North Texas beat out other sites across the country for the first U.S. location for a Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer for Nvidia, the world's most valuable company, giving Fort Worth an important foothold in the burgeoning market for artificial intelligence.
Wistron plans to establish two AI supercomputing facilities totaling nearly 1.1 million square feet of space at AllianceTexas after landing millions of dollars in tax breaks from the city and county.
Wistron was also considering sites in El Paso, Texas; Fremont, California; and Nashville, Tennessee, in the site selection process but ultimately chose Fort Worth because of its "talent availability, robust logistics infrastructure and a vibrant industrial ecosystem," Wistron said in a statement.
Fort Worth "emerged as the optimal choice,” said Jackie Lai, a senior vice president of global manufacturing for American and European operations at Wistron, in the statement.
The operations at the two facilities are expected to create more than 800 jobs. Wistron, one of the world's largest electronics manufacturers, plans to invest $761 million for the sites at 14601 Mobility Way and 15200 Heritage Parkway, the statement said.
Both facilities at AllianceTexas' 27,000-acre development are expected to be operational by early next year. Wistron is a manufacturing partner for Nvidia's AI supercomputers and is expected to make Nvidia chips at the two sites in Fort Worth.
“Wistron looked at sites all over the country. In the end, the company decided that Fort Worth is the place to be," said Robert Allen, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership, in the statement. "The future of manufacturing is going to be built right here in Fort Worth.”
For the record
Trey Fricke and Reid Bassinger of Lee & Associates represented Wistron in its site selection and land acquisition.