Apple announces $500 billion investment in US amid tariff threats that could affect the iPhone

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NEW YORK (AP) — Apple announced Monday that it plans to invest more than $500 billion in the United States over the next four years, including plans to hire 20,000 people and build a new server factory in Texas.

The move comes just days after President Donald Trump said Apple CEO Tim Cook promised him that the tech giant’s manufacturing would shift from Mexico to the U.S. Trump noted the company was doing so to avoid paying tariffs. That pledge, coupled with Monday's investment commitment, came as Trump continues to threaten to impose tariffs that could drive up the cost of iPhones made in China.

“We are bullish on the future of American innovation, and we’re proud to build on our long-standing U.S. investments with this $500 billion commitment to our country’s future,” Cook said in a company blog post.

Apple outlined several concrete moves in its announcement, the most significant of which is the construction of a new factory in Houston — slated to open in 2026 — that will produce servers to power Apple Intelligence, its suite of AI features. The company claims this factory will create “thousands of jobs.”

The announcement is similar to one Apple made in early 2018 — during the first Trump administration — that promised to create 20,000 new jobs as part of a $350 billion spend in the U.S. Trump was also mulling a tariff then that could have affected iPhones at the time, but he didn't end up targeting those devices during his first administration.