Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing has joined a growing list of tech companies announcing multi-billion investments in the US. The company has confirmed plans to invest $100 billion in chip manufacturing plants in the US as it looks to take advantage of the artificial intelligence boom. Part of the funds will go towards the construction of a chip manufacturing facility in Arizona.
TSMC $100B Plan
The company also plans to construct three new chip plants, two chip packaging facilities and a research and development centre as part of the $100 billion investment. The $100 billion investment plan should bolster the US push to strengthen its semiconductor industry after coming under immense pressure in recent years owing to vast manufacturing going to Asian countries.
In 2020, TSMC announced plans to invest $12 billion to establish a chip factory in Arizona. Since then, it has quickly broadened its plans for the location, investing $65 billion and adding two more factories. The company’s first factory started producing in large quantities late last year.
With these new investments, the company plans to invest $165 billion in its U.S. factories. The company only constructs its most sophisticated chip-making facilities in Taiwan, its home country. Its chips are essential for running the newest artificial intelligence systems.
The United States has facilitated the expansion of TSMC by allocating tens of billions of dollars in grants for domestic semiconductor manufacturing. The company has already secured $6.6 billion in grants and has recently started to receive federal funding from this initiative. Substantial tax incentives have further enhanced chip production projects within the country.
Washington regards semiconductor manufacturing as a matter of national security, as military strength increasingly hinges on semiconductor technology’s superiority. The supply chain challenges experienced in recent years underscored the industry’s vital importance, as chip shortages resulted in significant slowdowns in automobile sales and other sectors.
Stargate Project
TSMC’s $100 billion investment plan comes weeks after a consortium led by Softbank, Oracle and OpenAI announced plans to invest $500 billion in the Stargate project. The Stargate project seeks to enhance the development of data centres to cater to the growing needs of artificial intelligence in the US.
SoftBank and OpenAI are classified as lead partners for the Stargate project, with SoftBank bearing financial responsibility and OpenAI operating responsibility, which includes training and developing AI models. The first ten data centres are already being built.
Microsoft is constructing an AI supercomputer for OpenAI in Abilene, Texas, which will be outfitted with tens of thousands of A100 GPUs from Nvidia, as was announced almost a year ago. Other sites will be added to the project after site assessments are finished. First, ten 500,000-square-foot data centres will be constructed; ten more will be added throughout the United States.
McDonalds AI Push
Meanwhile, McDonald’s is modernizing its 43,000 locations with technology, beginning with drive-throughs that can operate with artificial intelligence, internet-connected kitchen appliances, and AI manager tools. According to Brian Rice, chief information officer for the Chicago-based burger giant, the objective is to improve the experiences of its patrons and employees, who currently face problems ranging from malfunctioning equipment to incorrect orders.
