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U.S. gives Samsung $6.4 billion to build new chip factories in Texas

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U.S. gives Samsung .4 billion to build new chip factories in Texas


The U.S. government announced Monday a $6.4 billion subsidy for South Korean tech giant Samsung to build advanced computer chip manufacturing facilities in the Austin area, the latest wave of government funding meant to bring more chip-making production to the United States.

The money comes as part of a deal that will see Samsung invest $40 billion of its own money to upgrade a chip factory that’s already under construction in Taylor, Tex., in addition to building a second factory by the end of the decade and adding a new research and development center. Samsung will also build an “advanced packaging” facility — a specialized factory that puts together different chips and electronic components to make them ready to go into cars, planes, phones and thousands of other machines and devices.

The deal with Samsung comes a week after the government announced a $6.6 billion subsidy for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., or TSMC, to expand its operations in Arizona. The payments are part of the 2022 CHIPS Act, which includes a pot of $39 billion in subsidies to encourage U.S. and foreign companies to build in the United States. So far, the government has allotted around $23 billion of that money to a handful of companies.

“The whole chain, R&D to packaging, is concentrated in a couple of Asian locations and that leaves the U.S. supply chain incredibly vulnerable to disruption. That’s untenable,” said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in a call with reporters ahead of the announcement. “We are now making these investments which will allow the United States to once again lead the world.”

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Although U.S. companies like Intel and Nvidia design many of the most advanced computer chips, they are overwhelmingly built in a small handful of facilities in Taiwan and South Korea. TSMC makes the vast majority of the world’s most advanced chips in Taiwan, raising concerns that if China invades or increases its influence over the island, the United States could be cut off from a technology that has become crucial for every industry, as well as the U.S. military.

The artificial intelligence boom, which demands the most advanced chips to train and run AI algorithms, has only added more urgency to calls from industry and national security leaders to expand U.S. chip-making capacity.

Building the most advanced computer chips, which are many times smaller than a human red blood cell, is a devilishly difficult task. A single chip factory, known as a “fab,” can take a decade and $20 billion to build. In Taiwan, they run 24 hours a day, monitored by highly specialized engineers in dust- and static-free “clean rooms.”

U.S. companies moved production overseas decades ago, seeking lower labor costs in an extremely competitive industry. But as Asian companies developed ever more advanced manufacturing techniques, the United States fell behind. TSMC executives have complained that U.S. workers and engineers aren’t up to the task of constructing and running such a difficult manufacturing process.

The Samsung deal includes around $40 million for job training, and the government expects the project to create over 17,000 construction jobs and 4,500 manufacturing positions in the next five years, according to a press release from the Commerce Department.

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Deputies shoot armed suspect in Leesburg Walmart parking lot

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Deputies shoot armed suspect in Leesburg Walmart parking lot


Deputies shot an armed suspect in the parking lot of a Walmart store in Leesburg, Virginia, late Tuesday morning, authorities say.

Detectives, deputies and special agents from the FBI had tracked the suspect down after he tried to rob the Bank of America at Dulles Crossing on Monday, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said. The suspect, who still hasn’t been named, didn’t get any money before taking off from the bank.

Authorities found the suspect was parked at the back of the Walmart parking lot just before noon Tuesday.

Deputies pulled up behind the suspect’s blue sedan at the back of the Walmart parking lot about 11:40 a.m. Tuesday. As they approached, the suspect got out with a gun, Sheriff Mike Chapman said.

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Deputies then fired their guns at the suspect, hitting him. Chapman did not say how many times the suspect was shot or give specific information about his injuries.

Medics took the suspect to a hospital.

No deputies were injured, the sheriff’s office said.

Chapman said it was too early in the investigation to say if the suspect fired his gun or how many officers were involved in the shooting.

Stay with News4 for updates to this developing story.

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The American story projected on the Washington Monument came from North Texas

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The American story projected on the Washington Monument came from North Texas


Steve Deitz walks with the energy of a coach; however, he does not hide that he and his team are digital nerds and storytellers who specialize in large-scale visual content and software development. More specifically, the 48-year-old makes a living creating the wow factor at his agency, “900lbs.”

“We started the company working for the Dallas Mavericks, telling large-scale visual content on the Jumbotron, and next thing you know, Activision, Blizzard calls,” he said. “We get to work in the Perot Museum on the biggest  exhibit in the museum, and then fast-forward another 12 years, and here we are now.”

His current project is wrapping up in the nation’s capital — sorta. Since Dec.31, projections of America’s story have been given to his agency.

“We’re telling the story of the 250-year birthday of America in the biggest way possible on the facade of the Washington Monument on all four sides,” Deitz said.

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He said they started testing out the results a couple of nights before New Year’s Eve. Scenes from Thomas Edison’s light bulb, the Empire State Building, the Model T Ford, and the Industrial Revolution, to name a few, are projected onto the Washington Monument.

Deitz gives his team a ton of credit from the moment he received the call about the project. He also thinks back to the times when he was an athlete who loved to draw in Merkel, Texas. The kid who dared to dream beyond the city limits and outside of the box. The CEO is giving advice to that child who may need a little inspiration.

“Hard work, perseverance, dedication, surround yourself with a team of brilliant people that are way smarter than you, and do the best you possibly can,” he said.

Deitz said there is a likelihood his team’s creations will return to the nation’s capital this year.

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Tracking crime in the DMV: Some areas see drop in violent crime, homicide

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Tracking crime in the DMV: Some areas see drop in violent crime, homicide


It is not the way any homicide squad wants to start an already busy new year.

Prince George’s County police Sunday were trying to figure out who was found dead in a car behind a strip center overnight and why. Police, who responded after a call about gun shots, told News4 they’re still searching for the most basic details.

It comes just a day after three people were shot and killed at a Temple Hills banquet hall early Saturday morning. Police told News4 that investigation is active and showing signs of promise.

But the busy start somewhat hides the bigger picture about crime in the area.

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Despite the tough start to 2026, homicide in Prince George’s County was down 40% in 2025 percent compared to 2024, and violent crime on a whole was down 19%, both through mid-December according to Prince George’s County police.

In D.C. is a similar story.

“Now we have no crime in Washington, DC. We have no killing,” said President Donald Trump Saturday during a news conference about action in Venezuela.

While the crime rate is not nearly as good as Trump has repeatedly said, the District recorded five homicides in December and 126 in all of 2025. That’s down 32% over 2024. Violent crime is down 29%, according to D.C .police crime statistics.

In Fairfax, homicide is down 14% — but the county only had 12 total — and violent crime dropped 4%, according to the county’s online reporting.

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