona, Texas, Ohio, and New York. The association's public statements throughout that period pushed consistently for predictable funding, streamlined permitting, and open trade in semiconductor inputs.

The person in the SIA's top job also manages the industry's relationship with federal agencies that now exercise far greater influence over semiconductor commerce than they did five years ago — the Commerce Department through CHIPS incentives and export licensing, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative through tariff actions.

How Robbins positions the association on the next round of policy questions — including the pace of CHIPS disbursements, the scope of export controls, and funding for the National Semiconductor Technology Center — will shape how effectively chipmakers can plan multi-year capacity investments under shifting rules. The association's announcement offers no specifics on those fronts, leaving industry watchers to watch his first public appearances for signals of continuity or change in the industry's Washington strategy.