Global semiconductor company Texas Instruments will receive $1.6 billion in federal funding to expand its manufacturing capacity.

The U.S. Department of Commerce said the funds would support several projects in Texas and Utah to strengthen the domestic supply chain, protect national security and improve U.S. competitiveness in manufacturing a critical technology that is dominated by Asia.

What You Need To Know

  • The U.S. Commerce Depatment announced a $1.6 billion investment in Texas Instruments on Friday

  • Provided through the CHIPS and Science Act, the money will be used to expand semiconductor chip manufacturing in Texas and Utah

  • Texas Instruments makes chips used for everything from microcontrollers in medical devices and appliances to sensors common in cars and consumer electronics

  • The Dallas-based company plans to invest more than $18 billion of its own money through 2029 to build two new state-of-the-art facilities in Texas and one in Utah

“During the pandemic, shortages of current-generation and mature-node chips fueled inflation and made our country less safe,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement. 

The investment is part of a Biden-Harris administration plan to dedicate billions of dollars in federal funds from their CHIPS and Science Act to bring semiconductor production back to the United States from Asia. Passed with bipartisan support in Congress, President Biden signed the $52.7 billion CHIPS Act in August 2022.

Earlier this year, the Biden-Harris administration set a goal for the CHIPS program to produce 20% of the world’s leading-edge semiconductors domestically by 2030. Used in everything from cars and dishwashers to satellites and weapons systems, semiconductors were invented in the United States, but less than 10% of the world’s chips are currently produced here.

The Texas Instruments investment will allow the company to make so-called “foundational chips” used for everything from microcontrollers in medical devices and appliances to sensors common in cars and consumer electronics.

Dallas-based Texas Instruments said it already plans to invest more than $18 billion through 2029 to build two new state-of-the-art facilities in Texas and one in Utah. It also plans to receive up to $8 billion in tax credits from the Department of the Treasury for domestic manufacturing investment, as provided in the CHIPS Act.

“Texas Instruments invented the microchip in Texas, and we are honored to be home to TI’s semiconductor manufacturing facilities in Dallas, Richardson and Sherman,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement about the federal investment. “With this latest project, TI is building on its more than 90-year legacy in Texas and adding thousands of good-paying jobs for Texans to manufacture critically important technology.”

The Commerce Department funding is expected to create more than 2,000 manufacturing jobs and thousands of construction jobs.

U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, praised the federal funding.

“I was an original sponsor of the CHIPS and Science Act, which made today’s announcement possible, because in order to compete on the world stage, we must continue to promote innovation, foster scientific talent and expand research here at home,” he said in a statement.