TSMC makes $100 billion investment in manufacturing in Arizona

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), a Taiwanese chip manufacturer, just announced another $100 billion investment in Arizona. TSMC, the world’s biggest semiconductor manufacturer, produces chips for companies like Apple, Intel and Nvidia.

The company had already begun constructing three plants in Arizona. Its first factory in Arizona has started mass production of its 4-nanometer chips.

In 2022, Former President Joe Biden signed a sweeping $280 billion law, the CHIPS and Science Act, to try to reinvigorate chip manufacturing in the U.S., especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. The money will expand the company’s footprint in Arizona from three manufacturing plants to six, add 25,000 jobs and create a research and development center to develop future production processes.

Danny Seiden, President and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, joined us to discuss.

“Which is now going to be the largest foreign direct investment in U.S. history I think for years and years to come and it will change the DNA of Arizona’s economy for decades,” Seiden said.

The chip manufacturing industry is popular in Arizona because there is a friendly policy and tax environment targeted at tech companies, according to Seiden. He is confident that tens of thousands of construction jobs and “advanced tech manufacturing jobs” will thrive through TSMC.

One reason TSMC is based in Arizona is the job market for engineers. Arizona State University “has the largest class of engineers in the country,” Seidman said and Dr. Crow, President of ASU has also contributed to the company’s expansion.

The whole facility is expected to be completed in the next five or six years, according to Seiden.