Key points
- Investment to focus on advanced semiconductor manufacturing facilities
- Apple said last week it would invest $500 billion to expand facilities
- Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank announced in January to invest $500 billion
ISLAMABAD: Semiconductor giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) announced a $100 billion investment in the US on Monday to avoid American tariffs.
According to Fox News, TSMC, a Taiwan-based chipmaker that builds advanced semiconductors which are used to power smartphones and artificial intelligence (AI) models, announced the investment following meetings with President Donald Trump.
🚨EXCLUSIVE: Trump, Chip Maker TSMC Expected to Announce $100 Billion Investment in U.S. https://t.co/hvkN5Kfhoj
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) March 3, 2025
TSMC’s plans to invest was announced by President Donald Trump from the White House on Monday alongside the firm’s CEO C.C. Wei, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and White House AI and Crypto Czar David Sacks, according to CNN. The announcement comes amid a larger push by Trump to encourage investments in American manufacturing, according to CNN.
Advanced semiconductor manufacturing
According to Fox News, the investment is expected to focus on advanced semiconductor manufacturing facilities over the next four years. TSMC has previously invested in a chip factory in Arizona with an initial $12 billion investment, and last April it announced an additional investment of $25 billion to add a third factory at its Arizona facility by 2030 to bring its total investment there to $65 billion.
The AI race
According to CNN, TSMC’s chips power countless tech products, from iPhones and AI systems to cars and medical devices. The announcement comes as the United States seeks to gain a larger foothold in the global chipmaking industry and stay ahead of China in the AI race. Trump said that the TSMC investment and “a couple of others that we’re doing” could bring the United States to 40 per cent of the global chipmaking market.
“We’re going to produce many chips to support AI progress and to support smartphones progress,” Wei said during the event Monday. Wei also thanked TSMC customers such as Apple, Nvidia, AMD and Qualcomm. “TSMC’s new fabs will be the foundational pillar of a new technology supply chain centered in the United States,” an Nvidia spokesperson said in a statement following the announcement, adding the company “will fully utilize TSMC’s global manufacturing network to enhance our supply agility and resilience.” TSMC is just the latest tech company promising to funnel hundreds of billions of dollars into the United States, according to CNN.
Apple’s $500b plan
Apple said last week it would invest $500 billion to expand facilities, manufacturing and projects across the United States over the next four years. The announcement appeared to be aimed at helping the company avoid new tariffs on goods imported from China, although some of the investment efforts were likely already underway.
Stargate’s $500b plan
Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank also announced in January that they would team up to create a new company, called Stargate, to grow artificial intelligence infrastructure in the United States. Together, the companies plan to invest $500 billion into the project in the coming years, according to CNN.
