In the latest reports, the U.S. government announced that it has signed a Preliminary Terms Memorandum (PMT) with TSMC Arizona, a U.S.-based TSMC electronics company, to provide up to $6.6 billion in direct funding under the Chip and Science Act. This funding will fuel the construction of TSMC’s three wafer fabs in Phoenix, Arizona, which will use the world’s most advanced semiconductor production technologies, including various advanced processes at 3nm and 2nm.
TSMC’s investment in Arizona is an important part of the Biden administration’s strategy to strengthen the U.S. economy and national security, aiming to ensure a reliable domestic supply of chips to underpin future economic development and drive prosperity in industries such as artificial intelligence, consumer electronics, automotive, the Internet of Things and high-performance computing. TSMC plans to build a third fab in Arizona before the end of the century, and the grant will lead to the formation of a large-scale advanced semiconductor cluster in the state, which is expected to create approximately 6,000 direct manufacturing jobs and tens of thousands of indirect jobs over the next decade.
President Biden stressed that semiconductors are at the heart of modern technological equipment, and the United States was once a global leader in semiconductor production, but in recent years capacity has declined and the production capability of advanced chips has been gradually lost, which poses a serious threat to the country’s economy and security. The implementation of the Chip and Science Act is designed to reverse this situation and revive the U.S. semiconductor manufacturing industry.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said that TSMC’s increased investment in Arizona marks another important step in achieving the U.S. goal of bringing state-of-the-art chip manufacturing back home. These cutting-edge semiconductor technologies will be a key factor in defining the global economy and national security in the 21st century.
In addition, TSMC’s investment is backed by leading U.S. technology companies and will help restore U.S. leadership in the global digital economy. TSMC’s Chairman, De-Yin Liu, and Chief Executive Officer, Chieh-Chia Wei, both said the investment will provide state-of-the-art foundry services to U.S. customers and support the development of U.S. innovations in the areas of mobility, artificial intelligence, and high-performance computing.
Notably, TSMC’s advanced chips have become core components of servers and machine learning technologies in large data centers. Through this funding, the U.S. will enhance its hardware manufacturing capabilities in the field of artificial intelligence, which will in turn improve its competitive advantage in science and technology innovation.
In addition to direct funding, the government plans to further support TSMC’s Arizona investment project through loans and investment tax credits. The project will also aim to cultivate local talents in the semiconductor and construction industries, and through cooperation with universities and educational institutions, it will deliver more professional and skilled talents for the semiconductor industry in the future.
