7 major R&D moves this week: Apple expands U.S. manufacturing, Lilly plans new plants, tech giants advance in computing

The R&D World Index saw a slight gain of 0.22% last week, closing at 4,163.38 points. Corporate actions focused heavily on new manufacturing investments, with Apple doubling its Advanced Manufacturing Fund and Eli Lilly announcing plans for four new U.S. drug manufacturing plants. Technology companies continued their push in advanced computing, with Amazon and Google making significant moves in quantum computing and AI services. Meanwhile, global R&D center expansions continued with new facilities announced in Indonesia, Qatar, and China.

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Tech & manufacturing

1. Apple doubles Advanced Manufacturing Fund for U.S. expansion

RDW Index member Apple, Cupertino, California, announced last week that it will double its Advanced Manufacturing Fund to drive technological advancements in Texas. The investment will support advances in artificial intelligence (AI), silicon engineering, and workforce development. As part of this investment, Apple will build a new advanced manufacturing facility in Houston, Texas (opening in 2026), to manufacture servers supporting Apple Intelligence. This personal intelligence system helps users with writing, self-expression, and productivity. The company will also open an academy in Michigan to help train the next generation of manufacturers. The company said it would invest $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, hire 20,000 new employees over that period (with most new positions focused on R&D, silicon engineering, software development, AI, and machine learning), and support 24 U.S. factories producing silicon for new Apple products. The company also plans to increase data center capacity in North Carolina, Iowa, Oregon, Arizona, and Nevada. The company also plans to invest in manufacturing advanced silicon devices at TSMC Fab 21 (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) in Arizona. Apple is TSMC Fab 21’s largest customer and supports more than 2,000 chip production workers in the U.S.

2. Apple establishes first Asian R&D software center in Indonesia

In other Apple news, the tech company announced last week that it plans to establish an R&D center in Jakarta, Indonesia, the first Asian country to have an Apple R&D software center. This R&D center represents an Apple investment of about $150 million, giving the company a Domestic Component Level (TKDN) certificate valid for 2023 to 2028. It will be the basis for Apple’s marketing of its products, including its iPhone 16 in Indonesia.

3. Amazon unveils first quantum computing chip

Amazon.com announced last week the unveiling of its first quantum computing chip, Ocelot. According to Amazon, the chip can supposedly lower the costs of reducing errors by up to 90%. This announcement comes just a week after Microsoft claimed a quantum computing breakthrough by creating a new state of matter. Alphabet/Google also said it developed a new chip called Willow in December 2024, which marked an advance in solving quantum computing’s error correction issues.

4. Google offers expanded free tier of AI coding assistance

Google, Mountain View, California, also announced last week that it is adding a free tier of its Gemini Code Assist service that includes 180,000 snippets of AI-generated code per month, which is roughly 90 times what Google’s competitors are offering. This is being done to help Google catch up to Microsoft in a growing business for AI providers. Google was slower than its competitors in releasing an AI coding tool and hoped its free usage limits would lure new customers. More than a quarter of Google’s new code is now AI-generated.

Global R&D expansion

5. Energy X opens R&D center in Qatar

South Korea’s AI-driven software firm, Energy X, announced last week that it is opening an R&D center in Qatar, as it plans a significant expansion into the Gulf Cooperation Council  (GCC) region, where it plans to invest more than $100 million over the next five years. Qatar is renowned for its advanced R&D and innovation ecosystem, according to Energy X. The company aims to strengthen its research capabilities in Qatar and unveil cutting-edge technologies for its self-sufficient buildings. Talks regarding their registration and licensing are already in the advanced stages with the Qatar Financial Centre.

6. Hyundai establishes AI-focused subsidiary in Shanghai

Automaker Hyundai, Seoul, South Korea, announced last week that it has established a subsidiary in Shanghai, China, CoMo, that is focused on AI-based R&D as it steps up its development of software-defined vehicles for China’s large automobile marketplace. The company plans for CoMo to focus on AI-based solutions for autonomous driving and the Internet of Things (IoT). CoMo looks to align Hyundai’s new product development with Shanghai’s plans to build a smart transport ecosystem, including software-defined vehicles. The city is expanding its autonomous driving infrastructure and has recently opened 2,200 km of its roads for autonomous driving tests.

Healthcare & pharmaceuticals

7. Eli Lilly announces four new U.S. manufacturing plants

Drug maker and RDW Index member Eli Lilly & Co., Indianapolis, announced last week that it plans to build four new drug manufacturing plants in the U.S., a $27 billion investment that the company expects will create more than 3,000 highly skilled jobs and employ 10,000 construction workers. Three new sites will produce active pharmaceutical ingredients for its drugs, while the fourth will produce sterile injectable medicines, such as Lilly’s Mounjaro diabetes drug. The company has not finalized the sites for these plants but expects them to be making drugs within five years. Lilly and other pharma companies hope their actions for building domestic plants will entice the Trump administration to extend the corporate tax cuts enacted during the first Trump administration. Lilly had not constructed a new manufacturing plant in the U.S. in 40 years, so it hopes this action will be rewarded.

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The R&D World Index

R&D World’s R&D Index is a weekly stock market summary of the top international companies involved in R&D. The top 25 industrial R&D spenders in 2020 were selected based on the latest listings from Schonfeld & Associates’ June 2020 R&D Ratios & Budgets. These 25 companies include pharmaceutical (10 companies), automotive (6 companies), and ICT (9 companies), which invested a cumulative total of nearly 260 billion dollars in R&D in 2019, or approximately 10% of all the R&D spending in the world by government, industries, and academia combined, according to R&D World’s 2021 Global R&D Funding Forecast. The stock prices used in the R&D World Index are tabulated from NASDAQ, NYSE, and OTC common stock prices for the companies selected at the close of stock trading business on the Friday preceding the online publication of the R&D World Index.