Apple Earmarks $500 Billion for U.S. Expansion

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Aaron Tilley and Dean Seal

Mon, Feb 24, 2025, 8:50 AM 4 min read

The iPhone maker’s announcement Monday included expanded spending on chips manufactured in the U.S. by Apple’s partners, and a new 250,000-square-foot factory in Houston. That plant, built with partners, is slated to open in 2026 and produce servers supporting Apple Intelligence, the company’s generative-AI system.

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Apple’s announcement comes as it and other tech giants are working to strengthen relations with President Trump, who is talking up tariffs and other policies that could have major effects on the industry.

Apple didn’t provide a detailed breakdown of its investment and spending initiatives, making it difficult to assess how much of the $500 billion is a continuation of trends already under way and how much comes from new plans. Apple said the total includes its work with thousands of U.S. suppliers as well as its own corporate facilities and Apple TV+ productions.

The announcement said Apple plans to hire around 20,000 people over the next four years—suggesting a continuation of its recent pace. The company, which had 164,000 full-time equivalent employees as of September, has added an average of 5,400 annually over the past five years.

Many of the new workers it plans to hire will be focused on research and development, silicon engineering, software development, and AI and machine learning, Apple said.

The company said it also plans to double its U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Fund, which was formed in 2017 to invest in U.S. companies that do advanced manufacturing, to $10 billion. The fund’s outlays include spending on chips that Apple uses for its devices and services.

Its expansion includes a multibillion-dollar commitment from Apple to produce advanced silicon in a TSMC fabrication facility in Arizona, of which Apple is already the largest customer. Mass production of Apple chips began there last month, the company said.

Apple also said it plans to create an academy in Michigan to train the next wave of U.S. manufacturers.

“We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we’re proud to build on our longstanding U.S. investments,” Chief Executive Tim Cook said.

While it is still largely dependent on East Asia, and China in particular, Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple has been using more suppliers that manufacture in the U.S. since the pandemic.

Apple’s commitment comes as Silicon Valley has mounted a concerted campaign to cozy up to the new administration. Earlier on Friday, President Trump told reporters he had met with Cook the day before, and that the company is planning to “invest hundreds of billions of dollars” in the U.S.

Early Monday, Trump took credit for the Apple move on his social-media platform Truth Social, writing “Thank you Tim Cook and Apple!!!”

Apple and other tech companies are also trying to navigate Trump’s tariffs after he placed an additional 10% levy on goods from China earlier this month and administration officials said there would be no exemptions. The move has fueled expectations for higher prices of consumer electronics, including iPhones. Apple won a tariff exemption for the iPhone in the first Trump administration after Cook lobbied the president.

Trump on Friday signed a presidential memo directing his administration to evaluate placing tariffs on trading partners that levy taxes and regulations against American tech companies, taking aim at a major trade irritant for companies like Meta and Google.

Apple also made similar announcements during Trump’s first term, after he had bashed the company on the campaign trail for outsourcing jobs overseas. Early on in the first Trump administration, Apple announced a $1 billion advanced manufacturing fund to invest in the U.S.

Later that year, Trump told The Wall Street Journal that Cook promised that Apple would build “three big plants, beautiful plants” in the country, catching the company off guard with the remarks.

And in 2018, Apple trumpeted a planned $350 billion direct contribution to the U.S. economy and 20,000 new jobs over the ensuing five years.

In 2019, as Trump was nearing the end of his first term, the president toured the company’s partner facility in Austin, Texas, with Cook, showing Trump how Apple was building its Mac Pro computers in the U.S.

“We’re seeing the beginning of a very powerful important plant,” said Trump standing next to Cook.

Write to Aaron Tilley at aaron.tilley@wsj.com and Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com