Micron announces $500 million chip plant it will build in New York

Oct. 4 (UPI) -- U.S.-based tech company Micron said Tuesday it will build a $500 million semiconductor fabrication facility in New York, taking advantage of benefits from recently passed legislation that encourages companies to make computer chips in the United States.

Micron Technology, which is headquartered in Boise, Idaho, said it would build what will be the largest semiconductor fabrication facility in the United States.

The company said its "megafab" will increase the domestic supply of leading-edge memory and nearly 50,000 New York jobs, including approximately 9,000 high-paying Micron jobs.

In August, President Joe Biden signed the CHIPS and Science Act, which provides $52 billion in grants and subsidies for companies to build and expand computer chip factories in the country.

"This historic leading-edge memory megafab in Central New York will deliver benefits beyond the semiconductor industry by strengthening U.S. technology leadership as well as economic and national security, driving American innovation and competitiveness for decades to come," said Micron President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra in a statement.

Micron said the plant will represent the largest private investment in New York state history, which will be erected in Onondaga County, where Syracuse University is located. Officials said the plan will complement the company's previously announced high-volume manufacturing fab in Boise.

The company said it will design, build and operate the facility in accordance with its sustainability goals. The site could eventually include four 600,000-square-foot cleanrooms, for a total of 2.4 million square feet of cleanroom space, the size of about 40 football fields.

"To those who doubted that America could dominate the industries of the future, I say this -- you should never bet against the American people," President Joe Biden said in a statement. "Today is another win for America, and another massive new investment in America spurred by my economic plan."

Biden said Micron will invest $20 billion this decade and up to $100 billion over 20 years in CHIPS manufacturing in upstate New York.

"Together, we are building an economy from the bottom up and the middle out, where we lower costs for our families and make it right here in America," the president said.