Taiwan chipmaker TSMC plans to build a second chip plant in Arizona and more than triple its initial investment to $40 billion.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing is the world’s biggest chip contract manufacturer.
The first chip fabrication facility, or fab, will be operational by 2024 while the second facility nearby will make the most advanced chips currently in production, called 3 nanometer, by 2026.
U.S. President Joe Biden and others, including the CEOs of major TSMC customers, have attended an opening ceremony for the new $12 billion facility in an arid and barren part of northern Phoenix.
TSMC Arizona’s two fabs will manufacture over 600,000 wafers per year, with estimated end-product value of more than $40 billion.
TSMC Chairman Mark Liu said the two plants will create 13,000 high-paying tech jobs, including 4,500 under TSMC and the rest filled by suppliers.
Apple, Nvidia, and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), all major TSMC customers, said they expected their chips to be made in the new Arizona plants.
“We work with TSMC to manufacture the chips that help power our products all over the world. And we look forward to expanding this work in the years to come as TSMC forms new and deeper roots in America,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook.
“AMD expects to be a big customer, of both fabs and we’re committed to working closely with TSMC and the entire ecosystem,” said AMD CEO Lisa Su.
TSMC also revealed six semiconductor tools which are designed to support production of leading-edge semiconductor process technology. Among these include tools from long-time suppliers Applied Materials, ASM, ASML, Lam Research, KLA and Tokyo Electron.
