The desire to manufacture the next-generation of chips on US soil is growing it seems. Samsung is the latest company showing an interest in spending billions to building a new manufacturing facility.
As Reuters reports, Samsung filed document with Texas state officials this week outlining a project the company is considering. It would see a new chip manufacturing facility constructed in Austin, bringing with it 1,800 new jobs.
The facility would be seven million square feet (650,000 square meters) in size, but importantly for both Samsung and Austin, would use 640-acres (259-hectares) of land Samsung already owns. As Samsung already has a chip plant in operation there, it makes sense to invest and expand locally. As to what would be produced at the new facility, Samsung references "advanced logic devices" for the company's customers.
Last year, TSMC announced it was set to spend $12 billion building a new chip plant in Arizona. It will focus on using the company's 5-nanometer technology and aims to produce 20,000 semiconductor wafers a month once fully-operational in 2029. 1,600 high-tech professional jobs are also being created in the process.
Samsung won't be dragging its feet if it decides to go ahead with this new manufacturing facility in Austin. The company aims to "break ground" in the second quarter this year and believes it will be operational by the third quarter of 2023.