Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a $4.16 million grant to chip designer Arm Inc. for expanding its Austin campus with a new semiconductor lab.
The expansion will create 320 jobs and bring $71 million in capital investment to the state.
The grant comes from the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund, established in 2023 to boost the state’s chip industry. Texas aims to maintain its position as a national leader in semiconductor manufacturing amid growing competition from other states.
“Texas is where the world innovates,” said Abbott. “This $71 million expansion of Arm’s engineering and innovation hub in Austin will create hundreds of skilled jobs and enhance Texas’ leadership in semiconductor design and manufacturing.”
U.K.-based Arm specializes in low-power processor architectures for mobile devices, cloud computing, and data centers. The company’s Austin operation designs advanced processors for various applications.
Arm CEO Rene Haas called Austin the company’s largest U.S. site and “a rapidly growing center for advanced chip design.” He said the investment “strengthens Texas’ position as a global semiconductor leader.”
The expansion includes new laboratory facilities with failure analysis capabilities. These labs will support the company’s processor development work.
State Senator Sarah Eckhardt (D-Austin) praised the investment, noting companies choose Texas for its talent pool.
“They come because we attract talent here that you simply can’t find anywhere else in the world,” she said.
Representative Donna Howard (D-Austin) emphasized Austin’s decades-long transformation into a technology hub. She said the grant will spur continued regional investment while benefiting the entire state.
The Texas CHIPS Act created both the grant fund and the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Consortium. The Texas CHIPS Office, within the Governor’s Economic Development & Tourism Office, administers these programs.
The initiative aims to leverage state investments in semiconductors and encourage industry expansion. It also seeks to develop expertise at Texas universities and maintain the state’s manufacturing leadership.