The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) has announced that $6.4 billion will be sent to a Texas Samsung facility to bolster the supply chain of semiconductors.
The multi-billion dollar investment is part of a larger $40 billion dollar federal funding agreement as part of the CHIPS and Science Act.
As a White House press release states, the investment aims to “cement central Texas’s role as a state-of-the-art semiconductor ecosystem, creating at least 21,500 jobs and leveraging up to $40 million in CHIPS funding to train and develop the local workforce.”
This investment would be used at both the research and development facilities in Taylor and the expansion of the fabrication factory in Austin.
The City of Austin has previously identified semiconductor production as part of its Opportunity Austin economic expansion plan where the city sees itself as a “top global destination for businesses and investment.”
“We’re not just expanding production facilities; we’re strengthening the local semiconductor ecosystem and positioning the U.S. as a global semiconductor manufacturing destination," said Kye Hyun Kyung, president and CEO of the Device Solutions (DS) Division at Samsung Electronics.
"To meet the expected surge in demand from U.S. customers, for future products like AI chips, our fabs will be equipped for cutting-edge process technologies and help advance the security of the U.S. semiconductor supply chain.”
The announcement of the investment in Taylor was attended by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX-10), and Austin Mayor Kirk Watson.
“Proposed CHIPS investments like the ones we are announcing today will be a catalyst for continued private sector investments to help secure the long-term stability we need to put America at the beginning of our semiconductor supply chain and to safeguard a strong resilient ecosystem here at home,” wrote Raimondo in a press release.
“I’d be with you, Madame Secretary, in a foxhole any day,” said McCaul. He went on to say this type of innovation is something “we haven't seen from the Manhattan Project.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) applauded the investment, saying it “confirms Texas remains the single best location for companies to grow and thrive.”
Cruz, despite voting against the CHIPS and Science Act that was passed last year, has been a proponent of semiconductor and microchip manufacturing plants via his own proposed piece of legislation.
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