The U.S. government said Monday it will provide up to $6.4 billion in direct funding to Samsung Electronics Co. to help it expand production of semiconductors in Texas.
The funding will be used for the creation by Samsung of a comprehensive, diverse leading-edge manufacturing cluster, which includes factories designed to mass produce 4- and 2-nanometer chips, as well as an advanced packaging facility, according to U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement that the financial assistance for Samsung will unleash over $40 billion in investment from the South Korean company and create at least 21,500 jobs.
"These facilities will support the production of some of the most powerful chips in the world, which are essential to advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and will bolster U.S. national security," Biden said.
The funding will come from the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, which Biden signed into law in August 2022. Even though chips are integral to everything from cars and cellphones to satellites and military weapons, the United States currently produces less than 10 percent of them in the world and none of the most advanced ones.
The law appropriates $52.7 billion in subsidies to boost chip production and research in the United States, in an attempt to reduce the country's dependence on East Asian producers.
Last week, the Biden administration said it will provide up to $6.6 billion in direct funding to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to assist in the construction of three leading-edge chip factories in Arizona.
The administration also said in March that it will provide up to $8.5 billion in subsidies to Intel Corp. to help it build and upgrade semiconductor production facilities in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio and Oregon.
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