Japan Plans Up-to-$21B New York Chip Fabs

Japan plans up to $21 billion for two semiconductor plants at GlobalFoundries' Malta, New York site after the company announced on October 14, 2026 that it had been selected as technology provider and operator, with shares jumping in premarket trading. About $10 billion would fund the first 300mm fab, expected to begin production in 2029, and roughly $10 billion a second facility; each is expected to add about 900,000 wafers in annual capacity when fully operational. The project is expected to create about 27,000 construction and ecosystem jobs and more than 1,000 manufacturing jobs, with construction on the first facility expected later in 2026. The facilities are to be jointly owned by U.S. and Japanese interests and operated by GlobalFoundries, which is majority-owned by Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Co. The U.S. Commerce Department is to receive about a 4% stake in GlobalFoundries, bringing the total U.S. stake to about 7%, according to CEO Tim Breen. GlobalFoundries agreed to reallocate $955 million in existing CHIPS Act funding toward silicon photonics, silicon-germanium, and advanced packaging at its Malta and Burlington, Vermont facilities. The project falls under a broader $550 billion Japan-U.S. investment agreement under the Trump administration, with free cash flows split equally at first and then 90% to the U.S. after a specified level, in exchange for reducing tariffs on Japanese cars and imports from 25% to 15%. Apple COO Sabih Khan noted that GlobalFoundries currently produces chips for Apple products in the United States as part of Apple's $600 billion U.S. investment commitment; Renesas, Apple, Cirrus Logic, and GM are among customers cited as planning to use the expanded capacity. No contested claims appear in the record.