On October 1, news emerged that TSMC is contemplating the establishment of a new campus in Texas, a move that would inject tens of billions of dollars into its multi-year expansion blueprint within the U.S. chip manufacturing landscape. Insiders with knowledge of the situation disclosed that TSMC is exploring the option of building additional overseas facilities to cater to the persistently robust demand for AI hardware. Since the onset of this year, North American operations have constituted over 75% of TSMC's wafer revenue, with AI chip designers like NVIDIA and AMD flooding it with a plethora of advanced technology orders.
Last month, Yung-Ching Hou, TSMC's Deputy Co-Chief Operating Officer, remarked that the AI craze has exerted significant pressure on TSMC's existing production capabilities. Should TSMC ultimately opt to invest in Texas, the project is envisioned to encompass multiple chip manufacturing plants, with each plant entailing a cost of at least $20 billion. Nevertheless, these plans are still in their nascent stages, and the potential investment in Texas also hinges on whether U.S. lawmakers decide to extend the advanced manufacturing tax credit, which is slated to expire at the close of this year.