GlobalFoundries has signed a $2 billion, five-year agreement to manufacture silicon interposers — the component that links AI processors and memory chips inside advanced packages — for TSMC at its Malta, New York, fab.

The company announced the deal on Thursday. Under its terms, GlobalFoundries will expand manufacturing capacity at the Malta facility to produce the components on TSMC's behalf. Volume production is expected to begin ramping in the first half of 2028.

GlobalFoundries said the Malta site is expected to become the first US-based source of silicon interposers used in advanced chip-packaging technologies — a first for a component almost entirely supplied from Asia today.

Investors welcomed the news. GlobalFoundries shares rose about 4% in premarket trading following the announcement.

What does the interposer actually do?

A silicon interposer sits beneath processors and memory chips inside advanced AI packages. It enables them to communicate at high speeds. As AI accelerators stack more memory bandwidth next to compute silicon, the interposer has become a structural element of the package rather than a passive accessory.

That functional weight is exactly why the deal matters commercially. TSMC, the dominant manufacturer of AI processor silicon, is now contracting a key packaging input from the largest US-based pure-play foundry that does not compete at the leading edge.

Why is advanced packaging the bottleneck?

The announcement lands where the AI supply chain currently hurts most. Advanced packaging has become a major constraint on AI chip production, with demand for the technology exceeding available manufacturing capacity.

Silicon interposers are part of that constrained capacity. By adding a US source at Malta, the agreement adds supply outside the Asian packaging ecosystem that currently dominates the segment.

The $2 billion figure is the deal value GlobalFoundries disclosed. The company did not break out specific capacity additions in wafers or units; it framed the agreement as a framework for future capacity expansion as demand for advanced packaging grows.

What happens next?

Several milestones define the timeline from here:

• GlobalFoundries expands interposer manufacturing capacity at Malta, New York.
• The site qualifies as the first US-based source of silicon interposers for advanced packaging, per the company.
• Volume production begins ramping in the first half of 2028.
• The five-year framework allows further capacity additions as AI packaging demand grows.

For TSMC, the deal secures a second-source geography for a bottleneck component. For GlobalFoundries, it anchors a $2 billion revenue commitment around specialty packaging technology rather than leading-edge logic — consistent with the company's long-stated strategy of competing on differentiated processes rather than nanometer races.

With production not ramping until 2028, the agreement does little to ease today's packaging shortage. Its real significance is structural: the first US-made interposer supply chain for AI chips, backed by a five-year commitment from the world's largest foundry.