the largest made — can hold the equivalent of millions of individual semiconductor chips. Texas Instruments has announced the
receipt of billions in federal aid to help complete a previously announced expansion of the Lehi plant. Photo courtesy of Texas Instruments.
MONEY WILL HELP EXPAND CHIPMAKER'S LEHI PLANT
John Rogers
Technology giant Texas Instruments (TI) is getting a dramatic boost to its computer chip manufacturing efforts through funding from the U.S. Commerce Department. The chipmaker said it will receive $1.6 billion in grants under the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act, an effort launched by Pres. Joe Biden to bolster domestic chip production.
And a major beneficiary of the new money will be TI’s 300mm semiconductor factory in Lehi. The chipmaker has been pouring billions into the facility, which began production in 2023. The CHIPS Act funding will also go to construction and expansion of two fabrication plants in Texas, along with the Utah facility. The company has pledged $18 billion in investment through 2029 to the three projects, which are expected to create 2,000 manufacturing jobs.
In 2022, the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity (GOEO) announced state incentives from the Economic Development Tax Increment Financing (EDTIF) tax credit program to Texas Instruments for fiscal 2023 for its Lehi expansion. TI and GOEO said at the time that the project was expected to produce 800 jobs, $111.45 million in new state taxes and wages of about $2.44 billion over the next two decades.
The chipmaker also expects to receive about $6 billion to $8 billion in an investment tax credit from the U.S. Treasury Department and $10 million in funding for workforce development.
“With plans to grow our internal manufacturing to more than 95 percent by 2030, we’re building geopolitically dependable, 300mm capacity at scale to provide the analog and embedded processing chips our customers will need for years to come,” said TI CEO Haviv Ilan. “The historic CHIPS Act is enabling more semiconductor manufacturing capacity in the U.S., making the semiconductor ecosystem stronger and more resilient.”
The United States is trying to boost domestic output and reduce reliance on semiconductor hub Taiwan through the CHIPS Act, which was passed in 2022 and can provide as much $52.7 billion in subsidies for chip manufacturers, including $39 billion in subsidies for semiconductor production and $11 billion for research and development. It awarded nearly $20 billion in grants and loans to Intel and $6.1 billion in grants to memory chipmaker Micron Technology earlier this year.
“Utah is thrilled that Texas Instruments is expanding its manufacturing presence in the Silicon Slopes, furthering the impact Utahns have on critical semiconductor technology,” said Gov. Spencer Cox. “This investment in semiconductor manufacturing not only creates more jobs, but also brings supply chains back to the United States.”
“This proposed CHIPS funding will further support Texas Instruments’ investment in its new semiconductor fab in Lehi —and enhance Utah’s vital role in our national defense and economic success,” said U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney,R-Utah. “I was an original sponsor of the CHIPS and Science Act — which made today’s announcement possible — because in order to compete on the world stage, we must continue to promote innovation, foster scientific talent and expand research here at home. Texas Instruments’ expanded operations will help make the United States more self-reliant for chips essential to our national security and economy.”
Texas Instruments Inc. is a global semiconductor company that designs, manufactures and sells analog and embedded processing chips for markets such as industrial, automotive, personal electronics, communications equipment and enterprise systems. Founded in 1930 to manufacture equipment for the seismic industry, TI introduced the first transistor radio in 1954 and first hand-held calculator in 1967.