Semiconductor manufacturer GlobalFoundries will invest USD 16 bn to expand its US chipmaking, the company said in a statement. The New York-headquartered manufacturer — in which Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala holds a majority stake — is allocating USD 13 bn to grow capacity at its New York and Vermont facilities, with an additional USD 3 bn earmarked for US-based R&D in areas like advanced packaging.

Big name partners: The manufacturer will work with major firms like Apple, Qualcomm, GM, and SpaceX, which are looking to move production of the semiconductors they use to the US and shore up supply chain security.

Why now? CEO Tim Breen said the investment responds to a clear uptick in demand for geographically diversified supply chains. “Supply security matters,” he told Bloomberg, adding that requests for US-based production have accelerated over the past six months. The move is also a response to the AI sector’s growth, which is fueling demand for power-efficient, high-bandwidth chips used in data centers and comms equipment, the firm said.

A shift in investment posture: The plan marks a major departure from GlobalFoundries’ historically cautious stance, Bloomberg notes. The firm has averaged just USD 1.4 bn in annual capex over the past five years — a fraction of what peers like Intel and Samsung have spent — and typically tied new investment directly to confirmed demand.

GlobalFoundries isn’t the only UAE player going long on US tech: The investment comes as the UAE commits up to USD 1.4 tn to the US across AI infrastructure, semiconductors, energy, and manufacturing under a 10-year bilateral investment framework announced during US President Donald Trump’s recent meetings with Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed. Damac Properties also committed USD 20 bn to US data centers.

About GlobalFoundries: GlobalFoundries operates fabrication facilities in the US, Germany, and Singapore, focusing on so-called essential chips — components for power management, data routing, and radio frequency (RF), rather than leading-edge silicon. It has carved out niches in RF, embedded memory, and gallium nitride-based power chips, betting that demand for trailing-edge semiconductors will remain robust in the AI era.

REMEMBER- The company is majority-owned by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company, which reduced its stake in GlobalFoundries to 81.63% in 3Q 2024, down from 85%. The divestment followed a May share sale aimed at raising USD 950 mn on the Nasdaq.

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