NVIDIA Blackwell production starts in the US, packaging in Taiwan

NVIDIA announced that the first wafers for its Blackwell graphics processors were fabricated at a TSMC facility in the United States. The move is an important waypoint for the U.S. semiconductor sector, opening the door for the company to begin volume production of its most advanced chips beyond Taiwan. In practical terms, though, the announcement signals progress rather than independence: it later became clear that a crucial phase of the manufacturing cycle still remains in Asia.

While the wafers are indeed made in the U.S., final packaging and assembly take place in Taiwan, where TSMC operates dedicated sites. There the company uses its CoWoS-S technology, which integrates the GPU die, a large silicon interposer, and HBM3E memory — a process that is exceptionally intricate and demands high-precision equipment.

Specialists note this is not yet a full relocation of production to the United States. TSMC plans, over time, to hand off packaging to the American firm Amkor, which is already building the needed capacity in Arizona, where Blackwell wafers are produced. According to projections, a complete U.S.-based assembly cycle could begin around 2028. The timeline suggests patience will be required before end-to-end production shifts stateside.

This pattern echoes AMD’s earlier experience: Ryzen processors and Fiji graphics chips followed a complex international route — from a U.S. plant to testing in Germany and packaging in Malaysia. Analysts stress that the chip supply chain remains intricate and mutually dependent, and that, despite the U.S. origin of the wafers, Blackwell cannot yet be described as fully made in America.