NVIDIA, TSMC Produce First Blackwell Wafer in the US, Boosting Domestic AI Chip Manufacturing

NVIDIA and TSMC have produced the first NVIDIA Blackwell wafer on US soil, marking the start of volume production of the AI chip in America. The milestone highlights efforts to onshore semiconductor manufacturing and strengthen the US supply chain.

NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang visited TSMC’s Phoenix facility to celebrate the achievement and signed the Blackwell wafer alongside Y.L. Wang, TSMC vice president of operations. 

“It’s the very first time in recent American history that the single most important chip is being manufactured here in the United States by the most advanced fab, by TSMC, here in the United States,” Huang said. “This is the vision of President Trump of reindustrialisation — to bring back manufacturing to America, to create jobs, of course, but also, this is the single most vital manufacturing industry and the most important technology industry in the world.”

Ray Chuang, CEO of TSMC Arizona, said the milestone reflects decades of collaboration with NVIDIA. “To go from arriving in Arizona to delivering the first US-made NVIDIA Blackwell chip in just a few short years represents the very best of TSMC,” he said. “This milestone is built on three decades of partnership with NVIDIA — pushing the boundaries of technology together — and on the unwavering dedication of our employees and the local partners who helped to make TSMC Arizona possible.”

The Blackwell wafer is the base material for semiconductors and will undergo layering, patterning, etching, and dicing before becoming NVIDIA’s AI chip. TSMC Arizona will produce two-, three-, and four-nanometer chips, as well as A16 chips, for AI, telecommunications, and high-performance computing applications.

NVIDIA said domestic manufacturing is critical to meeting AI demand and plans to use its AI, robotics, and digital twin technologies to design and operate new U.S. manufacturing facilities.