TSMC is the second company after Polar Semiconductor to finalise its agreement.
“Currently, the United States does not make on our shores any leading-edge chips, and this is the first time ever that we’ll be able to say we will be making these leading-edge chips in the United States,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters on Thursday.
“I want to remind everyone that these are the chips that run AI and quantum computing. These are the chips that are in sophisticated military equipment,” Raimondo added.
Making these chips in the United States, she noted, helps address a national security liability.
The first of TSMC’s three facilities is set to fully open by early-2025, Biden noted.
At full capacity, the three facilities in Arizona are expected to “manufacture tens of millions of leading-edge logic chips that will power products like 5G/6G smartphones, autonomous vehicles, and high-performance computing and AI applications,” the Commerce Department said.
It added that “early production yields at the first TSMC plant in Arizona are on par with similar factories in Taiwan”.
The investment is anticipated to create around 6,000 direct manufacturing jobs.
A senior US official told reporters on condition of anonymity that they expect at least US$1 billion to go to TSMC this year.
Besides the US$6.6 billion in direct funding, the United States is also providing up to US$5 billion in proposed loans to TSMC Arizona.
While the United States used to make nearly 40 per cent of the world’s chips, the proportion is now closer to 10 per cent – and none are the most advanced chips.
TSMC shares closed 1.3 per cent lower in New York on Friday.
Source: CNA
