GlobalFoundries has struck a $2 billion, five-year agreement with TSMC to manufacture silicon interposers, a critical component used in advanced AI chip packaging, at its Malta, New York facility. The deal is expected to make the Malta site the first U.S.-based source of silicon interposers supporting advanced chip-packaging technologies, with volume production set to begin ramping in the first half of 2028.
The agreement calls for GlobalFoundries to add fabrication capacity at its Malta facility, according to GlobalFoundries, which describes the deal as establishing the first U.S.-based source of silicon interposers. A separate release from GlobeNewswire calls it a “multi-year $2 billion agreement” and notes it includes embedded deep trench capacitor components as part of the supported packaging technologies. The arrangement has an initial term of five years and provides a framework for future capacity expansion, per GlobalFoundries' own announcement.
What a Silicon Interposer Actually Does
For readers unfamiliar with the chip-packaging jargon, a silicon interposer is the layer that sits beneath processors and memory chips inside advanced AI packages, enabling them to communicate at high speeds, as Investing.com explains. It is effectively the connective tissue that lets an AI accelerator and its surrounding memory talk to each other fast enough to keep up with modern workloads. TSMC relies on this kind of component for its CoWoS advanced packaging ecosystem, the platform GlobalFoundries' new supply is meant to serve.
The timing reflects a broader squeeze in the chip industry. Advanced packaging has become a major constraint on AI chip production, the same Investing.com report notes, because demand for the technology now exceeds available manufacturing capacity. GlobalFoundries frames its own agreement as a response to that same pressure, saying it is meant to support growing demand for high-performance computing and AI systems.
Arizona's Amkor Offers a Telling Comparison
GlobalFoundries is not the only chipmaker racing to build out U.S. packaging capacity. Amkor Technology announced in August 2025 that it would build a semiconductor advanced packaging and test facility on a 104-acre site in Peoria, Arizona, an investment the company then pegged at $2 billion and 2,000 new jobs, according to Amkor's own announcement. Construction was slated to begin within days of that release, with production expected to start in early 2028, and Amkor said it would work with TSMC and other semiconductor companies to supply advanced manufacturing for the computing, communications and automotive industries.
That Arizona project has since grown considerably. KJZZ reported last month that Amkor will triple the size of the facility, pushing its planned investment from $2 billion to $12 billion and expanding the footprint to more than a million square feet. Apple is expected to be the first customer, with Amkor packaging chips made by TSMC, and the station noted that the broader push comes as the U.S. government aims to onshore advanced manufacturing that is mostly done overseas.
Why Interposers Matter for the Next Wave of AI Chips
Industry analysis underscores why interposers in particular have become a focal point for manufacturers. According to McKinsey, interposers and hybrid bonding are the two key technological capabilities manufacturers need to master for 2.5-D and 3-D packaging, respectively. Building domestic capacity for that capability is central to both the GlobalFoundries-TSMC agreement and Amkor's expanding Arizona footprint.
For now, GlobalFoundries' Malta plant is positioned to fill a specific gap: becoming the first U.S.-based source of silicon interposers used in advanced chip-packaging technologies, a milestone the company expects to reach as volume production ramps up in the first half of 2028. As originally reported by Reuters, carried by Investing.com, the announcement sent GlobalFoundries shares up about 4% in premarket trading, a sign investors see the deal as a meaningful step in the company's push into advanced AI packaging.
