Samsung Electronics is considering Austin, Texas, as one of the sites for a new $17 billion chip plant that the South Korean firm said could create 1,800 jobs, according to documents filed with Texas state officials.
The technology giant based in South Korea is seeking combined tax abatements of $805.5 million over 20 years from Travis County and the city of Austin, among other tax breaks, Reuters reported.
Samsung said in its filings that if Austin is selected, the company would break ground on the site in the second quarter of this year and that the plant will become operational in the third quarter of 2023.
Samsung’s American customers for its contract manufacturing chip business include Tesla, Qualcomm and Nvidia.
Samsung’s filing said it plans to make “advanced logic devices,” meaning it would aim to make the smallest, fastest kinds of computing chips for customers. The company has an existing chip plant in Austin that makes computing chips.
In a statement to Reuters, Samsung confirmed it is considering expanding its chip facilities, but no decision has been made yet.
The documents say the project would involve building out 7 million square feet (650,000 square meters) of new space on a 640-acre (259-hectare) site that the company already owns.
While Intel makes such chips for itself in the United States, most contract manufacturers who make them for outside clients, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) and Samsung, maintain most of their facilities in Taiwan and Korea, respectively.
TSMC, which counts Apple among its major customers, last year disclosed plans for a $12 billion chip plant in Arizona expected to come online in 2024.
