Fort Worth has won the high-stakes bidding war to land two plants manufacturing artificial intelligence chips valued at $687 million and creating 888 jobs, according to officials involved in the projects.
The Taiwanese company, Wistron, filed construction plans with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation for one of the plants located at 15200 Heritage Parkway in Fort Worth on July 10. The filing indicates the plant will be 323,700 square feet and cost $150 million. According to the filing, construction will begin in early August with a scheduled completion date of April 2026.
Officials involved with the project, who requested not to be identified, confirmed that Fort Worth had been chosen as the site for the two plants.
The city of Fort Worth and the Denton County commissioners had approved tax abatements for the two plants, but Wistron was also considering locations in El Paso; Nashville, Tennessee; and Fremont, California, though local economic development officials said they felt like Fort Worth was the frontrunner.
The city could see about 1 million-square-feet of industrial space across the two sites where Wistron will build supercomputers in partnership with AI chip giant Nvidia.
On June 24, the City Council approved a tax break of up to 80% of the incremental increase in value of real investment and business personal property at one site and 60% of the incremental increase in value of real investment and business personal property at a second, smaller site.
The city would receive $10.6 million in new tax revenue over a 10-year period if both facilities are built, according to the city. The company would see its taxes reduced by $30.7 million over that period.
Both plant sites are in Denton County, one at the Trammell Crow development 35 Eagle near Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport and the other at Hillwood’s Alliance Westport 14 development. There were no construction filings on the second plant, but officials involved in the project say that will happen soon.
According to the presentation made on the economic development agreement, at the 35 Eagle location, electronics manufacturer Wistron would agree to invest $80 million in property improvements by June 30, 2026, and $411 million in equipment by Jan. 1, 2027, and create 634 jobs by the end of 2026.
At Westport, the company plans $32 million in property upgrades by June 30, 2026, and $164 million in equipment by Jan. 1, 2027, with 254 jobs opening by December 2026.
The minimum average annual salary of the jobs would be $63,000.
Chip manufacturer Nvidia put the AI chip plan in play in April when it announced plans to produce up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure in the U.S. That includes designing and building factories that will produce Nvidia AI supercomputers through partnerships with chip manufacturers Foxconn and Wistron over the next four years.
Foxconn is leading the effort to build an AI supercomputing plant in Houston, and Wistron is taking the lead in the Dallas area. Mass production at both plants is expected to ramp up in the next 12 to 15 months, according to both companies.
Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org.
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