Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world's largest contract chipmaker, chose north Phoenix in May 2020 for its first advanced U.S. manufacturing site. What was announced as a single $12 billion fab has grown into the largest foreign direct investment commitment in U.S. history: as of July 2026, TSMC has announced plans totaling $265 billion for a campus of ten fabs, two advanced packaging facilities, and a research and development center, on a site of more than 1,100 acres south of Loop 303 and west of Interstate 17.
The first fab entered high-volume production of 4-nanometer (N4) chips in the fourth quarter of 2024, ahead of a revised schedule, and TSMC reports yields comparable to its fabs in Taiwan. In October 2025, the first Nvidia Blackwell wafer made in the United States was produced there. The second fab's structure was completed in 2025, with 3-nanometer volume production targeted for the second half of 2027. The third fab, intended for 2-nanometer and A16 technologies, broke ground in April 2025, and initial construction on a fourth fab and a first advanced packaging fab began in early 2026.
The project has not been smooth. First-fab production was delayed a year in 2023, which TSMC attributed to a shortage of skilled workers, and the second fab was pushed from 2026 to 2027 or 2028 before being pulled back to 2027. A construction worker died on the site in May 2024, for which Arizona's workplace safety regulator cited TSMC and proposed a $16,131 penalty, and a class-action lawsuit filed by current and former employees in late 2024, and refiled with more than 30 plaintiffs in 2025, alleges discrimination and unsafe conditions. TSMC has said it is committed to a safe and inclusive workplace and does not comment on litigation outside court filings. The subsidiary lost money through 2024 before posting its first profit in the first half of 2025.
TSMC Arizona employs more than 3,500 people, with the first three fabs projected by the company to create about 6,000 direct jobs. The U.S. Department of Commerce finalized a binding CHIPS Act award of up to $6.6 billion in direct funding plus up to $5 billion in loans in November 2024, the first major award completed under the program. Once the announced fabs are complete, Arizona is expected to hold roughly 30 percent of TSMC's capacity at 2 nanometers and below.
