- Apple will work with manufacturing partners to begin production of servers at a 250,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility in Houston, slated to open in 2026
- Plans include doubling the U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Fund and grow its R&D investments in the U.S.
Apple recently announced its largest-ever spending commitment, planning to spend and invest more than $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years for a wide range of initiatives that focus on artificial intelligence, silicon engineering, and skills development for students and workers across the country.
The investment will include a new advanced manufacturing facility in Houston to produce servers that support Apple AI’s program, double its U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Fund, create an academy in Michigan to train the next generation of U.S. manufacturers, and grow its research and development investments in the U.S. to support cutting-edge fields like silicon engineering.
“We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we’re proud to build on our long-standing U.S. investments with this $500 billion commitment to our country’s future,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO in a statement announcing the investment. “From doubling our Advanced Manufacturing Fund, to building advanced technology in Texas, we’re thrilled to expand our support for American manufacturing.”
Building in Texas
As part of its new U.S. investments, Apple will work with manufacturing partners to begin production of servers in Houston this year. A 250,000-square-foot server manufacturing facility, slated to open in 2026, will create thousands of jobs.
The new facility will bring to the U.S. manufactured outside that were previously outsourced to other countries. The servers to be assembled in Houston are seen as playing a key role in powering Apple’s AI offerings as well as the foundation of Private Cloud Compute, which combines AI processing with the most advanced security architecture ever deployed at scale for AI cloud computing, according to company officials. The servers bring together years of R&D by engineers, and deliver the security and performance of Apple silicon to the data center.
Besides Houston, the company plans to continue expanding data center capacity in North Carolina, Iowa, Oregon, Arizona, and Nevada.
Doubling Apple’s U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Fund
Additionally, the iPhone makers is doubling its U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Fund to $10 billion, focused on promoting advanced manufacturing and skills development throughout the country. The fund has supported projects in 13 states—including Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Indiana—that have helped build local businesses, train workers, and create a wide range of innovative manufacturing processes and materials for Apple products.
The fund’s expansion includes a multibillion-dollar commitment to produce advanced silicon in TSMC’s Fab 21 facility in Arizona as mass production of Apple chips began earlier this year. Silicon used by Apple is designed to bring users better features, performance, and power efficiency across their devices. Suppliers to the iPhone maker already manufacture silicon in 24 factories across 12 states, including, Colorado, Oregon, and Utah and have helped create thousands of high-paying jobs across the country at U.S. companies like Broadcom, Texas Instruments, Skyworks, and Qorvo.
During this time period, Apple plans to hire around 20,000 people mostly focused on R&D, silicon engineering, software development, and AI and machine learning, growing teams across the U.S. focused on areas including custom silicon, hardware engineering, software development, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
Manufacturing Academy in Detroit
A new initiative is focused on helping companies transition to advanced manufacturing— the Apple Manufacturing Academy in Detroit. Apple engineers, along with experts from top universities, will consult with small- and medium-sized businesses on implementing AI and smart manufacturing techniques.
The academy will offer free in-person and online courses, with a skills development curriculum that teaches workers vital skills like project management and manufacturing process optimization. The courses will help drive productivity, efficiency, and quality in companies’ supply chains.
“We’ll keep working with people and companies across this country to help write an extraordinary new chapter in the history of American innovation,” said Cook.