Arizona governor says state in talks with TSMC on advanced packaging
By Sarah Wu
TAIPEI (Reuters) -Arizona is in talks with Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC on advanced packaging, Governor Katie Hobbs said on Tuesday, as the U.S. state seeks to attract more investment and address challenges that TSMC's massive project has encountered there.
TSMC is investing $40 billion to build two chip fabrication facilities, or fabs, in Arizona, supporting Washington's plans to boost U.S. chipmaking capacity.
«Part of our efforts at building the semiconductor ecosystem is focusing on advanced packaging, so we have several things in the works around that right now,» Hobbs said on the sidelines of a U.S.-Taiwan supply chain forum in Taipei.
TSMC, which has not announced plans for advanced packaging facilities in the United States, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Crucial for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, advanced packaging techniques can stitch multiple chips together into a single device, lowering the cost of more powerful computing.
Facing a surge in AI-related demand, TSMC has been unable to fulfil demand for advanced packaging services and has been rapidly expanding capacity, including a nearly T$90 billion ($2.81 billion) investment in a new facility in Taiwan.
In July, TSMC said its first Arizona fab would be delayed until 2025 because of a shortage of specialist workers and it was sending technicians from Taiwan to train local staff. Production had been due to start next year.
Hobbs said she did not expect further delays.
«The project is going well in Arizona. I'm very impressed by the speed with which it's been built and we are working through bugs and expect it to continue on schedule,» she said.
Her delegation's meetings with TSMC executives on Monday focused on their
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