Samsung to Receive $6.4 Billion in CHIPS Act Funding

Samsung has now joined Intel and TSMC in receiving billions in US government subsidies to boost its American semiconductor business. The company is the last of the big three chip fabs to get a direct deposit from Uncle Sam, and the number is $6.4 billion in direct funding. The disbursement of funds was rumored to be happening today, so it is now confirmed.

The Biden administration announced Samsung's funding today via a conference call with White House officials and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, according to Reuters. The infusion of cash will assist the company with building two new facilities in Texas; a research center and a packaging plant. The company will also use the money to expand its existing site just east of Austin, in Taylor.

As a former resident of Texas, I'll say that at least these factory jobs have air conditioning. Credit: Samsung

The CHIPS Act funding will reportedly help Samsung begin producing 2nm wafers at its Taylor facility by 2026. This could give it a two-year lead over TSMC's Arizona operation, which isn't expected to begin cranking out 2nm chips until 2028, according to a White House official cited by the Financial Times. Even that timeline might be optimistic, though, as TSMC's Arizona facilities have been plagued with delays due to labor shortages.

By the end of the decade, Samsung had already committed to spending up to $40 billion on its operations in Texas. That same time frame applies to the goals of the CHIPS Act, which is to have the US producing up to 20% of the world's most advanced processors by 203, as opposed to zero currently. The US already leads the world in chip design, so the act is meant to shore up the manufacturing end of that equation.

The White House says Samsung's Texas operation will create up to 21,500 jobs, making it a new tech hub in the South alongside TSMC's and Intel's operations in Arizona and New Mexico.