Korean tech giant Samsung has announced the city of Taylor, Texas as the official site of its new chip manufacturing plant and is in talks with the local government regarding this matter, reported the Wall Street Journal.
This new facility will be located roughly 30 miles away from Austin, where Samsung already has an existing facility. The Taylor site will span over 5 million square meters, making it larger than Samsung’s Austin plant.
It is further expected to serve as a key location for the company’s global semiconductor manufacturing capacity along with its latest production line in Pyeongtaek, South Korea. Construction of the plant is expected to kick off in 2022 and the mass-production will commence in 2024.
Samsung claims that the $17 billion investment in this new facility will boost the production of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence hardware & will provide around 2,000 high-tech jobs once the facility is in full operation. This will also mark the largest-ever investment made by Samsung in the U.S. bringing Samsung’s total overall investment in the country to more than $47 billion.
Previous reports have indicated that this site can produce chips as advanced as 3nm but so far there’s no confirmation from Samsung to this claim. The expansion comes as the global semiconductor shortage continues to cause major problems for everyone, from console makers to car manufacturers.
As part of its official announcement, Samsung further briefed that the company will also provide financial support to create a Samsung Skills Center for the Taylor Independent School District to help students develop skills for future careers along with providing internships and recruiting opportunities.
