TSMC has agreed to build the plant after the US government offered a subsidy of $11.6bn – part of its efforts to encourage domestic computer chip production.
TSMC aims to start producing two-nanometre chips at a new factory in Phoenix, Arizona, by 2028.
The company already has two factories under development and will receive a combination of direct funding and loans to enable the construction of this third facility.
Part of the Chips Act, the US policy that was passed to encourage the re-establishment of chip manufacturing in the country after decades of migration to Asia, this agreement has been hailed as, “a new chapter for America’s semiconductor industry”.
TSMC has become one of the key players in the chip industry and is used by the likes of Apple and Nvidia – it has a vital role, for example, in producing chips that support artificial intelligence.
According to US commerce secretary, Gina Raimondo, “For the first time ever, we will be making at scale the most advanced semiconductor chips on the planet here in the United States of America. These are the chips that underpin all artificial intelligence.”
The US, like many western economies, has become increasingly dependent on chips supplied by TSMC, and has been keen to diversify the supply of the most advanced chips in the event of a confrontation between China and Taiwan.
However, TSMC is not alone in receiving vast US subsidies and loans. US manufacturer Intel has also received a promise of support worth almost $20bn in grants and loans to support its efforts to reinvent itself as a US chipmaking champion.
Its plans include building sites in Arizona, Ohio, New Mexico and Oregon.
