Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC said Thursday it will send more workers from Taiwan to the US state of Arizona to help build a massive $40 billion factory to ensure its «rapid rise.»
Arizona’s first chip manufacturing facility, or fab, is scheduled to be operational in 2024. A second nearby facility expected to make 3-nanometer chips, the most advanced currently in production, should be up and running by 2026.
TSMC did not disclose how many workers from Taiwan are currently in Arizona. The additional number that will go has yet to be determined and will only be in the state for a limited time, he said in a statement.
“Since we are now in a critical phase running all the most advanced and dedicated equipment in a sophisticated facility, we need skilled expertise,” he said.
The additions will not affect the 12,000 workers currently on site every day or US recruitment, he added.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd, as the company is formally called, is the world’s largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to global technology firms including Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp.
President Joe Biden has sought to boost domestic semiconductor production after the Covid-19 pandemic caused supply chain problems that led to shortages of vehicle chips and many other items.
The TSMC investment is a key part of that ambition, and Biden visited the construction site in December.
While TSMC has said that most of its manufacturing, especially of the most advanced chips, will remain in Taiwan, it is also building a plant in Japan and considering another in Germany.
Taipei-listed shares of TSMC closed 0.2% lower on Thursday, below the broader market, which ended unchanged. The company’s shares are up 28% so far this year.