King Yuan Electronics keeps its Texas AI chip testing plant on schedule
Taiwan’s King Yuan Electronics (KYEC) says its first US chip testing plant in Fort Worth remains on schedule despite political uncertainty following the US midterm elections.
The project is a $1.3 billion bet on the back end of the chip business, which involves checking finished semiconductors before they ship to customers.
KYEC’s 2026 capital expenditures have hit a record $1.45 billion, with $614 million already approved for investment in the US.
The company has acquired land for $79.35 million, including 489,500 square feet of existing buildings, to build a 507,000-square-foot facility on 27 acres.
Construction is scheduled to begin in late October 2026.
Nvidia anchors the project
The AI chip giant Nvidia is the anchor tenant and has committed a prepayment of $1.1 billion to lock in testing capacity at the facility.
General manager Gauss Chang said the Texas facility remains on schedule.
This move shows that the biggest AI chip buyer is willing to pay directly to secure domestic capacity at every stage of the supply chain.
Fort Worth incentives and jobs
The Fort Worth City Council approved tax incentives tied to job creation, with KYEC expected to create at least 630 full-time positions by the end of 2031.
These roles are expected to pay average salaries of over $80,000.
Supply chain shift
Backend testing has historically been concentrated in Asia, particularly Taiwan. Moving part of that capacity to Texas puts testing closer to US customers.
This reduces the number of times a finished chip has to cross an ocean before deployment.
The April 2027 production target is framed as “as early as,” which leaves room for slippage, and hiring depends on a competitive labor market.
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