Lam Research broke ground on a 120,000-square-foot research and development lab in Tualatin, Oregon, on August 26, 2026, marking the first milestone in a planned $3 billion global expansion aimed at accelerating the development of advanced artificial intelligence chips. According to PRNewswire, the facility will increase cleanroom lab space at the company’s Tualatin campus by more than 50% once completed in 2028.
Expanding Semiconductor Research in the Silicon Forest
The new Tualatin facility forms part of a broader five-year strategy by Lam Research to scale its global lab network. According to Crypto Briefing, the company is implementing an integrated 24/7 research program designed to compress semiconductor process development cycles by up to 2.5 times. Crypto Briefing notes that this initiative supports the industry’s push toward a projected $1 trillion market size driven by high-performance computing workloads and high-bandwidth memory requirements.
According to PRNewswire, the groundbreaking ceremony brought together industry and government leaders, including Lam Research President and CEO Tim Archer, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Sesha Varadarajan, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, U.S. Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read, alongside senior executives from Intel Corporation and Micron Technology. Varadarajan stated in the company’s announcement that delivering next-generation semiconductors at the speed of AI requires relentless innovation and closer collaboration with customers.
Local Economic Impact and Historical Footprint
According to a third-party assessment cited by PRNewswire, the three-year construction phase of the multi-building expansion is projected to generate approximately 900 jobs and $500 million in economic output. Upon completion, the project is expected to create over 400 new permanent jobs at Lam Research, representing the company’s biggest investment in Oregon to date.
Lam Research has maintained a presence in Oregon for more than 30 years, operating sites across Tualatin, Hillsboro, and Sherwood. This latest project follows a $65 million investment completed in November 2025, which added Building G—a 120,000-square-foot facility providing up to 700 workspaces in Tualatin, as reported by Crypto Briefing. The new R&D lab will focus on advanced logic, memory, atomic-scale deposition, etch process development, and packaging tools necessary for the next generation of semiconductor manufacturing.
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