Apple to build manufacturing facility in Texas

Apple Inc. has committed to spend and invest more than $500 billion in the United States over the next four years, including a planned 250,000-square-foot computer server production facility in Houston.

Apple says the capex program will support a wide range of initiatives that focus on artificial intelligence, silicon engineering and skills development for students and workers across the country.

“We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we’re proud to build on our long-standing U.S. investments with this $500 billion commitment to our country’s future,” Apple CEO Tim Cook says.

“From doubling our Advanced Manufacturing Fund to building advanced technology in Texas, we’re thrilled to expand our support for American manufacturing, and we’ll keep working with people and companies across this country to help write an extraordinary new chapter in the history of American innovation."

As part of its program, Apple plans to work with manufacturing partners to begin server production in Houston later this year. Then, the 250,000-square-foot server manufacturing facility will be slated to open next year, with Apple saying the effort will create thousands of jobs.

The servers to be assembled in Texas previously were manufactured outside the U.S. The servers “play a key role in powering Apple Intelligence, and are the foundation of Private Cloud Compute,” according to the company.

The capital spending projects may provide opportunities for companies in the recycled materials sector, including steel and concrete, and the recycling services sector.

On its website, the company includes using recycled materials as part of its wider sustainability program.

“Recycled and renewable materials often carry a lower carbon footprint than mined materials,” the company says. “By sourcing more recycled and renewable content, we can help to one day end our reliance on mining.”

Apple indicates that in one recent year, 22 percent of the materials it shipped in its products came from recycled or renewable sources.

In addition to the server production facility in Texas, Apple intends to create an academy in Michigan to train the next generation of U.S. manufacturers and grow its research and development investments in the U.S. to support cutting-edge fields like silicon engineering.

The firm also plans to continue expanding data center capacity in North Carolina, Iowa, Oregon, Arizona and Nevada.