LOUISVILLE — GE Appliances will source roughly one-third of the semiconductors for products from its new Louisville laundry plant from Texas Instruments’ U.S. factories, nearly doubling the appliance maker’s spending with the chip company as it brings more of a critical electronics supply chain closer to home.
Production using the TI components is expected to begin in 2027 at Appliance Park, where GE Appliances is investing $490 million to build new manufacturing lines for front-load washers and its GE Profile UltraFast Combo Washer/Dryer. The company says the TI relationship will cover U.S.-made microcontrollers, Wi-Fi connectivity products and analog components.
Chips From Texas and Utah Will Go Into Kentucky Laundry Products
GE Appliances said the semiconductors will come from Texas Instruments manufacturing sites in Lehi, Utah; Richardson, Texas; and Sherman, Texas. WDRB reported that the agreement secures a supply of 20 million U.S.-made semiconductors.
The components are intended for several increasingly important functions inside connected washers and washer-dryer combos. TI technology will support Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Low Energy connectivity, power conversion and motor control. GE Appliances is also exploring a TI microcontroller platform with on-device AI capabilities for possible future functions such as predictive maintenance and adaptive performance.
Those electronics can affect more than connected-home features. TI’s power and motor-control components are designed to manage electrical loads, diagnostics and protection functions, while its gallium-nitride motor-drive technology can reduce component size and heat-management requirements. GE Appliances says the technology can also support quieter drain-pump operation.
Domestic Sourcing Comes With a Cost Trade-Off
The agreement also illustrates the economics behind efforts to localize semiconductor supply. The Semiconductor Industry Association said in an April 2026 filing that total construction and operating costs for a U.S. semiconductor fabrication facility have historically been 30% to 50% higher than in Asia, although incentives have narrowed the gap.
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GE Appliances is betting that proximity and supply reliability can offset some of that disadvantage. Lee Lagomarcino, the company’s vice president of clothes care, told WDRB that the company is taking a “total cost” approach rather than looking only at the upfront manufacturing cost of a component.
The chip agreement fits a wider sourcing push. GE Appliances said in late 2025 that it had awarded more than $150 million in new contracts to U.S.-based suppliers across 10 states for steel, resins, parts and components supporting the Louisville laundry expansion. The company says its U.S. supplier network now includes about 6,500 businesses.
The Laundry Plant Is Part of a Larger U.S. Manufacturing Plan
GE Appliances announced the $490 million Louisville laundry investment in June 2025. The project is expected to create 800 full-time jobs and move production of more than 15 front-load washer models to Building 2 at Appliance Park. The company said the new lines will use automation, robotics and more in-house production of parts including stainless-steel baskets and cabinets.
The Louisville project is also part of a five-year, $3 billion U.S. manufacturing commitment announced in 2025, covering factory upgrades and production shifts across several states. For suppliers, the TI deal shows how those appliance investments can extend upstream into components that have often depended on longer global supply chains.
For appliance owners and servicers, the more immediate change will arrive in the products themselves. GE Appliances says the next generation of connected laundry machines will use the TI components beginning in 2027, with future chip opportunities still open as the manufacturer develops additional products.
