TSMC Reportedly Tied to $45B Two-Fab Plan in Sherman, Texas

Texas state development documents reportedly describe a US$45 billion plan by an unnamed semiconductor manufacturer to build two fabs, with Sherman in Grayson County a likely site, the Dallas Business Journal (DBJ) reported on October 30.

The documents, which DBJ obtained and WFAA summarized, point to about 5,000 jobs over six years and production starting by late 2029, according to TrendForce's November 2 account of the reporting. The documents do not name TSMC or any other company. TSMC has not confirmed Sherman or any other Texas site, and Sherman officials told DBJ the city had not been contacted about a TSMC expansion, as relayed by Bisnow.

The link to TSMC rests on circumstance. On its October 15 earnings call, CEO C.C. Wei said the company had sent teams to assess Texas locations after U.S. customers asked for more capacity. The Real Deal wrote on October 30 that it is not definitive that TSMC is the company searching. Korea's ETNews, citing DBJ, went further and reported that Sherman has entered site-selection talks with TSMC. That claim is also unconfirmed.

Why it matters for AI chip supply

Two fabs at US$45 billion is a capacity decision, not a pilot. For the AI accelerator supply chain, a second large U.S. site for TSMC, if it is TSMC, would add wafer supply close to U.S. customers beyond its existing Arizona fab. The documents give no node, no wafer volume and no customer, so none of those can be assumed.

Power and water are the practical constraints on any such site. Bisnow reported that a North Texas land broker told DBJ Sherman has the water volume to support this kind of project, and The Real Deal said the city is building an 84-inch pipeline running 27 miles from Lake Texoma. Neither report gives a power figure for the proposed fabs.

Sherman and the Samsung angle

Sherman already hosts Texas Instruments' planned four-fab, up to US$40 billion complex and a GlobalWafers 300mm silicon wafer plant, which TrendForce says could give a newcomer a local wafer supply. Bisnow adds that Coherent is also investing there and that more than US$40 billion is lined up in the city.

The site would sit about 300 km, roughly a three-hour drive, from Samsung's Taylor and Austin campuses, ETNews noted. Samsung has begun installing equipment at Taylor, according to News1, and Reuters reports production is expected in 2027. Yonhap says Samsung plans to start building Taylor Fab 2 by the end of 2026, targeting mass production in 2030. As Voltgrid reported, ZDNet Korea says Samsung has ordered tools to take Taylor Fab 1 to 20,000 2nm wafers a month; Samsung has not confirmed that either. ETNews expects competition for engineers, construction labor, power, water and state incentives, not only for AI chip customers.

What is not confirmed yet

Three things stay open. First, which company the state documents describe. Second, whether Sherman is chosen. Third, whether the project is what Bloomberg described earlier in October, according to Bisnow: as many as six Dallas-Fort Worth fabs at about US$20 billion each. That is a different, larger figure than the US$45 billion in the state documents, and no outlet has tied the two together.

Watch for a TSMC statement, a state incentive filing that names the applicant, and any Sherman city or county action. Until one of those appears, the US$45 billion and the 2029 start are the figures of an unnamed investor, not of TSMC.