Employees build servers for Apple at a factory in Houston, Texas.
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apple The company announced Thursday that it has begun shipping advanced servers for artificial intelligence applications from its Houston, Texas, factory.
These servers are at the heart of Apple’s commitment to spend $600 billion in the United States on advanced manufacturing, suppliers and other initiatives, a milestone that could please President Donald Trump, who has pushed for Apple and other technology companies to expand manufacturing in the United States.
Apple’s plans to assemble servers in the United States were first revealed in February.
Apple Chief Operating Officer Sabi Khan said Thursday that the server will power the company’s Apple Intelligence and Private Cloud Compute services. Apple uses proprietary silicon for Apple Intelligence servers.
“Our team has done an excellent job accelerating our efforts to bring our new Houston plant online ahead of schedule, and we plan to continue expanding the facility to increase production next year,” Khan said in a statement.
Apple says its Houston factory is on track to create thousands of jobs. Apple servers used to be manufactured overseas.
In August, Apple CEO Tim Cook met with President Trump and announced additional U.S. spending for semiconductor companies, specifically under a program called the American Manufacturing Program.
Mr. Cook gave Mr. Trump a gift based on the American-made Corning glass used in the iPhone and Apple Watch.
Apple also opened a manufacturing academy in partnership with the state of Michigan in July.
While President Trump has praised Cook and Apple’s commitment to U.S. spending, he has occasionally urged Apple to make iPhones in the United States, a process that experts say would take years and be expensive.
The Trump administration has previously called for individual tariffs to be imposed and lifted that could hurt Apple, which imports computers and cellphones into the United States from China, India and Vietnam.
In September, Cook told CNBC that Apple contributes to U.S. manufacturing by doing business with U.S.-based semiconductor suppliers, whose spending and expertise allows it to manufacture and package its chips entirely in the United States.
“We can add a lot by globalizing it and connecting the end-to-end supply chain of semiconductors,” Cook said. “I cannot stress enough how important this is and how much it adds to what we do.”
A factory in Texas that makes Apple servers for AI
