Phoenix: Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of U.S.-based artificial intelligence chip designer Nvidia Corp., and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) celebrated the first Nvidia Blackwell wafer produced on U.S. soil. Huang visited TSMC’s advanced wafer fab in Arizona, joining the Taiwanese chipmaker’s executives to witness the efforts to “build the infrastructure that powers the world’s AI factories, right here in America,” as stated by the American AI chip giant.
According to Focus Taiwan, Huang and Y.L. Wang, vice president of operations at TSMC, signed their names on the Blackwell wafer at the event, marking a milestone that signifies the domestic construction of the engines of the world’s AI infrastructure in the United States. The debut of the first U.S.-made Blackwell chip has strengthened the U.S. supply chain and onshored the AI technology stack to enhance the country’s global position during the current AI era, Nvidia mentioned.
Nvidia explained that its Blackwell architecture graphics processing unit (GPU) contains 208 billion transistors and is being produced using TSMC’s custom-built 4NP process. This GPU is expected to initiate the next phase in generative AI with unmatched performance, efficiency, and scale.
Huang emphasized the significance of this achievement, stating, “This is a historic moment for several reasons. It’s the very first time in recent American history that the single most important chip is being manufactured here in the United States by the most advanced fab, by TSMC, here in the United States.” He further noted this aligns with the vision of reindustrialization to revive manufacturing in America.
TSMC is investing $65 billion in Arizona to build three advanced wafer fabs with mass production starting in 2024, using the 4nm process. Additionally, TSMC pledged in March to invest an extra $100 billion in Arizona over the coming years to construct more fabs, IC assembly plants, and a research and development center.
Ray Chuang, TSMC Arizona CEO, highlighted the accomplishment by saying, “To go from arriving in Arizona to delivering the first U.S.-made NVIDIA Blackwell chip in just a few short years represents the very best of TSMC.” He acknowledged the three-decade partnership with Nvidia and the dedication of employees and local partners.
Nvidia indicated that TSMC’s manufacturing compound in Arizona will produce chips using advanced 2nm, 3nm, 4nm, and A16 processes, which are critical for emerging technologies, including AI applications and high-performance computing devices. The company stressed that U.S.-based manufacturing is vital to fulfilling the growing demand for AI.
Alongside Nvidia, other American tech companies such as Apple Inc. and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) are reportedly outsourcing chip manufacturing to TSMC in Arizona. In a recent investor conference, TSMC Chairman and CEO C.C. Wei expressed plans to expedite production expansion and technology upgrades in Arizona to develop the site into a megafab cluster for the U.S. market.
