TSMC plans to build a second chip plant in Arizona and more than triple its initial investment to US $40 billion, according to the annual revenue of US $10 billion from plants when they are up and running.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's largest chip contract manufacturer, is one of the largest investments in the US history.
By 2024, the first chip fabrication facility, or fab, will be operational while the second facility nearby will make the most advanced chips currently in production, called 3 nanometers, by 2026.
US President Joe Biden and others, including CEOs of major TSMC customers, attended the opening ceremony for the new US $12 billion facility in an arid and barren part of northern Phoenix.
Over 600,000 wafers a year will be produced, representing US $10 billion in annual revenue, according to Mark Liu, chairman of TSMC, who said customers using those chips would have annual sales of over US $40 billion. A wafer is a shiny disc that chips are made of.
Liu said the two plants will create 13,000 high-paying tech jobs, including 4,500 under TSMC and the rest will be filled by suppliers.
Apple, Nvidia Corp, and Advanced Micro Devices Inc, all major TSMC customers, said they expected their chips to be made in the new Arizona plants.
We work with TSMC to make chips that help power our products all over the world. Tim Cook, Apple CEO Tim Cook, said that the company looks forward to expanding this work in the years to come as TSMC forms new and deeper roots in America.
AMD expects to be a big customer, both fabs, and we're committed to working closely with TSMC and the entire ecosystem, said Lisa Su, AMD CEO.
Around the first factory, a dozen major cranes are still set up, dubbed Fab 21.
The factory was draped with an American flag and a banner reading A Future Made in America Phoenix, AZ, and top executives led by TSMC founder Morris Chang, 91, toasted the factory opening with sparkling wine.
Nearly 600 engineers hired in Arizona have been sent to Taiwan for training, Chang said. This is a good sign that my dream of 25 years ago will now be fulfilled, he said of his desire to build fabs in the United States.