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Nvidia will build its AI supercomputers in the U.S. with Arizona and Texas facilities for the first time ever.
The deets: Nvidia has officially started making its new Blackwell AI chips at TSMC’s factories in Phoenix, Arizona. It’s also building two big supercomputer manufacturing plants in Texas, one with Foxconn in Houston, and another with Wistron in Dallas.
In Arizona, Nvidia is teaming up with Amkor and SPIL to handle the packaging and testing of these chips.
The company aims to produce up to half-a-trillion dollars of AI infrastructure in the U.S. within next four years.
Why the move: there’s growing political pressure in the U.S. to reduce reliance on China and other foreign countries for critical tech, especially AI chips.
If the U.S. slaps higher tariffs on semiconductor imports, making chips in the U.S. would help Nvidia avoid those extra costs.
Moreover, under the CHIPS and Science Act, the U.S. government is handing out billions in subsidies to companies that manufacture semiconductors on home turf. Nvidia wants a slice of that pie.
Producing AI chips abroad, especially in Asia, is starting to raise national security concerns. By localizing manufacturing, Nvidia stays in the good books of regulators and avoids any export restrictions or supply chain headaches.
Background: several AI companies are embracing Trump’s “America-first” AI push, hoping to stay in the administration’s good graces.
- OpenAI teamed up with SoftBank and Oracle for a $500 billion U.S. data center initiative dubbed the Stargate Project in January.
- Microsoft pledged $80 billion to build AI data centers in its 2025 fiscal year, with 50% of that earmarked for the U.S.
Worth noting, Trump told TSMC that it would have to pay a tax of up to 100% if the company didn’t build new chip factories in the U.S.
Big picture: The global chip race is heating up, but the road ahead for U.S. manufacturing is far from smooth. China’s retaliatory tariffs and export controls could choke the supply of essential raw materials needed to build advanced semiconductors, putting pressure on domestic production.
At the same time, there’s a massive talent gap, with a shortage of skilled workers to actually assemble and scale chip production on the ground.
