A modest 17.22 hectares in the Nanzih District industrial park will give birth to yet another fab, courtesy of the illustrious Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd (TSMC).

The land is east of TSMC's inaugural plant at the 238-hectare Nanzih Technology Industrial Park.

Word on the street is that Nvidia's Blackwell-series AI chips hotter than a vindaloo demand is outpacing supply, leaving the GPU giant in an uproar. Then there is the small matter of other chipmakers wanting to make their own AI chips.

TSMC, ever the willing manufacturer, wants to crank up production. And voilà! The decision to expand the Kaohsiung site is born.

The first fab broke ground and promised mass production shortly. The second fab, currently under construction, occupies land that once hosted a state-owned oil refiner, which must be reclaimed.

Now, brace yourselves. The third fab demands more land. But not just any land—polluted land. TSMC, in its infinite wisdom, seeks to clear the muck and make way for more chips. It's like saying, "Why settle for pristine soil when you can have a toxic wasteland?"

TSMC's CoWoS (Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate) advanced semiconductor packaging plant in Chiayi Science Park hit a snag. Archaeological ruins—yes, ruins—popped up like unexpected party crashers.

Construction is halted, plans are thwarted, and TSMC is shifting the plant's location and kickstarting a second CoWoS facility elsewhere.