GlobalFoundries to Make TSMC CoWoS Silicon Interposers in New York Under $2 Billion Deal

Five-Year, $2 Billion Agreement

GlobalFoundries and TSMC have signed a five-year manufacturing agreement valued at $2 billion under which GlobalFoundries will produce silicon interposers for TSMC's CoWoS advanced packaging technology. The deal establishes a U.S.-based manufacturing source for these components, which will allow TSMC's clients to brand their products as completely made and packaged in America. Volume production is scheduled to ramp up in the first half of 2028.

"By providing manufacturing service using GF's trusted U.S. manufacturing footprint, we are creating a secure, scalable source of essential advanced-packaging elements that will help customers accelerate innovation and strengthen the semiconductor supply chain," said Ed Kaste, senior vice president of CMOS Business at GlobalFoundries.

Custom Interposers for AI and HPC Chips

Under the agreement, GlobalFoundries will expand manufacturing capacity at its fabrication facility in Malta, New York, to produce silicon interposers used in TSMC's CoWoS-S packaging ecosystem. These interposers are custom pieces of silicon that provide high-density connections between logic chiplets and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) stacks, enabling complex multi-die processors for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) applications.

The companies have not disclosed the production capacity to be installed, but the agreement provides a framework for additional expansion depending on demand. Because interposer configurations depend on the number, dimensions, and placement of logic chiplets and HBM stacks, the parts are generally application-specific. GlobalFoundries will act as a subcontractor rather than a direct TSMC supplier, manufacturing multiple customer-specific designs, and will need to align its design rules, manufacturing processes, and qualification procedures with TSMC's CoWoS packaging flows. How the companies will handle intellectual property ownership and protection remains unclear.

Building a Domestic CoWoS Supply Chain

The agreement fits into TSMC's broader plans to establish advanced packaging operations in Arizona. TSMC intends to introduce CoWoS and 3D-IC packaging capabilities in the state before 2029 and has signed a 10-year agreement with Amkor Technology, which is building an advanced packaging facility in Peoria, Arizona, scheduled to begin production in early 2028.

As GlobalFoundries ramps interposer production in New York, TSMC could establish a largely domestic CoWoS supply chain comprising logic dies made in Arizona, interposers produced in New York, and packaging and testing performed by TSMC and/or Amkor in Arizona. HBM stacks would still come from Asian memory manufacturers for now, though Micron and SK hynix intend to bring HBM assembly facilities to the U.S. within this decade, suggesting a vertically integrated U.S. supply chain for advanced AI processors by 2029 to 2030.

Several details remain undisclosed, including planned manufacturing volumes, capital expenditures, the breakdown of the $2 billion agreement, and how CoWoS assembly operations will be divided between TSMC and Amkor. It is also unclear whether GlobalFoundries' interposers will be used in Arizona at all, though the company's wording about a trusted U.S. manufacturing footprint implies they are primarily aimed at system-in-packages fabricated entirely in the U.S.

Sources: Tom'S Hardware · The Register