IBM plans to invest US$150 billion domestically in latest tech sector pledge
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IBM said it would invest US$150 billion in the US, including US$30 billion to support production of its mainframe and quantum computers.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Danielle Kaye Photo: Mike Kai Chen / NYTIMES
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IBM on April 28 joined a slew of technology companies to announce plans for new investments in the United States, as the Trump administration pressures firms to expand their US manufacturing.
The software company, headquartered in Armonk, New York, said that it would invest US$150 billion (S$196 billion) in the US over the next five years, including US$30 billion to support production of its mainframe and quantum computers.
The announcement, framed in part as an effort to fuel the US economy, comes after chipmaker Nvidia said earlier in April that it would invest US$500 billion and produce all of its artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputers in the US.
“With this investment and manufacturing commitment, we are ensuring that IBM remains the epicentre of the world’s most advanced computing and AI capabilities,” IBM chief executive Arvind Krishna said in a statement.
But whether pledges from IBM and other tech giants fully come to fruition remains to be seen. Investments touted by major firms, including during President Donald Trump’s first term, have at times fallen short of plans described in their announcements. A US$10 billion project announced in Wisconsin by the electronics manufacturer Foxconn in 2018 – hailed by Mr Trump as the “eighth wonder of the world” – fell far short of expectations.
The announcements have come steadily since Mr Trump’s inauguration. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world’s largest chip manufacturer, said in March it would spend US$100 billion in the US over the next four years to expand its production capacity and bring its most advanced semiconductor processes to its operations in Arizona.
In February, days after Apple’s CEO met Mr Trump, the company said that it planned to spend US$500 billion and hire 20,000 people in the US over the next four years, and open a factory in Texas to make the machines that power the company’s push into AI.
In January, Mr Trump announced a joint venture of OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle to create at least US$100 billion in computing infrastructure to power AI, an initiative that added to tech companies’ significant investments in US data centres, although the push to form the venture predated his term.
The Trump administration has pressured companies to produce more in the US, with a particular aim at China. Even so, it has spared smartphones, computers, semiconductors and other electronics from tariffs which Mr Trump imposed on Chinese goods as part of his trade war. NYTIMES
