The U.S. Commerce Department announced Monday $6.4 billion in grants to the South Korea-based Samsung electronics company to help fund a new chip-manufacturing hub in Taylor, Texas, and to expand an existing facility in nearby Austin.

In a White House statement, U.S. President Joe Biden said the grants – part of the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, passed by Congress – will help Samsung increase its investment in Texas to more than $40 million and create more than 20,000 jobs.

In his statement, Biden said “these facilities will support the production of some of the most powerful chips in the world, which are essential to advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and will bolster U.S. national security.”

The Commerce Department reports the new Samsung facility in Taylor will include a new research and development facility, as well as factory for advanced packaging, the final step before semiconductors can be used in electronic systems.

In a statement, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, “The chips that Samsung will be making in Texas are important components to our most advanced technologies, from artificial intelligence to high-performance computing and 5G communications.

She said CHIPS act investments like this one are designed to spur continued private sector investments and help create a U.S.-based supply chain for semiconductors.

Last week, the commerce department announced similar grants to the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company for a plant it is building in Phoenix, Arizona, and to the U.S. chipmaker Intel in Santa Clara, California.

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

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