Biden administration agrees to provide billions to Samsung to expand chip manufacturing in Texas

The Biden administration on Monday announced a multibillion-dollar agreement with Samsung, which will invest in semiconductor chip manufacturing in Texas.

The $6.4 billion preliminary deal is the latest agreement struck using funds from the CHIPS and Science Act, a bipartisan law Biden signed in 2022. Samsung is expected to invest more than $40 billion in the region over the next several years to build out new Texas facilities in Taylor and Austin.

The Biden administration said the deal is expected to support more than 20,000 jobs through construction and manufacturing positions.

“This announcement, will unleash over $40 billion in investment from Samsung, and cement central Texas’s role as a state-of-the-art semiconductor ecosystem, creating at least 21,500 jobs and leveraging up to $40 million in CHIPS funding to train and develop the local workforce,” Biden said in a statement. “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.”

The investments in Austin will expand an existing facility to support production of chip technology used in the aerospace, defense and automotive industries.

The investments in Taylor will allow for construction of a comprehensive advanced manufacturing system that will allow Samsung to create leading-edge chips and for advanced packaging research and development. The semiconductors manufactured in Taylor would be used for communications and the automotive and defense industries, the Biden administration said.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a key supporter of the CHIPS law, said the investments announced Monday would help secure U.S. supply chains, national security and global competititveness.

“The chipmaking capabilities these resources will enable at Samsung, including advanced packaging and research and development will help the U.S. reclaim its leadership role in the critically important semiconductor industry, and I look forward to seeing more Texas-led advancements in the years to come,” Cornyn said in a statement.

The investments in Texas are the latest example of the Biden administration touting the major economic benefits of the CHIPS law. The White House has announced five other preliminary agreements with companies for CHIPS funding, including with Intel, GlobalFoundries and Bae Systems.

Biden has repeatedly touted the importance of the CHIPS and Science Act, citing the prevalence of microchips that are used in everyday technology such as phones, cars, home appliances and more. Officials have said the law is critical to bolster domestic production of the chips to make the U.S. less reliant on foreign supply chains.

Updated at 3:17 p.m.