Taiwanese Semiconductor Maker Will Triple Investment In Arizona Project To $40B

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which is developing a $12B chipmaking plant near Phoenix, will triple its investment to $40B with the addition of another facility on the site.

The company will make the announcement of the second facility on Tuesday during a site visit by President Joe Biden. Apple CEO Tim Cook and TSMC founder Morris Chang will also attend the event, which will mark the symbolic first moving of equipment on the project.

The president is expected to tout his administration's efforts to increase U.S. production of semiconductors after pandemic-inspired supply chain problems resulted in shortages of chips for vehicles and other goods, Reuters reports.

Earlier this year, Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act, which provides roughly $280B in new funding to boost domestic research and manufacturing of semiconductors. TSMC's plans for its first facility in Arizona were already well underway at the time.

The $40B total represents the largest direct foreign investment in Arizona history and one of the largest ever in the United States, the company said in a statement. TSMC is the world's largest chipmaker, and supplies computer components to the likes of Apple and other tech giants worldwide.

TSMC also said its Phoenix factories will create as many as 10,000 high-tech jobs, including 4,500 jobs at the company itself.

The first plant will be completed in 2024, and the second about two years later. When complete, TSMC's two Arizona facilities will manufacture over 600,000 wafers per year, with estimated end-product value of more than $40B. Wafers are discs used to make chips.

The chipmaker will also build an industrial water reclamation plant on the site, to address the fact that chipmaking is a water-intensive process.