GlobalFoundries opened a $4 billion expansion fabrication facility in Singapore as it anticipates “growth in demand for essential semiconductor chips.”

Thomas Caulfield, president and CEO of GlobalFoundries, told Tuesday’s opening, “I am confident that this industry will double again over the next decade.”

As a catalyst, he cited “new and important applications, the whole AI and how that will change society,” which will require chips and create demand.

“Automotive seems to be holding its own. There is a lot of interest in cloud computing for artificial intelligence. The industrial sector is holding its own. Caulfield said Monday that anything related to consumers is still weak.

Chips are manufactured by foundries under contract with semiconductor firms. Around 200 customers around the world rely on GlobalFoundries to make semiconductors designed by Qualcomm, MediaTek, and NXP Semiconductors.

These chips are used in smartphones, laptops, automobiles, virtual reality systems, video game consoles, smart speakers, and AI and 5G systems.

According to the Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association, Singapore supplies 11% of the world’s semiconductors. About 1,000 “high-value” jobs will be created in Singapore as a result of the new facility, including 95% equipment technicians, process technicians and engineers. The Singapore site of GlobalFoundries currently employs approximately 4,500 people.

To meet global demand for semiconductor chips, GlobalFoundries announced in June 2021 the construction of a new fab on its existing Singapore campus, in partnership with the city-state’s Economic Development Board.

A Nasdaq-listed semiconductor manufacturer announced in June that its first tool had been moved into its Singapore facility. The company also has manufacturing facilities in the United States and Germany.

“GlobalFoundries has had a long-term partnership with the Singapore government. Bringing high tech manufacturing and high tech innovation to the region is one of Singapore’s industrial policies. That’s why so many great companies have manufacturing here,” Caulfield told Jegarajah.