Arizona is in talks with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) about advanced chip packaging, state Governor Katie Hobbs said yesterday, which is crucial for the manufacturing of artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
TSMC, which is building a US$40 billion chip factory in the US state, has not announced plans to build facilities for advanced chip packaging in the US. Advanced packaging processes stitch multiple chips together into a single device, lowering the added cost of more powerful computing.
“Part of our efforts at building the semiconductor ecosystem is focusing on advanced packaging, so we have several things in the works around that right now,” Hobbs said on the sidelines of the US Business Day investment forum at the Taipei International Convention Center.
Photo: Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Reuters
US National Institute of Standards and Technology Director Laurie Locascio, who also serves as US undersecretary of commerce for standards and technology, said at the same forum that the US is talking to TSMC about research and development for the first time, in an effort to bring more of the world’s biggest contract chipmaker’s technology onshore.
TSMC counts US-based Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp among its major clients.
Driven by a surge in demand for AI chips, TSMC has been unable to fulfill customer demand for advanced packaging services and has been rapidly expanding capacity, including a nearly NT$90 billion (US$2.81 billion) investment in a new facility in Taiwan.
The Hsinchu-based company expects supplies to be tight for another 18 months, TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) said at the Semicon Taiwan trade show in Taipei earlier this month.
At the same event, Cadence Design Systems Inc CEO Anirudh Devgan said that packaging would be the key battleground for nations seeking to establish tech leadership.
In July, TSMC said its Arizona plant would be delayed until 2025 because of a shortage of specialist workers, and that it was sending technicians from Taiwan to train local staff.
Production had been due to start next year.
Hobbs said she that did not expect further delays.
“The project is going well in Arizona. I’m very impressed by the speed with which it’s been built, and we are working through bugs and expect it to continue on schedule,” she said.
Hobbs said she met TSMC executives on Monday.
“We talked about our continued partnership, their investments in Arizona, how we can continue to address any issues that come up,” she said. “We’re continuing to make sure that we have the skilled workforce that’s needed, both on the advanced manufacturing side, but also the construction side so that we can continue these investments.”
TSMC said in a statement that it was “honored” to host Hobbs at its headquarters where executives held “productive discussions” with her. “We believe the dialogues that we held during this visit will help us to work together even more closely in the future,” the company said.
Later yesterday, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) met Hobbs at the Presidential Office and said that TSMC’s Arizona plant was a symbol of cooperation.
“These joint efforts also will help us create more secure and resilient supply chains,” Tsai said.
Hobbs said that Arizona was proud to be chosen to host TSMC’s chipmaking plant in the US.
The relationship between Taiwan and Arizona is one of the most significant partnerships in the world, she said.
Since 2017, the value of trade between Taiwan and Arizona has totalled more than US$3.27 billion, and the state looks forward to exploring more opportunities to collaborate with the nation, Hobbs said.
Additional reporting by Chen Yun and Bloomberg
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