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Japan to fund a GlobalFoundries-run chip fab in New York
The News
On October 14, 2026, GlobalFoundries said it was selected as technology provider and operator for two new chip fabs at its Malta, New York, site, under a US-Japan initiative providing up to $21 billion in funding. Japan will provide the investment. About $10 billion goes to the first fab, expected online in 2029.
Chandni Melwani
Founder & Editor
Oct 21, 2026 · 1 MIN READ
Know More
- — First fab: expected to add about 900,000 300mm wafers of annual US capacity when fully operational, GF says.
- — Construction: scheduled to begin by the end of 2026, Japan's foreign ministry says.
- — US stake: in a separate agreement, the Commerce Department will receive equity in GF of about 4%.
- — Interested firms: Tokyo Electron and SCREEN in supplying equipment, Renesas in buying products, among others, per Japan's foreign ministry.
Japan’s foreign ministry announced the first semiconductor project under the Japan-US Strategic Investment Initiative on October 15, 2026, without naming its operator. GlobalFoundries had announced its selection on October 14. GF is a contract chipmaker whose customers include Apple and GM, and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala beneficially owned 72.82% of it as of June 30.
The ministry says the project aims to expand capacity for “mature-node semiconductors”, chips made on established processes, which it calls essential for uses including automobiles, industrial machinery, smartphones and AI data centers. Trade minister Ryosei Akazawa tied it to the two countries securing “a competitive advantage in the age of artificial intelligence,” Jiji reported. GF’s release cites demand across “automotive, industrial and connected infrastructure markets.” GF’s AI work at Malta includes a TSMC interposer deal, announced October 8.
GF’s release names no owner for the new fabs. The US government and Japanese interests will own them jointly, Reuters reported, via The Next Web.
The Read
Japan is funding the project under the two countries' 2025 tariff agreement, in which it pledged $550 billion in investment and loans for US tariff cuts, Jiji reports. The second fab will probably go ahead only if chip demand holds, since GF's CEO told Bloomberg it 'will be market-dependent' and Bloomberg reports Japan can decline projects lacking commercial viability.
Room for Disagreement
The second fab could turn on strategy as much as demand. The Trump administration picks the projects, Bloomberg reported; Japan's foreign ministry calls chips a 'strategically important area for economic security'; and Commerce Secretary Lutnick says the President's trade agreements yield industrial assets that 'strengthen our national and economic security.'
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
How will Japan pay for the first fab?
Japan will provide investment, loans and loan guarantees through government-affiliated financial institutions for the construction of the first plant, Jiji Press reported. Jiji says the project was selected for the third round of Japanese funding in the United States under the two countries' tariff agreement.
Will the second fab be built?
GF says an additional investment of approximately $10 billion 'would fund a second fab,' which would add about as much capacity as the first. Japan's foreign ministry says the project 'could potentially expand to approximately 21 billion USD in the future through the expansion of production facilities.' Executives told investors the partners will decide on the second fab before the end of 2028, Reuters reported, according to The Next Web.
What else did GF agree with the US government?
GF agreed with the Commerce Department to amend its existing CHIPS and Science Act award to reallocate $955 million and accelerate its investments in silicon photonics, silicon-germanium and advanced packaging at its facilities in Malta, New York, and Burlington, Vermont. GF says those investments will expand US capacity for technologies increasingly critical to communications infrastructure and data centers. CEO Tim Breen told Reuters the separate equity transaction would bring total US government ownership of GF to approximately 7%, TechTarget reported.
Sources
- GlobalFoundries news release, 'GlobalFoundries selected to operate two new semiconductor fabs in New York under landmark U.S.-Japan initiative,' October 14, 2026 (Exhibit 99.1 to GF's Form 6-K). Primary source for GF's selection as technology provider and operator, the initiative providing up to $21 billion, Japan providing the investment, the first fab's approximately $10 billion and expected 2029 start, the conditional second fab, capacity, the separate Commerce equity agreement of approximately four percent, the $955 million CHIPS reallocation, the 'automotive, industrial and connected infrastructure markets' line, the Apple and GM quotes, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's quote on the President's trade agreements. The release names no owner for the new fabs.
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, 'Semiconductor Manufacturing Project to be Implemented under the Japan-U.S. Strategic Investment Initiative,' October 15, 2026. The first semiconductor project under the Initiative, construction scheduled to begin by the end of 2026, possible expansion to approximately $21 billion, semiconductors as a 'strategically important area for economic security', the aim of building a resilient semiconductor supply chain by expanding the production capacity of mature-node semiconductors, which it calls essential for a wide range of applications, including automobiles, industrial machinery, smartphones and AI data centers, and the Japanese companies, including small and medium enterprises, that have expressed interest. The release does not name GlobalFoundries.
- Jiji Press via Nippon.com, 'U.S. Chip Project Significant for Japan-U.S. AI Edge: Akazawa,' October 15, 2026. Ryosei Akazawa's 'age of artificial intelligence' remark, the project's selection for the third round of Japanese funding under the tariff agreement, Japan's $550 billion pledge of investment and loans, GlobalFoundries as a semiconductor contract manufacturer, and Japan's investment, loans and loan guarantees through government-affiliated financial institutions for the first plant.
- Mubadala Investment Company PJSC, Schedule 13G/A on GlobalFoundries Inc., signed August 10, 2026. Beneficial ownership of 399,573,756 GF ordinary shares, 72.82% of the class, as of June 30, 2026, based on 548,700,833 shares outstanding as of June 1, 2026.
- The Next Web, 'Japan puts up to $21bn into two GlobalFoundries chip fabs in New York,' October 17, 2026. Secondary: carries Reuters' reports that the US government and Japanese interests will jointly own the fabs and that the partners will decide on the second fab before the end of 2028, and Bloomberg's reports of Tim Breen's 'market-dependent' remark and of the framework under which the Trump administration picks the projects and Japan can decline one that lacks commercial viability.
- TechTarget, 'GlobalFoundries to run $21B U.S.-Japan chip fab project,' October 14, 2026. Secondary: Breen telling Reuters the transaction would bring total US government ownership of GF to approximately 7%.
- Hero photo: aerial photograph of GlobalFoundries' Fab 1 fabrication facility in Dresden, Germany, by Fensterblick, Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 3.0
- Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported licence, which applies to the hero photo
Chandni Melwani
Chandni Melwani is the founder and editor of New in AI, covering AI agents, M&A, and enterprise adoption. She holds a Master's in Management of Artificial Intelligence from Queen's University and brings a practitioner's perspective from her work in Data and AI leadership.
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