The grants will be used to fund projects in Texas and Missouri establishing the first US production sites for 300-mm wafers for advanced semiconductors

Any larger scale or protracted industrial action would be a headache for Samsung as it scrambles to catch up with rivals in chips used for artificial intelligence

The news comes after the US outfit came under fire at the weekend after it emerged Huawei’s new high-end laptop was powered by Intel AI chips

Seoul is desperate to retain its world-leading role in semiconductors as AI takes chip development on to the next level

The key driver of the profit growth would be Samsung’s chip division, which is expected to report its first quarterly profit in five quarters