AP Technology Writer Sarah Parvini
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Nvidia announced Monday it will produce its first artificial intelligence supercomputer in the United States.
The tech giant said it had asked over a million square feet of manufacturing space to build and test Blackwell chips specialized for AI supercomputers in Arizona and Texas.
“The world’s AI infrastructure engine is being built in the US for the first time,” Nvidia founder Jensen Huang said in a statement. “The addition of American manufacturing will meet the incredible demand for AI chips and supercomputers, strengthen our supply chain and increase our resilience.”
Nvidia’s announcement comes as the Trump administration said tariff exemptions on electronic devices such as smartphones and laptops are temporary reprieves before developing a new tariff approach unique to the semiconductor industry.
White House officials, including President Donald Trump himself, on Sunday downplayed the importance of exemptions that would reduce the impact of U.S. tariffs on imports of common consumer devices and their key elements, but not eliminate them.
“They are exempt from mutual tariffs, but they are included in semiconductor tariffs that are coming in a month or two,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick told ABC “this week” on Sunday.
In a post on its website, Nvidia said it has begun production of Blackwell at Chip Plant, Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer in Phoenix. Based in Santa Clara, California, Chip Company is building a supercomputer manufacturing plant in Texas. There are Foxconn in Houston and Wistron in Dallas.
Nvidia’s AI supercomputers will act as an “new type of data center created for the sole purpose of processing artificial intelligence,” adding that manufacturing in the US will “create hundreds of thousands of jobs and promote economic security over the coming decades.”
According to Nvidia, mass production on both plants is expected to increase in the next 12-15 months. The company also plans to partner with Taiwan-based companies Spil and Amkor for “packaging and testing operations” in Arizona.
In a statement Monday, the White House was called Nvidia’s move “Trump Effect Action.”
“As part of the relentless pursuit of the US manufacturing renaissance, we have made chip manufacturing our own priority. It’s paying off. There are trillions of new investments secured in the tech sector alone,” the White House said.
Earlier this year, Trump announced up to $500 billion in investments in AI-related infrastructure through a new partnership formed by Openai, Oracle and Softbank. According to the White House, the new entity, Stargate, was tasked with building the data centers and power generation needed to further develop rapidly evolving AI in Texas.
The initial investment is expected to be $100 billion, which could reach five times the total.
Original issue: April 14, 2025, 1:15pm
