GE Appliances, a Haier company headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, announced it will integrate US-manufactured Texas Instruments microcontrollers, Wi-Fi connectivity solutions, and analog components into its next generation of connected appliances.
The partnership covers TI’s energy-efficient microcontrollers, edge AI capabilities, and breakthrough gallium nitride (GaN)-based motor drive technology. The first products to feature the US-made chips will be new laundry machines produced at GE Appliances’ Louisville facility.
‘By bringing together next-generation Wi-Fi connectivity, energy-efficient microcontrollers, edge AI capabilities, and breakthrough GaN-based motor drive technology, TI is giving GE Appliances the building blocks to design smarter, more efficient products,’ the companies said in a joint announcement.
The deal comes as US manufacturers increasingly seek domestic semiconductor sources amid ongoing global chip supply constraints and rising geopolitical tensions around overseas production. Trump administration tariffs on imported chips have further accelerated the shift toward American-made components.
Texas Instruments has been investing heavily in US manufacturing capacity, including its massive 300-millimeter wafer fabrication facility under construction in Sherman, Texas. The facility is expected to become one of the largest semiconductor plants in the world when completed.
GE Appliances already produces the majority of its products in the United States, with manufacturing plants across Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Connecticut employing more than 13,600 American workers. The move to source chips domestically aligns with the company’s broader push to emphasize American manufacturing.
The partnership signals a broader trend in the consumer electronics industry, where appliance makers are moving away from relying solely on overseas chip suppliers as the memory and semiconductor shortages continue to affect product availability and pricing.
Sources: The Lane Report, The Verge, KTEN
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