Samsung gets $6.4 billion in federal funds to manufacture computer chips in Texas
The Biden administration has reached an agreement to provide up to $6.4 billion in direct funding for Samsung Electronics to develop a computer chip manufacturing and research cluster in central Texas.
Samsung first announced plans to build a plant in Taylor, Texas, in 2021. At the time, the company said it was making a $17 billion investment. The project now also includes an expansion of an existing facility in Austin. The funding announced Monday by the Commerce Department raises the total investment to more than $40 billion.
The government support comes from the CHIPS and Science Act, which President Biden signed into law in 2022 with the stated 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% of the world's leading-edge chips in the United States 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.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn (R) authored a related law, the CHIPS for America Act, that created federal programs to encourage semiconductor manufacturing.
"By investing in leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing, we are helping secure this vulnerable supply chain, boosting our national security and global competitiveness, and creating new jobs for Texans," Cornyn said in a statement released Monday morning.
Samsung's cluster in Taylor, just northeast of Austin, 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 is expected to be operational in 2026, with the second being operational in 2027, according to the government.
Lael Brainard, director of the White House National Economic Council, said Samsung will be able to manufacture chips in Austin directly for the Defense Department as a result. Access to advanced technology has become a major national security concern amid competition between the U.S. and China.
In addition to the $6.4 billion, Samsung has indicated it also will claim an investment tax credit from the U.S. 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.
