GlobalFoundries says it will invest more than $2 billion to produce cutting-edge 7 nanometer computer chips at its upstate New York facility.

The company said Thursday that research and development now underway will lead to the semiconductor being made at its Fab 8 facility in the town of Malta, north of Albany.

The microchip industry is developing the 7 nanometer chips as it continues work on smaller, more powerful chips. The task has become more difficult because of physical and technological limits.

GlobalFoundries expects to be able to produce the chips for the market in 2018.

The company employs 3,000 in Malta, New York, and is owned by the government-backed Mubadala Development Company in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Its chips are used in a wide range of electronic devices.