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 is still on track.

General manager Gauss Chang said the Texas facility remains on schedule. That is despite concerns that a shift in congressional control after the US midterm elections could change the direction of AI policy.

A $1.3 billion bet on the back end of the chip business

KYEC handles backend testing, which means checking finished semiconductors before they ship to customers.

The Fort Worth project carries a budget of more than $1.3 billion. KYEC is targeting high-volume production as early as April 2027.

The company’s 2026 capital expenditures have hit a record $1.45 billion. Of that, $614 million has already been approved for investment in the US.

Nvidia is the anchor tenant, and it paid up front

The driving force behind the plant is Nvidia. The AI chip giant has committed a prepayment of $1.1 billion to lock in testing capacity at KYEC’s US facility.

KYEC has acquired land and begun procuring equipment for the site. The land deal came to $79.35 million for 1.18 million square feet. That parcel includes approximately 489,500 square feet of existing buildings.

The site covers 27 acres and is set to include a 507,000-square-foot facility. Construction is set to begin in late October 2026.

Fort Worth wants the jobs, and offered incentives to get them

The Fort Worth City Council approved tax incentives tied to job creation at the plant. Under that arrangement, KYEC is expected to create at least 630 full-time positions by the end of 2031. Those roles are expected to pay average salaries of over $80,000.

What this means for the AI chip supply chain

Nvidia’s $1.1 billion prepayment shows that the biggest AI chip buyer is willing to pay directly to secure domestic capacity at every stage, not just fabrication.

Backend testing has historically been concentrated in Asia, particularly Taiwan. Moving part of that capacity to Texas puts testing closer to US customers and reduces the number of times a finished chip has to cross an ocean before deployment.

Construction is not scheduled to start until late October 2026, and the April 2027 production target is framed as “as early as,” which leaves room for slippage. Hiring is another variable. Filling at least 630 skilled positions by the end of 2031 depends on a labor market that every chip project in the US is competing for.