GlobalFoundries to operate two planned New York fabs backed by up to $21 billion from Japan

GlobalFoundries has been selected to provide technology and operate two planned semiconductor fabrication plants at its Malta, New York, site through a U.S.-Japan initiative offering up to $21 billion in Japanese funding. Japan is to provide the investment capital; GlobalFoundries is to contribute its manufacturing technology, expertise and operating capability.

An initial investment of approximately $10 billion will accelerate construction of the first new 300mm fab, according to the company. GlobalFoundries expects to break ground later in 2026 and bring the plant online in 2029.

The second fab is not yet a committed investment. An additional investment of approximately $10 billion would fund it, GlobalFoundries said. The company has not itemized the difference between the two roughly $10 billion investments and the initiative’s ceiling of up to $21 billion.

When fully operational, the first fab will add approximately 900,000 300mm wafers of annual U.S. manufacturing capacity, GlobalFoundries projects. A second fab would add approximately the same amount, the company said.

GlobalFoundries also projects that the overall project will support about 27,000 construction and ecosystem jobs, along with more than 1,000 high-skilled manufacturing jobs in New York’s Capital Region. Those numbers are forecasts, not observed job counts, and the reviewed materials do not provide a per-fab breakdown or methodology.

The company’s announcement also says GlobalFoundries and the U.S. Commerce Department agreed to amend the company’s existing CHIPS Act award. The amendment would reallocate $955 million to silicon photonics, silicon-germanium and advanced-packaging investments at facilities in Malta and Burlington, Vermont.

Under a separate agreement, the Commerce Department will receive equity equal to approximately 4% of GlobalFoundries, according to the company. The reviewed materials do not disclose the fabs’ legal ownership vehicle, the exact U.S.-Japan ownership split, the capital-disbursement schedule or the full operating agreement.