Apple has committed to spend over $500 billion in the U.S. by 2029, equalling the total that OpenAI and partners announced last month as part of the Stargate Project. From an R&D perspective, one core takeaway is how much of this cash will fuel cutting-edge work. For instance, Apple is specifically aiming to invest in artificial intelligence, silicon engineering, and skills development for students and workers.
While a WSJ piece highlights the difficulty in ascertaining how much of the spending is actually new, given its history of spending about $1.1 trillion over the course of the past four fiscal years on operating expenses and capital outlays, half a trillion can buy a lot of R&D. The press release highlights the upcoming iPhone 16e and the Apple C1 cellular modem, indirectly addressing 5G. As Apple faces questions about its potential to innovate nearly two decades after the launch of its iconic iPhone in 2007, the new investment also allows Apple to adjust its business in a quickly moving technological landscape while minimizing looming tariff threats.
Apple will also collaborate with thousands of U.S. suppliers and partners, fueling research and development across sectors like chip design, telecommunications, and manufacturing. For an R&D-focused audience, Apple’s massive investment portends accelerated development of new technologies, robust funding for innovation programs, and expanded opportunities for engineers and researchers in the coming years.
In the afternoon of February 24, its stock was up 1%, trading at about $248.
A domestic advanced manufacturing reboot
A centerpiece of Apple’s plan is the expansion of advanced manufacturing capabilities on U.S. soil. Notably, Apple will open a new 250,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Houston, Texas by 2026, dedicated to building AI-driven server hardware. Until now, Apple’s data center servers were largely built overseas; the new Houston plant will bring this infrastructure closer to home, enabling Apple to assemble the specialized servers that power its AI and cloud services domestically. These servers – part of what Apple calls “Apple Intelligence,” which also refers to a series of new features across the iPhone and other products, will also span its private cloud compute need. This move not only marks an expansion in manufacturing capacity, but also the integration of AI in production. The facility itself will produce AI-oriented hardware. In addition, Apple said it will double its U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Fund from $5 billion to $10 billion to drive high-tech manufacturing projects. This fund, established to create high-skilled manufacturing jobs, has previously driven innovations like new laser and materials technologies. With the additional funding, Apple plans to support more cutting-edge manufacturing processes – for example, it will allocate multiple billions toward producing Apple silicon chips at TSMC’s Arizona fab (Fab 21).
Apple’s manufacturing expansion includes building out infrastructure and talent pipelines nationwide. The company also announced that it would debut a Manufacturing Academy in Detroit, Michigan. The academy will serve as a hub for workforce development and smart manufacturing training. This academy, in partnership with experts from top universities, will consult with small and mid-sized manufacturers on implementing AI-driven and advanced manufacturing techniques. In addition, it will offer free courses on project management and process optimization. The aim of the initiative is to elevate the skills of the manufacturing workforce.
Apple continues to grow its existing U.S. operations. It is planning investments in a string of states, including Michigan, Texas, California, Arizona, Nevada, Iowa, Oregon, North Carolina and Washington. A new $1 billion campus in Austin, TX is also underway, and data center expansions either planned or ongoing in many of these states.
Silicon engineering plans shift AI server production from China
Apple plans to add thousands of engineers in chip design, software development, AI, and machine learning as part of its 20,000 new U.S. hires, according to PCMag. Apple underscores the Apple C1 modem in the upcoming iPhone 16e as a key element of these R&D efforts, which could hint at plans to reduce its reliance on traditional partners like Qualcomm.
Apple is moving AI server production from China to a new Foxconn-operated facility in Houston—powered by Apple’s M-series chips with built-in encryption—to reduce supply-chain risks and boost data security, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. By building its own private cloud infrastructure for AI, Apple can train large-scale machine learning models for Siri, on-device intelligence, and future generative AI features—while ensuring end-to-end control over hardware and software, consistent with its emphasis on user privacy.
Supply chain and economic influence
Apple’s $500 billion investment will bolster its network of thousands of U.S. suppliers. The company said the move will stimulate job creation in areas like chip engineering, advanced manufacturing, and 5G. By doubling its Advanced Manufacturing Fund to $10 billion and partnering with suppliers such as Foxconn in Texas and TSMC in Arizona, Apple is driving domestic factory expansions, construction projects, and technology R&D. Apple alone will add 20,000 new U.S. jobs across R&D hubs, data centers, and the Houston server plant, while indirectly supporting thousands more in its supply chain. Collectively, this expansion strengthens regional economies and reinforces Apple’s already significant domestic footprint.
As Apple expands its data center capacity and opens its new manufacturing facility in Houston, the company is touting energy efficiency. The company announced in a statement that its forthcoming Houston-assembled servers are “designed to be incredibly energy efficient, reducing the energy demands of Apple data centers.” Finally, Apple reiterates that its data centers “already run on 100 percent renewable energy.”
