WASHINGTON (AP) – The Biden administration has reached an agreement to provide up to USD6.4 billion in direct funding for Samsung Electronics to develop a computer chip manufacturing and research cluster in Texas.
The funding announced yesterday by the United States (US) Commerce Department is part of a total investment in the cluster that, with private money, is expected to exceed USD40 billion.
The government support comes from the CHIPS and Science Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022 with the goal of reviving the production of advanced computer chips domestically.
“The proposed project will propel Texas into a state of the art semiconductor ecosystem,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on a call with reporters. “It puts us on track to hit our goal of producing 20 per cent of the world’s leading edge chips in the US by the end of the decade.”
Raimondo said she expects the project will create at least 17,000 construction jobs and more than 4,500 manufacturing jobs.
Samsung’s cluster in Taylor, Texas, would include two factories that would make four- and two-nanometer chips.
Also, there would be a factory dedicated to research and development, as well as a facility for the packaging that surrounds chip components.
The first factory would begin production in 2026, with the second starting in 2027, according to the government.
The funding also would expand an existing Samsung facility in Austin, Texas.
Director of the White House National Economic Council Lael Brainard said Samsung will be able to manufacture chips in Austin directly for the Defense Department as a result.
In addition to the USD6.4 billion, Samsung has indicated it also will claim an investment tax credit from the US Treasury Department.
The government has previously announced terms to support other chipmakers including Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co in projects spread across the country.
