June 2, Apple partner TSMC executives reported Tuesday that its $ 12 billion chip plant in Arizona, which is expected to produce wafers from the 5-nm process.

TSMC 's CEO Wei Jia-zhe said at the company' s annual seminar, the planned plant is still scheduled to start batch using the 5-nm production process in 2024. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, TSMC has held online seminars for the second consecutive year.

In 2020, the $ 12 billion chip expansion was confirmed by TSMC, which arranged a bond sale in March to fund part of the operations.

TSMC is expected to fight with several companies, including Intel and Samsung Electronics, for the $ 54 billion in chip industry subsidies passed in the U. S. Senate last week. It has previously been reported that TSMC plans to build up to six plants in Arizona within 10 to 15 years, but it is unclear which customers they will serve.

Wei also said TSMC has developed a 5-nm chip manufacturing process that is certified to an automaker for advanced applications such as artificial intelligence, although new products are unlikely to alleviate the shortage of idle chips in auto factories, because chips that are mostly less advanced in manufacturing technology.

Wei said TSMC 's next-generation 3-nano chip manufacturing technology is still scheduled to start mass production at the company' s low-level 18 plant in Taiwan, China, in the second half of next year. The company 's 3 nm plans to first surface in June 2020, and later reported that Apple took TSMC' s a and m chips for iphone, ipad and mac.

Turning to 3 nanochips will increase performance by 10% to 15% and up to 25% energy savings, TSMC said in 2020, compared to the current 50 nm chips.

Wei once again said TSMC plans to invest $ 30 billion this year and $ 100 billion in the next three years.