GlobalFoundries completes construction phase in €1.1B Dresden chip-factory buildout

GlobalFoundries expects its Dresden site’s annual production capacity to exceed one million 300mm wafers by the end of 2028. On October 9, 2026, the chipmaker marked the topping-out of its €1.1 billion SPRINT expansion and set out plans to develop and manufacture FDX Fusion there, targeting energy-efficient chips for demanding physical-AI applications.

More capacity, with production still running

The ceremony marks a construction milestone, not the completion of the expanded factory. GlobalFoundries says this phase finished on schedule and on budget, allowing the remaining work in both the existing facility and the expansion to continue as planned.

Exyte, the project’s general contractor, is adding cleanroom and manufacturing infrastructure while the existing plant remains fully operational. Project director Mark Vokes said the topping-out demonstrated that Exyte, GlobalFoundries and their partners were advancing the expansion according to plan.

Dresden currently has annual capacity of up to 950,000 300mm wafers, depending on the mix of products manufactured. GlobalFoundries employs around 3,000 people there and operates approximately 60,000 square meters of cleanroom and laboratory space. It says it has invested more than €10 billion at the site since 2009.

FDX Fusion has an approval gate

The platform announcement concerns development and future manufacturing in Dresden, rather than a chip technology entering production now. GlobalFoundries intends to pursue FDX Fusion through the upcoming IPCEI Advanced Semiconductor Technologies program. The actual start of development is contingent on German federal government approval of the project’s start for GF Dresden.

The company’s stated target is “7nm-like” digital performance combined with analog, mixed-signal, embedded-memory and high-performance radio-frequency capabilities. The wording is a performance target, not a statement that FDX Fusion is a 7nm manufacturing process.

Local manufacturing includes local data flows

The added SPRINT capacity will support GlobalFoundries’ technologies for automotive, aerospace, industrial internet-of-things and defense applications. The company identifies those markets as increasingly shaped by physical AI.

GlobalFoundries says the expansion will enable Europe-only processes and data flows for customers with stringent security needs, including critical-infrastructure and aerospace customers. The commitment covers manufacturing processes and associated data flows, not simply the location of the factory.

SPRINT is supported by the European Union, Germany’s federal government and the Free State of Saxony under the European Chips Act. GlobalFoundries places the project within Europe’s effort to strengthen semiconductor supply chains and industrial competitiveness.