TSMC's Arizona Fab: Revolutionizing U.S. Chip Manufacturing

TSMC's Arizona fab produces advanced chips, bolstering US semiconductor manufacturing.

### TSMC's Arizona Fab: A Landmark Investment in U.S. Semiconductor Manufacturing
* 🏗 On 1,100 acres in the Arizona desert, TSMC has completed a groundbreaking **3.5-million-square-foot chip fabrication plant**, marking a **significant milestone in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing**.
* 💰 This facility, which cost approximately **$20 billion** to construct, is the **most advanced chip fab** in the U.S. and has begun pilot production, transitioning from a site of **steel beams and dirt** just three years ago.
* 📊 TSMC is responsible for manufacturing about **92% of the world's advanced chips**, and for the first time, it is producing these chips in the U.S., with plans for **two additional fabs by the end of the decade**.
* 🛠 Despite the initial timeline for full production being delayed until 2025, TSMC has **2,000 employees working around the clock**, with yields expected to be **competitive with those from Taiwan**.
* 🌍 The reliance on TSMC's fabs in Taiwan has raised concerns about **supply chain vulnerabilities**, particularly in light of **geopolitical tensions and natural disasters** that could disrupt production.
* ⚡ TSMC plans to **recycle 65% of the 4.7 million gallons of water** needed daily for the fab, while also grappling with significant energy demands that may **strain Arizona's utility capacity** in the near future.
* 🌱 With global ambitions, TSMC is not only expanding in Arizona but also has plans for fabs in Japan and Germany, while exploring opportunities in the UAE, highlighting its **critical role in the global semiconductor landscape**.
* 👷 TSMC aims to hire at least **6,000 workers by the end of the decade**, showcasing its commitment to building a skilled workforce in the U.S. semiconductor industry amid a **growing demand for advanced chips**.

On 1,100 acres in the middle of the Arizona desert, only one set of buildings rises above the horizon as far as the eye can see. We started construction well before the CHIPS Act came along, in April of '21.

This recently completed 3.5-million-square-foot building is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's first Arizona chip fabrication plant—or fab—making history not only for its enormous size, but because it's by far the most advanced chip fab in the U.S.

So, pilot production has started in this building while we are here. Three years ago, it was steel beams and dirt. What kind of investment has it taken to get to this point? About $20 billion. When we first visited, TSMC was far from a household

name. But the chip shortage and AI boom have thrust it into the spotlight. TSMC manufactures some 92% of the world's most advanced chips, in everything from Nvidia GPUs to Apple iPhones. And now, for the first time in history, TSMC

is starting to make those advanced chips here in the U.S. Customers like Apple are starting to make their chips here, with two more fabs planned by the end of the decade. The facility over here is our Fab 2.

You can see the steel has been completed. But bringing advanced chip manufacturing to the U.S. has proven difficult. Volume production, supposed to begin this year, is delayed until 2025. The Commerce Department recently hit TSMC with new

shipping bans after its chips ended up in Huawei devices, despite export controls. And incoming President Donald Trump stirred up fears when he expressed opposition to the CHIPS Act during his campaign. TSMC is getting $6.6 billion from the bill.

The CHIPS Act was bipartisan and it had huge Republican support when it passed. Right now, we buy every single AI chip from one company in Taiwan. That makes America less safe, and so repealing the CHIPS Act would make Americans less safe. I just

don't think they'll do that. CNBC visited northern Phoenix for an exclusive first look at TSMC's first completed fab – and asked its top executives exactly what's in store for U.S. manufacturing under an incoming Trump

administration, and ever-mounting need for advanced chips. Inside the huge new fab just completed in Arizona, there's enough concrete to make ten Empire State Buildings; over 15 million feet of cable and wire that could stretch from New York City to Los

Angeles; and steel that weighs as much as 970 Boeing 777s. Now, pilot production is officially underway. Running actual product through to make sure that the entire line works end to end. And then you use those wafers to sample the

customer so that they can decide if we've met their standards. Now chairman of TSMC Arizona, Rick Cassidy has been with the company 27 years. And how close are we to full production in this building?

Very close, very close. But according to TSMC's initial timeline, full production should already be happening. Getting the right talent, and of course, doing so during a pandemic when there were shortages, you couldn't

build a house, let alone build a chip foundry. It gives you some idea of what is required to build at massive scale in this industry. It's not a game for sissies. It's hard and

it's expensive. When we came to the U.S., we knew we were going to go through a learning process. And I want to tell you, no surprise, we had a lot of learning to do, whether it was permitting,

learning how to work with the trades, learning how to work with the unions, local labor laws—lots of learning. Now we've overcome those. But maybe the biggest challenge that we had was MEP—mechanical, electrical, and plumbing.

The fab is filled with billions of dollars of machinery operating at the very edge of what's scientifically possible—like these bus-sized EUV machines made by a single company, ASML—the only machines in the world able

to perform the extreme ultraviolet lithography necessary for etching minuscule designs on the most advanced chips. So these are quarter-billion dollar tools. In order to hook one up requires something over 2,000 electrical connections, over two

kilometers of cabling, 100,000 parts, 40,000 bolts. We're talking about something massive. So learning how to overcome that challenge was good for TSMC, good for the trades, good for Phoenix, and good for the

U.S. And yes, we're darn near back on the original schedule. So far, TSMC has 2,000 people working around the clock to run the operation. Cassidy showed us the "gowning" building, where

workers suit up in ultra-sterile "bunny suits" before crossing a skybridge into the new fab. Dust particles are the bane of wafer fabrication. If one lands on a wafer, it'll kill a die.

And what kind of yield are you anticipating from fab 1? Yields vary, but we intend to be right on par with our Taiwan compatriots. The yield—what percentage of chips coming out of the

fab are usable—depends on that sterile environment and the precision of the machines. But even with great yields, the biggest volume of chips will still come out of Taiwan for years to come. So the U.S. is far from self-reliant.

It's difficult, if not impossible, for the U.S., or any country, to be fully self-sufficient in everything needed to build semiconductors. I think that's a pipe dream. And although the first fab was originally slated to

make 5-nanometer chips – it's now on track to pump out even more advanced 4-nanometer chips at a rate of at least 20,000 wafers per month. Wafers that cost upwards of $18,000 and continue to rise

in price, taking TSMC's stock value with it. Over the past couple of years, we've seen TSMC be able to kind of name its price, and everyone's going to pay it because right now it's the

dependability and the quality that is needed. Despite being the birthplace of microchips in the 1950s – and remaining a top chip design hub – the U.S. now manufactures only 10% of the world's chips – and

none of the most advanced ones. When supply chain chaos collided with booming demand for consumer electronics during the pandemic, the resulting chip shortage exposed the big risks of relying on outsiders for such critical technology. How important is it for supply to come from

elsewhere than just Taiwan? I think the pandemic is probably a good example that highlighted supply chain diversification requirements, and customers want us in the U.S., they want us in Japan, they want us in Europe.

Talks with TSMC about bringing advanced production to the U.S. actually began in 2018, under President Trump's first term, and with his then-commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross. Well, it began with SelectUSA, which is an annual

an event that the Commerce Department puts on to encourage U.S. investment by foreign companies. TSMC came to that session. TSMC has actually been manufacturing in the U.S. since 1998, at an older generation chip fab in

Washington state, where Cassidy says TSMC is currently investing to upgrade and expand. But Ross says some major customers wanted advanced chips made on U.S. soil. I set up a phone call between the chairman of TSMC

and the head of Apple, where Apple became very strongly supportive of the idea of TSMC coming. By 2020, TSMC announced its Arizona plans, then broke ground there in April 2021. And now you've got, you know, atrium and building,

and you'll be seeing all of the fab in the back. 26-year company veteran Rose Castanares is the newly appointed president of TSMC Arizona. It was one of my customers that had first requested that TSMC build a fab in the United States.

They wanted supply resilience. The world's massive reliance on TSMC's fabs in Taiwan has made the global chip supply vulnerable to risks in the region. We can't be sure that we can make enough chips here in

the U.S. in the event of, say, some sort of aggression between China and Taiwan, some sort of even earthquakes and other events that take down that particular island for a period of time; the entire market, the entire world, could suffer from a lack of availability of

leading-edge nodes. A deadly 7.4 magnitude earthquake in April briefly halted production and led to a $92 million loss for TSMC. We're used to earthquakes. We are well prepared for earthquakes.

We build for earthquakes. We've overbuilt this structure because we use the same designs as in Taiwan. Relying on chips from Asia has also kept the U.S. from full control over its position in the constant race for technological dominance.

Being the global technology leader in AI is the most important thing to preserve over the next two decades for economic prosperity. That's why President Biden has invested in the chip industry, with export controls meant to keep China from pulling ahead with advanced tech.

But in October, TSMC alerted the U.S. that some of its chips were spotted in Huawei devices, despite bans on selling to the Chinese company. This problem is as old as time. There's a lot of

complex rerouting of goods to different countries that have limited access to leading-edge, or the most advanced, technology. But of course, TSMC, a big, successful company, is supposed to be a good partner to the U.S.

It is seen as extra problematic that that happened. And of course, that's going to be monitored very carefully. We stopped shipment right on schedule. We're very law-abiding. Just down the road in Chandler, Arizona, another

Chip giant Intel is also building two huge new fabs. The U.S. company's business model is far different—designing and manufacturing its own chips, while TSMC is what's known as a pure-play foundry, only manufacturing

chips for others. Cassidy says the relationship between the two is solid. We meet with them weekly, and the feedback is that we're helping them increase their ranks. We're helping them train on the most advanced stuff.

So I think they're pretty happy with what we're doing. Both companies have delayed the timelines for full production at their new Arizona fabs. But where TSMC has remained the uncontested leader in advanced chips, Intel has stumbled time and again.

They're in a tough spot, you know? And I don't want to see Intel go under, because we need Intel. Intel is the largest recipient of funds from the $52 billion CHIPS Act, signed by President Biden in 2022, meant to offset the incredible cost of building

a fab to make chips in the U.S. TSMC has said the cost of U.S. construction could be at least four times what it would cost in Taiwan. Once complete, TSMC estimates all three fabs

will cost $65 billion. If you take a look at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, that was roughly about $500 million. That $65 billion that we're committed to spending on this site for three fabs means 130 Glendale Stadiums, and

That's a huge number. In November, after some complaints over delays, the Commerce Department finalized $7.9 billion for Intel, and days before, $6.6 billion for TSMC. So their deal is done.

They're expanding hugely in Arizona. It's incredibly exciting. The race to complete the CHIPS Act deals has sped up in the weeks since the election. Trump criticized the CHIPS Act as "so bad" in October, suggesting tariffs could be the answer

instead. If there are tariffs, that will affect our customers, consumers, and the broader economy. We're at the foundational part of that economy where we are building chips that power data centers, computers, and phones. So, in that respect,

everyone will be affected, as well as TSMC. While federal funds start getting doled out to TSMC, Intel, and other recipients like Samsung, Micron, GlobalFoundries, and Texas Instruments, they'll also be competing

for another scarce resource in the U.S. chip industry: workers. When we finished the construction of this fab, it was really the first advanced manufacturing fab that had been built in the United States for at least ten years. And semiconductors is a very,

very tough technology. You have to build upon what you learned in the previous node. And so, once you stop with one particular node, you don't have the learnings to continue. The experience is just not here in the United States.

So TSMC sent some 600 engineers to train in Taiwan – like Jeff Patz, who left in 2021 for an 18-month stint there. At the time, there was no facility in Arizona, and the

purpose was to go and actually make things right? And learn how they're made. So you have to have a kitchen to cook, like to physically touch the $200 million piece of equipment. Like you can't do that anywhere other than at the

fab in Taiwan. Now, Patz has had the chance to see the EUV machines inside the new fab in Arizona too. I went in once very recently, and I think the 3- to 6-month gap from when I was on the construction team

to where we are now, I think was astounding. It's like, oh, it looks like it did in Taiwan. TSMC plans to hire at least 6,000 workers by the time all three fabs are complete at the end of the decade.

For engineers, we are actively recruiting at universities in Arizona and all across the U.S. ASU even has what they call a TSMC day. TSMC has also brought experts over from Taiwan on 3-year temporary assignments.

Getting to meet 20- to 30-year-old industry veterans who brought us down from micron scale to nanometer scale, and get to have conversations with them about how we were going to do that in the U.S.

We've brought that to Arizona. The biggest culture difference is Hawaiian Shirt Fridays, so we don't have that in Taiwan. In Arizona, we do. Water scarcity, meanwhile, is something Taiwan and Arizona share. A recent drought in Taiwan means TSMC is no stranger to

recycling the massive amount of water it needs to make chips. TSMC says it will take 4.7 million gallons of water daily to run the first Arizona fab, but it will bring that demand down to 1 million

gallons a day by recycling some 65% of that. We are working on an industrial reclamation water center. When we get that in place, we will have near-zero discharge to waste, which means basically the only

water we'll lose is through evaporation. Another concern: the massive amount of power it takes to make chips. TSMC did build solar on-site—but it's not nearly enough to cover the 2.85 gigawatt-hours per day

needed by the first fab—equivalent to the power used by roughly 100,000 U.S. homes. TSMC says it's purchasing renewable energy credits to offset all that. Still, amid the AI-fueled data center boom,

Arizona's largest utility warned it could run out of transmission capacity before the end of the decade. That's also when TSMC plans to start production at its third Arizona fab. Fab 3, which you can't see, but it's down this way.

It's probably going to be 2-nanometer and more advanced. The most advanced in the world? Most advanced in the world. Its global ambitions also reach far beyond Arizona. TSMC opened its first fab in Japan in February, broke

ground on an $11 billion fab in Germany in August, and has been in talks about building in the United Arab Emirates – although nothing is concrete as TSMC navigates export controls on its chips into China, a

UAE trading partner. Within the U.S., TSMC's plans are likely to grow, too. What about other fabs in the future? There's space, right? Well, there's space for more. I don't want to

speculate on what the future might bring, but we've got 1,100 acres here, plus, so there's room for lots of fabs.

TSMC’s New Arizona Fab! Apple Will Finally Make Advanced Chips In The U.S.

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CNBC

TSMC's Arizona Chip Fabrication Plant: A $20 Billion Investment

Construction began in April 2021, before the CHIPS Act.

The 3.5-million-square-foot facility is the most advanced chip fab in the U.S.

Pilot production has started; the total investment is approximately $20 billion.

TSMC manufactures about 92% of the world's most advanced chips.

TSMC is starting to manufacture advanced chips in the U.S., with plans for two more fabs.

Challenges and Delays in U.S. Chip Manufacturing

Volume production, initially scheduled for 2024, is delayed until 2025.

TSMC faced new shipping bans due to chips ending up in Huawei devices.

Concerns arose regarding the incoming President's opposition to the CHIPS Act.

The fab's scale is immense, with materials comparable to multiple Empire State Buildings and Boeing 777s.

Pilot production is underway, ensuring the entire production line functions correctly.

Full production is nearing completion, though delayed from the initial timeline.

Challenges included acquiring talent during a pandemic and navigating local regulations.

Significant challenges were encountered in MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing).

The fab utilizes expensive and complex EUV machines for advanced chip etching.

2000 employees work around the clock, with strict sterile protocols in place.

Yields are anticipated to be comparable to those in Taiwan.

The U.S. is far from self-reliant in semiconductor production.

The fab will produce 4-nanometer chips, exceeding the initial 5-nanometer plan.

Geopolitical and Economic Implications of U.S. Chip Production

The U.S. currently manufactures only 10% of the world's chips, none of the most advanced.

The pandemic highlighted the risks of relying on a single source for critical technology.

Customers want chip production diversified across the U.S., Japan, and Europe.

Discussions to bring advanced production to the U.S. began in 2018 under President Trump.

The reliance on Taiwan makes the global chip supply vulnerable to regional risks.

Relying on Asian chips limits U.S. control in the race for technological dominance.

President Biden's investment aims to maintain U.S. leadership in AI technology.

Challenges and Partnerships in the U.S. Chip Industry

TSMC chips were found in Huawei devices, despite export controls.

Intel is also building new fabs in Arizona, with a different business model than TSMC.

TSMC and Intel have a strong relationship, collaborating and sharing expertise.

Both TSMC and Intel have experienced delays in their Arizona fab projects.

The CHIPS Act aims to offset the high cost of building fabs in the U.S.

TSMC's total investment in Arizona is estimated at $65 billion.

The Commerce Department finalized funding for Intel and TSMC.

Trump's criticism of the CHIPS Act and suggestion of tariffs.

Tariffs would negatively impact customers, consumers, and the broader economy.

Workforce Development and Future Expansion

Competition for workers is a significant challenge in the U.S. chip industry.

The lack of recent advanced manufacturing fab construction in the U.S. impacts expertise.

TSMC sent engineers to Taiwan for training.

Hands-on experience with equipment is crucial for training.

Rapid progress in the Arizona fab is noted.

TSMC plans to hire at least 6,000 workers.

TSMC recruits at universities and brings in experts from Taiwan.

Knowledge transfer from experienced Taiwanese engineers is highlighted.

Cultural differences are noted (Hawaiian Shirt Fridays).

Water conservation measures are implemented, aiming for near-zero discharge.

Renewable energy credits are used to offset power consumption.

Concerns about Arizona's transmission capacity are mentioned.

TSMC's global expansion includes fabs in Japan and Germany, with plans for the UAE.

Future expansion in Arizona is possible due to available land.