In blow for N.Y., Micron wants to build chip fab in Texas – Times Union

ALBANY - Micron Technology, the largest U.S. memory chip manufacturer, appears to be leaning toward picking Texas for a massive $40 billion chip factory that Gov. Kathy Hochul has been trying to attract to the Empire State.

Micron filed an application earlier this week with officials in Texas requesting property tax breaks to build a massive memory chip factory outside of Austin.

The project would be built in phases, with 5,000 employees initially, although Micron has said it intends to spend more than $150 billion eventually to expand its manufacturing blueprint in the wake of the passage of the $52 billion CHIPS Act, a federal subsidy program designed to encourage expansion of the domestic chip manufacturing sector to counteract China's growing prowess in that market.

Hochul has been looking to capitalize on the new federal funding for chip fabs by creating a new tax incentive for chip companies that build in New York that would help the state's economic development office sweeten any potential offers to companies.

GlobalFoundries, which operates its Fab 8 chip factory in Saratoga County, has said it plans to build a second at the same site because of the CHIPS Act and Hochul's new tax breaks.

Although both Samsung and Intel, two of the world's largest chipmakers, decided not to build new factories in New York, it was believed that Micron was looking at a site outside of Syracuse based on comments Hochul made earlier this year.

Micron's corporate aircraft was also spotted at Albany International Airport earlier this month when both Hochul and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer were in town for an event at Albany Nanotech.

Robert Maire, a semiconductor analyst based on Long Island, said that New York state hasn't had any major wins attracting new chip firms like Texas and even Ohio.

"I think we're just not that competitive," Maire said.

Empire State Development, Hochul's economic development arm, is still hoping to land a new chip factory upstate. The agency's spokeswoman Kristin Devoe said that "we have seen growing interest in semiconductor ready sites across the state" since the CHIPS Act passed.

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In blow for N.Y., Micron wants to build chip fab in Texas - Times Union