Staff Reports
The Biden administration has made a deal to give Samsung Electronics up to $6.4 billion in money to help them build a computer chip making and research center in Texas. This announcement was made on Monday by the Commerce Department and is part of a larger investment in the center. Along with private money, the total investment is expected to be more than $40 billion. This support is from the CHIPS and Science Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022. The goal of this law is to bring back the making of advanced computer chips in the United States.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the project will help Texas become a top-notch semiconductor ecosystem and is a big step forward for the United States in making leading edge chips. She also said the project will make at least 17,000 construction jobs and 4,500 manufacturing jobs.
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 Texas. https://t.co/gT93C03cMP
— ABC News (@ABC) April 15, 2024
Samsung’s cluster in Taylor, Texas, will have two factories making four- and two-nanometer chips. There will also be a factory just for research and development, and a facility for the packaging around chip parts. The first factory will start making chips in 2026, and the second in 2027. The money will also make an existing Samsung facility in Austin, Texas, bigger.
Lael Brainard, who works for the White House National Economic Council, said Samsung will be able to make chips in Austin for the Defense Department. This will help with national security, which is a big worry between the United States and China.
In addition to the $6.4 billion, Samsung has said it will also get an investment tax credit from the U.S. Treasury Department. The government has also said it will help other chipmakers like Intel and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. with their projects in different parts of the country.
