The computer chip factories rising from an empty expanse of the Sonoran Desert test the concept of immensity. The complex is under construction across 1,149 acres, an area larger than New York’s Central Park. It represents an investment of $165 billion, making it one of the most expensive undertakings on Earth.

从索诺兰沙漠的一片空地上拔地而起的芯片工厂正在测试“巨大”这一概念的极限。建设中的园区占地约465公顷，比纽约中央公园还要大。它的投资额达到1650亿美元，是地球上最昂贵的工程之一。

Here on the northern edges of Phoenix stands a display of America’s reach for industrial self-sufficiency. The factories are engineered to make advanced computer chips — the brains of modern manufacturing. Those chips will power data centers that deliver artificial intelligence.

矗立在菲尼克斯城北郊的这片工厂体现了美国追求工业自给自足的雄心。这些工厂用于生产先进的计算机芯片，也就是现代制造业的大脑。它们将为提供人工智能服务的数据中心提供动力。

American political leaders celebrate the presence of the plants as insurance against geopolitical turmoil and disasters like pandemics. Whatever happens, the nation will have its own supply of computer chips.

美国政治领导人将这些工厂视为应对地缘政治动荡和大流行病等灾难的保险。无论发生什么状况，美国都不用担心计算机芯片的供应。

But the company at the center of this enterprise — one cast as vital to national security — is not American. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, the global leader in the industry, has marshaled the investment, the people and the know-how to turn these plans into reality.

但在这一举措背后居于核心地位、被视为对国家安全至关重要的企业却并非一家美国公司。全球行业龙头台湾积体电路制造公司（下称台积电）调动了投资、人力与专业知识，使这些计划成为现实。

Scores of other companies, some of them American but many from East Asia, have set up their own local factories to supply TSMC with everything it needs, from chemicals and components to construction and engineering services. Collectively, they have invested an additional $40 billion in the local economy.

数十家公司——有些是美国的，但更多来自东亚——也纷纷在此建厂，从化学品、零组件到建筑与工程服务，为台积电提供所需的一切配套支持。它们总共为当地经济投入了400亿美元。

芯片产业的扩张：菲尼克斯大都市区聚集了280家半导体及供应链企业，从业人员超4万人。注：目前显示的台积电与安靠科技相关数据为预测值。来源：大菲尼克斯经济委员会、马里科帕县政府协会、亚利桑那州立大学。

This is the inescapable truth behind the transformation of Phoenix into a hub for computer chips: It could never have happened without the expertise and money brought in from across the Pacific. The last major domestic chip plant came online in 2013. So the United States lacks the experience to build one without considerable help.

这就是菲尼克斯转变为计算机芯片中心背后无法回避的事实：如果没有来自太平洋彼岸的专业技术和资金，这一切根本不可能发生。美国上一次大型本土芯片厂上线还是在2013年。因此，美国缺乏在没有大量外援的情况下自行建设此类芯片厂的经验。

And even with that assistance, the experience has been tumultuous, fraught with missteps and enormously expensive. The process that has turned a blank spot on the map into what some now call the Silicon Desert underscores a defining feature of American life: A tangle of bureaucracy often hinders ambitious visions, sowing confusion, uncertainty and delay. That tends to reinforce inertia and discourage development.

而且即便有这样的协助，建厂过程仍然状况不断、失误百出，而且代价极为高昂。从地图上的一片空白变成如今有人称为“硅漠”的地方，这一过程凸显出美国社会的一个决定性特征：繁复的官僚体系常常阻碍雄心勃勃的愿景，带来混乱、不确定性与延误。这往往会强化惰性，阻碍发展。

At home in Taiwan, TSMC is used to moving aggressively, gaining whatever resources, personnel and government approvals are required to propel its astonishing expansion. Yet in Phoenix, TSMC and its suppliers have wrestled with the intricacies of a different system.

在台湾本土，台积电惯于积极行动，获取惊人扩张所需的资源、人员和政府许可。然而在菲尼克斯，台积电及其供应商却不得不与另一种体制的种种复杂性作斗争。

They have been tripped up by a confusing process to gain permits. They have struggled to find workers with needed skills. They have contended with higher costs of doing business, succeeding through force of will and vast sums of money.

获取相关批文的过程相当混乱，他们为此屡屡受挫。具备所需技能的工人也不好找。他们承受着更高的运营成本，凭借意志力和巨额资金才得以撑下来。

台积电在本土习惯了高度精简的建厂流程，但在菲尼克斯城遭遇繁琐的监管要求。

Under pressure to build factories in the United States, TSMC has already completed one so-called fab — a plant now producing chips — while continuing construction of two more. It has outlined plans for three more factories at the Phoenix site, plus a pair of advanced packaging facilities. When these plans are completed, the company expects to make nearly one-third of its advanced chips in the United States.

在美国建厂的压力下，台积电已经完成了一座所谓的晶圆厂——目前正在生产芯片——同时还在继续建设另外两座。该公司还规划在菲尼克斯再建三座工厂，以及两座先进封装设施。当这些计划全部完成时，该公司预计其近三分之一的高级芯片将在美国制造。

President Donald Trump has vowed to spur a revival in U.S. manufacturing as a centerpiece of his economic plans. He has leaned heavily on tariffs as the way to force companies to set up factories in the United States and hire American workers. He has effectively bet that the allure of making goods inside the world’s largest consumer marketplace would be enough to overcome other challenges.

特朗普总统誓言要重振美国制造业，并在他提出的经济计划中把这一点放在了核心位置。他大力依赖关税，以此迫使企业在美国设厂、雇用美国工人。他实际上是在押注：在全球最大消费市场内部生产商品的吸引力，足以抵消其他挑战。

But the simplicity of that prescription confronts the reality that the United States lacks workers with needed skills.

然而，这一看似简单的方案却面临着这样一个现实，即美国缺乏具备必要技能的劳工。

And in Taiwan, TSMC and its suppliers build facilities in dedicated industrial zones that generally require one permit from a central authority. In Arizona, they must negotiate municipal, county, state and federal regulations, requiring thousands of approvals.

而且在台湾，台积电及其供应商通常在专门的工业园区内建厂，通常只需从中央主管机构拿到一张许可即可。在亚利桑那州，他们必须与市、县、州和联邦各层级的法规打交道，需要获得数以千计的审批。

“We ended up establishing 18,000 rules, which cost us $35 million,” said C.C. Wei, TSMC’s CEO and chair.

“我们最终制定了1.8万条规则，这花费了我们3500万美元，”台积电董事长暨总裁魏哲家说道。

Such laments stem from an extraordinary American success. Over decades, the United States has used regulation to reduce air and water pollution while enhancing workplace safety. Yet bureaucracies have grown around those rules, often in incoherent fashion.

这些抱怨源自美国一个非凡的成就：几十年来，美国利用法规减少了空气和水污染，同时提高了工作场所的安全性。然而，围绕这些法规成长出来的官僚体系往往杂乱无章。

The presence of TSMC in Phoenix reflects a reassessment of geopolitical risks. No one at its headquarters in Taiwan stared at the globe and concluded that Phoenix was the most suitable place to make chips. Rather, the company responded to its customers.

台积电在菲尼克斯建厂，体现出各方对地缘政治风险的重新评估。在台积电总部的决策者并非盯着地球仪后得出结论，认为菲尼克斯是最适合制造芯片的地方。相反，该公司是在回应客户的需求。

TSMC does not design chips. It makes them for businesses like Apple and Nvidia, the company at the center of explosive growth in artificial intelligence.

台积电并不设计芯片，它为苹果、英伟达等企业代工生产芯片，英伟达正处于人工智能爆炸式增长的核心位置。

In recent years, TSMC’s customers have grown worried about its dependence on factories in Taiwan, a self-governing island claimed by China. What if Beijing unleashes its military to seize control, disrupting the supply of chips? With such fears in mind, TSMC has begun constructing factories around the world, including in Germany and Japan.

近年来，台积电的客户越来越担心过度依赖台湾工厂——中国主张这个自治岛屿是其领土的一部分。如果北京动用武力夺取控制权，导致芯片供应受阻怎么办？出于这种担忧，台积电已经开始在全球建厂，包括德国和日本。

One of TSMC’s largest customers urged the company to set up an advanced manufacturing plant in the United States.

台积电的一位主要客户曾敦促它在美国建立一座先进制造工厂。

The Biden administration was intent on diminishing America’s reliance on faraway factories. It sought to attract computer chip manufacturers by earmarking more than $52 billion in subsidies via the CHIPS and Science Act. The funding included $6.6 billion for TSMC.

拜登政府决心减少美国对遥远工厂的依赖。它试图通过《芯片与科学法案》拨出超过520亿美元的补贴来吸引计算机芯片制造商。这笔资金包括为台积电提供的66亿美元。

The Arizona Commerce Authority, an economic development agency, courted the company, highlighting the state’s legacy as a center of semiconductor production. Motorola began making computer chips in the area in the mid-1950s. Intel opened a fab in Chandler in 1980.

亚利桑那州商务局是一家负责经济发展的机构，它向台积电积极示好，强调该州作为半导体制造中心的历史传承。早在20世纪50年代中期，摩托罗拉就在当地开始生产电脑芯片；英特尔则在1980年于钱德勒市开设了一家晶圆厂。

Arizona State University promoted its industry expertise and aggressive expansion plans. Over the last 15 years, the ranks of its engineering students have grown to 33,000, from 6,000.

亚利桑那州立大学也大力宣传自身的产业专长和积极扩张计划。过去15年间，其工程专业学生人数已从6000人增长到3.3万人。

赛·斯里尼瓦斯·塔特维克·米萨拉正在亚利桑那州立大学制造系统与网络学院学习。该校的工程类专业学生人数是15年前的五倍。

But nothing gets built in Phoenix without reckoning with water. Shortages have prompted state and local authorities to limit development.

但在菲尼克斯，任何建设项目都绕不开水的问题。水资源短缺促使州和地方政府不得不限制开发。

Chip plants require enormous amounts of water. The first three TSMC factories were expected to need a collective 16.4 million gallons per day — about as much as consumed by 200,000 homes. TSMC says its expect to draw little of that from municipal supplies. The company is building a wastewater treatment plant that it says will eventually recycle nearly all of its water.

芯片工厂需要大量的水。台积电的前三座工厂预计每天总共需要1640万加仑的水，这大致相当于20万户家庭的用水量。台积电表示，预计这些用水几乎不会来自市政供水系统。该公司正在建设一座废水处理厂，称未来水几乎可实现全部循环利用。

By the spring of 2024, TSMC had committed to build three factories in Phoenix, while investing $65 billion. Then Trump returned to office, gaining the company’s commitment to more than double its plans.

截至2024年春，台积电已承诺在菲尼克斯建造三座工厂，投资额达650亿美元。随后特朗普重返白宫，促使该公司承诺将其计划规模扩大一倍以上。

Making computer chips is an industrial magic trick. Billions of microscopic transistors are crammed onto slivers of silicon using a process something like the creation of a photographic negative. Machinery casts beams of light so slender that a human hair may be 5,000 times as thick.

制造电脑芯片是一种工业魔术。数十亿个微观晶体管被塞到薄薄的硅片上，其工序有点像制作照相底片。机器发射的光束细到令人难以想象，一根人类的头发可能比它粗5000倍。

But installing that equipment, and getting it to work properly, requires people with specialized training and experience. Two years ago, TSMC acknowledged that it was having trouble finding local people who knew how to do it. The company brought in more than 500 experienced workers from Taiwan.

但安装这些设备并使其正常运行，需要具备专业训练和经验的人员。两年前，台积电承认难以找到掌握相关技术的本地人才。为此，公司从台湾引进了500多名经验丰富的工人。

Local unions accused TSMC of breaching the spirit and rules of its federal subsidies. They urged immigration authorities to block visas for the Taiwanese workers.

当地工会指责台积电违反了联邦补贴的精神和规定，并敦促移民当局拒绝为这些台湾工人发放签证。

The company resolved the conflict by committing to show preference to American workers. But labor disputes have continued.

台积电通过承诺优先考虑美国工人解决了这一冲突。但劳资纠纷仍在持续。

A lawsuit brought by 28 former and current TSMC employees at facilities in Arizona and California accuses the company of relying on Taiwanese senior managers who sideline American workers by conducting business in Chinese while denigrating local hires.

一桩由28名亚利桑那州和加利福尼亚州台积电前任及现任员工提起的诉讼指控公司依赖台湾籍高层管理人员，这些管理人员以中文处理业务、排挤美国员工，同时贬低本地雇员。

The lawsuit depicts dangerous conditions inside the fabs. It asserts that TSMC reflexively brings in workers from Taiwan rather than investing in training local people.

诉状描绘了晶圆厂内部的危险状况，并称台积电习惯性地从台湾调人，而不是投资训练本地员工。

TSMC declined to discuss the lawsuit. In a statement, the company said it “is committed to providing a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for our employees.”

台积电拒绝就该诉讼置评。公司在一份声明中表示，它“致力于为员工提供一个安全、友好且包容的工作环境”。

Arizona authorities required that the company survey its site as well, to ensure that it was free of desert tortoises. The city of Phoenix demanded that TSMC identify and replant protected species of desert flora.

亚利桑那州的相关部门要求台积电对厂址进行勘察，以确保场地内没有沙漠龟栖息。菲尼克斯城方面则要求台积电确认并移植受保护的沙漠植物物种。

When fire protection engineer David Amiri, 34, joined TSMC in June 2022, he assumed the company would value his knowledge of applicable safety codes. He had spent three-plus years as a Phoenix fire inspector.

34岁的消防保护工程师戴维·阿米里于2022年6月入职台积电时，以为公司会重视他对相关安全规范的了解。他曾担任菲尼克斯消防检查员三年多时间。

The company had to expand the sprinkler system, he told his supervisors. This was a substantive issue of safety, he said. But the Taiwanese manager he approached dismissed his concerns, Amiri said.

他告诉主管，公司必须扩建自动喷水灭火系统。他表示，这是一个严重的安全问题。但阿米里说，他找到的台湾籍经理没有理会他的担忧。

“They wanted to copy in the U.S. exactly how they do it in Taiwan,” he said. “They didn’t change a single bit of their design.”

“他们想在美国完全照搬他们在台湾的做法，”他说。“他们的设计一点都没改。”

An inspector for TSMC’s insurance company later noted the defect and demanded that it be remedied, Amiri said, and the cost ran “six figures.” In June 2024, he quit in frustration.

阿米里称，台积电的保险公司的检查员后来注意到了这一缺陷并要求整改，其成本高达“六位数”。2024年6月，他沮丧地辞职了。

Amkor Technology, a chip packaging company, was a missing piece to the whole puzzle. Advanced packaging takes freshly manufactured chips and fits them together for use in devices like consumer electronics.

芯片封装公司安靠科技是整个拼图中缺失的一块。先进封装技术负责将新制造出的芯片组装在一起，以便用于消费电子等设备。

安靠公司在亚利桑那州皮奥里亚的芯片封装工厂已开始动工建设。

In late 2023, Amkor announced plans to build a $2 billion plant in Peoria, a city just west of the TSMC complex. The Peoria City Council approved a development agreement with Amkor in February 2024. The plant was to be built in the middle of 320 acres slated for housing, restaurants and office space.

2023年底，安靠宣布计划在皮奥里亚（位于台积电园区西侧的城市）投资20亿美元建厂。皮奥里亚市议会在2024年2月批准了安靠的开发协议。该工厂计划建在一块约130公顷的土地中央，而该地块原计划用于建设住宅、餐厅和办公空间。

Residents cried foul. How was a factory compatible with the surroundings? City officials offered assurances. The tallest building would be no higher than 54 feet, they said.

居民对此表示强烈反对。工厂怎么能和周围环境相容？市政官员予以安抚。他们表示，最高的建筑不会超过16米。

Yet by January, the planned factory had doubled in height, while expanding across more than four times the initial square footage.

然而到了今年一月，这座规划中的工厂高度增加了一倍，占地面积也扩大到最初的四倍多。

Amkor was under pressure to add capacity to accommodate TSMC’s growing demand for AI chips. Its investment had swelled to $7 billion.

安靠科技正面临增加产能的压力，以满足台积电对人工智能芯片日益增长的需求。其投资额已激增至70亿美元。

Residents of the community jammed Peoria City Council meetings, demanding a halt to the factory and threatening legal action. Publicly, the city held firm.

社区居民挤满了皮奥里亚市议会的会议厅，要求停止工厂建设，并威胁采取法律行动。在公开场合，市政府态度坚决。

凯西·巴特尔海姆担心，安靠科技拟建的工厂会破坏她位于菲尼克斯城附近住所的安宁与僻静。

Jason Beck, the Peoria mayor, pursued a deal behind the scenes by which the city bought a larger, more remote parcel via a state land auction. The company recently broke ground at the new site.

皮奥里亚市长杰森·贝克在幕后推动了一项交易：市政府通过一次州土地拍卖，购买了一块面积更大、位置更偏远的土地。该公司最近已在新址破土动工。

“Sometimes, things get ugly,” Beck said.

“有时候，事情难免会变得棘手，”贝克说道。