Workers inside the clean room of U.S. semiconductor manufacturer SkyWater Technology, where computer chips are made, in Bloomington, Minnesota, in April 2022., The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
States have a role to play in the federal government’s strategy, especially in the training and development of the workforce needed, according to industry experts. And Texas stands out on the national stage because it already has one of the most robust ecosystems in the semiconductor industry. “In the 19th century, the key ingredient of military power was gunpowder. In the 20th century, it was petroleum, and now it is semiconductors,” Inboden said.
Two of the Texas projects will create new semiconductor fabs, as microchip fabrication facilities are known. Samsung Electronics will build one in Taylor, representing a $17.3 billion investment that will create 2,000 jobs; and Texas Instruments will build the other in Sherman, a $30 billion project that will hire 3,000 workers between now and 2035. Another three are expansions of existing semiconductor factories: Texas Instruments in Richardson, NXP in Austin and X-FAB in Lubbock.
UT-Austin will receive $440 million to build fabs, which will be part of the Texas Institute for Electronics, a public-private partnership launched in 2022 that plans to become a nonprofit, independent organization this year. TIE focuses on the manufacture of the shells that contain microchips, a process known as packaging.