Exclusive: Large portion of groundwork for Samsung's second Taylor fab 'already done' even before first opens, mayor says

The majority of the foundational work for Samsung Electronics’ second chipmaking factory in Taylor, Texas, has “already been done” ahead of the first one’s opening, according to the city’s mayor.

The first facility is set to be operational by the end of the year.

How quickly the Texas site ramps up — and whether the promised federal funding comes through — will be an early test of how the Donald Trump administration’s reshoring push holds up against a major foreign chipmaker’s own timeline.

“When Samsung built Fab 1, they also put in the piers and foundation for Fab 2 — they preplanned it several years back,” said Taylor Mayor Jim Buzan during an online interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily on Wednesday.

However, Samsung has yet to receive any of the $4.745 billion CHIPS and Science Act funds granted to the company under the Joe Biden administration in 2024, raising the question of whether the U.S. government actually intends to release the money meant to support domestic chip manufacturing.

“As far as I know, Samsung hasn’t actually received any of that money yet, and we don’t have any information here at the city about the federal government’s plans or intentions to follow through,” Buzan said. 

Samsung has committed to two milestones by the end of the year: bringing its long-delayed first Taylor factory into operation, and breaking ground on a second. Separately, Korean media reports have suggested that trial production for the first fab could begin as early as September. 

Funds from the CHIPS Act are typically tied to milestones such as construction completion or the start of commercial production. 

The Trump administration has increasingly emphasized reshoring manufacturing to the United States — a policy priority that has made Samsung’s Taylor investment a marquee example of the CHIPS Act’s ambitions.

Samsung has owned the land for its Taylor chip cluster since 2021 and eventually acquired a total of 1,268 acres. The site is zoned to accommodate up to 10 factories, part of a build-out that state filings once estimated could cost as much as $184.6 billion, though Samsung’s current committed investment stands at $37 billion.

Regardless of the funding limbo, Buzan pointed to visible signs of growth: Roughly 100 Samsung expatriates have relocated to the Taylor plant so far. When including soon-to-be-dispatched employees from partner companies, the total number of newcomers to the site will likely be in the several hundreds.

Once the plant reaches full-scale production next year, its first products will be Tesla’s next-generation AI5 chip. A follow-up chip — the AI6, the final design of which is expected to be unveiled within the year — will also be produced at the site.

Buzan discussed these developments and the city’s efforts to support the build-out in the following excerpts, edited for length and clarity.

Q. Can you paint a picture of what’s visibly changing around the factory? I’ve heard that there are a lot of Korean workers in the area now. Are they a visible presence around town, and how does the first factory look these days?

A. Absolutely. There’s a lot of work going on out there, which means a lot of people. Traffic has increased significantly in the southwest part of the city, where the plant is. Some of those workers live outside Taylor in nearby communities, so a lot of that traffic gets diverted [to] Highway 973 and Highway 79, heading west. But the ones who do live here — you see them out in the community all the time. At lunchtime, every restaurant is full. It’s been a nice influx of people into the community.

Walking through the basic process, what necessary steps does the city need to take before a factory like this can break ground?

In this particular case, when Samsung built Fab 1, they also put in the piers and foundation for Fab 2 —they preplanned it several years back. If that hadn’t been done, a lot more work would be required now. Because of that, I think they’ll be able to move more quickly on Fab 2 than they were on Fab 1, simply because a significant amount of the foundational work underneath has already been done. Credit to Samsung for planning ahead. My hope is that we’ll start seeing movement on Fab 3’s foundation while they’re still building Fab 2, but that’s just my own thinking, not anything I’ve heard directly from Samsung.

Some domestic reports in Korea have said that Samsung’s trial operations for the first factory will begin in September. Have you heard anything about that specific timing?

I haven’t. I know they’ve committed to starting operations by the end of the year and employing a significant number of people, but I haven’t heard anything about a specific month.

On the same earnings call in which Samsung reiterated that Fab 1 would open by the end of the year, it also confirmed that it’d start construction on a second fab this year, targeting 2030 for production. Has the city begun planning for that second wave in infrastructure, zoning or otherwise?

Yes, for sure. [Regarding] zoning, there’s no change needed. Samsung’s property is already zoned correctly for what they want to build. On infrastructure, the biggest piece for us is wastewater. We’ll process 100 percent of Samsung’s wastewater. We don’t supply all of their water — we provide potable water for the buildings — but they’ve made separate arrangements to source process water from another supplier, not the city. Since we handle all their wastewater treatment, we’ve got some expansion work to do at our wastewater plant. That work has just kicked off, so we’ll be ready when the time comes.

For the remaining acreage that Samsung owns, is that land already legally cleared for whatever it builds next, or does the city still need to approve each new phase individually?

The land is already zoned appropriately for what they want to do. It would just be a matter of getting the buildings themselves approved through our normal permitting process. No additional zoning would be required.

Is any of that land earmarked for something specific — not necessarily for a new fab, but maybe set aside for on-site suppliers, for example — or is it still undesignated?

I honestly don’t know what Samsung’s overall site development plan looks like or how many acres they’d consume if they built all 10 fabs. I know they have an office building there — a very nice one — and all the utilities: water treatment, electrical distribution and so on. What I can’t speak to is whether that would be adequate to support all 10 fabs or how much additional wastewater, water capacity or electrical capacity they’d need to get through Fab 10. That would be in their specific site development plan, which I haven’t seen and don’t know the details of.

Have you heard anything about the other eight potential facilities that Samsung is planning beyond Fab 2?

I haven’t. We’re in pretty constant dialogue with Samsung about a number of things, but they haven’t hinted at anything related to Fab 3. I’m hopeful that they’ll be able to share some good news in the near future.

If Samsung doesn’t ultimately receive its full promised subsidy, would the city have any financial exposure?

No, not the city. The city’s agreement with Samsung is completely separate from anything tied to the federal CHIPS Act.

Shifting to water and power capacity, has the city adopted the more flexible zoning category for data centers and other new projects that you proposed during your campaign? How is that progressing?

We’ve kicked off the formal revision of our comprehensive plan and land development code. By law, that process has to happen in a public setting with as much community input as possible, and we’ve done that; we completed our second public meeting [earlier this month]. That work is progressing well. As part of it, we’ll have a [newly established] digital infrastructure zoning category, along with requirements specific to that use — noise, power usage, water usage and efficiency and so on. That’s all still a work in progress.

From the perspective of a foreign company coming to Taylor to build a new factory, data center or similar project, how would these zoning changes make it easier for the firm to get established and move forward?

[They’ll] greatly simplify the process and be very specific on some things and performance-based on others. Here in central Texas — and, really, across the state — the two big concerns are always water and power. The city isn’t involved in power; that’s a separate entity in Texas. But water is local, and that’s one of the biggest factors for us: trying to place digital infrastructure and similar facilities on the outer boundaries of the community, away from populated areas and housing.

The city doesn’t control power capacity, but broadly speaking, do you think Taylor’s water and electricity infrastructure is still ahead of demand with Samsung’s two new fabs, plus data centers and other projects coming online? Or is the city now playing catch-up?

On the power side, I can’t speak to it directly, but Oncor has done significant work in the area to support Samsung, and I believe that’s added redundancy to the electrical grid. That redundancy also benefits other industries that might want to come to the area. On the water side, we recently had a presentation from the Brazos River Authority, which supplies our water. They’ve guaranteed water for at least the next 30 years, and their planning already factors in industrial growth, residential growth and environmental considerations like drought. So we’re very confident and comfortable with where we stand on water.

I wanted to ask about Soulbrain’s Taylor plant. It was reported earlier that construction was stalled at the land acquisition stage, but the company received a new state grant this June. Can you clarify what’s actually under construction there right now?

I wouldn’t characterize Soulbrain as “stalled.” As you mentioned, they were awarded an $11.6 million grant through the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund, and at our council meeting this Thursday, we’ll [discuss] an amended tax abatement agreement for the project. So I wouldn’t call it stalled. We’re hopeful to get them moving toward completion and operation quickly.

Do you have any concerns about how Samsung’s expansion and build-out will affect Taylor?

Honestly, I don’t have a major concern. I think we’ve approached this knowing that we’re going to grow as a community, and we want that growth to be smart, intentional and beneficial for our citizens. That’s the key: We know the growth is coming. Samsung has potentially committed to 10 fabs total, which would be significant. iMarket is here building as a supplier to Samsung, and we’ve got other digital infrastructure projects moving as well. If we embrace that and figure out the best way to make it work, we can improve quality of life for our citizens and provide housing for newcomers in a way that makes them feel like part of the community rather than visitors. We want anyone who comes to Taylor to feel like Taylor is their home.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]