The state's chip fund gives Texas Tech over $19 million for an AI computing cluster in Lubbock that is meant to speed up semiconductor research
Texas Tech University said on November 13th, 2026 that its Whitacre College of Engineering received an additional award of over $19 million from the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund. The money will help the university establish a next-generation computing cluster in Lubbock. The project will integrate artificial intelligence with high-fidelity simulation data and experimental results. The university says this should shorten development cycles for new semiconductor devices and materials. Planned work includes AI-driven materials discovery and AI-enabled epitaxial growth of ultrawide-bandgap semiconductors. Engineering dean Roland Faller says Texas Tech will be one of the first universities with access to Nvidia's newest generation of chips to power the cluster. The cluster is not built yet and the announcement gives no install date. The fund is run by the Texas CHIPS Office in the Office of the Governor. It gave the same college $12 million in January toward a clean room, which the university will match for a $24 million project. In May it gave roughly $4.5 million for wide and ultrawide bandgap research.
How to take part
The award is announced in the university's own release. A state research grant is not a public proceeding and has no window for comment.
Where
1 county. In Lubbock.
Timeline
- filed
Texas Tech announces the fund's award for the computing cluster
- Today
How this decision moved
One dated line per check, oldest first. A line that says nothing changed means somebody looked and it had not.
- 2026-11-14
Admitted on Texas Tech's announcement of the award. The cluster is funded and not yet built.
The evidence
Every fact above rests on one of these. The words are the source's own.
received an additional Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund (TSIF) award of over $19Texas Tech Now, Texas Tech Receives $19 Million Grant to Further Semiconductor Innovation Primary source, official · ttu.edu
Texas Tech Receives $19 Million Grant to Further Semiconductor Innovation November 13, 2026Texas Tech Now, Texas Tech Receives $19 Million Grant to Further Semiconductor Innovation Primary source, official · ttu.edu
The funding of this award will help Texas Tech establish a next-generation computing cluster in Lubbock.Texas Tech Now, Texas Tech Receives $19 Million Grant to Further Semiconductor Innovation Primary source, official · ttu.edu
will help Texas Tech establish a next-generation computingTexas Tech Now, Texas Tech Receives $19 Million Grant to Further Semiconductor Innovation Primary source, official · ttu.edu
designed to function as a single unified system to handle massive, parallel workloads.Texas Tech Now, Texas Tech Receives $19 Million Grant to Further Semiconductor Innovation Primary source, official · ttu.edu
This project will integrate artificial intelligence (AI) with high-fidelity simulation data and experimental results.Texas Tech Now, Texas Tech Receives $19 Million Grant to Further Semiconductor Innovation Primary source, official · ttu.edu
This should shorten development cycles for next-generation semiconductor devices and materials.Texas Tech Now, Texas Tech Receives $19 Million Grant to Further Semiconductor Innovation Primary source, official · ttu.edu
Texas Tech will be one of the first universities to have access to the newest generation of Nvidia chips to power the cluster.Texas Tech Now, Texas Tech Receives $19 Million Grant to Further Semiconductor Innovation Primary source, official · ttu.edu
Along with Faller, the research team consists ofTexas Tech Now, Texas Tech Receives $19 Million Grant to Further Semiconductor Innovation Primary source, official · ttu.edu
Some of those projects include AI-driven materials discovery and modelingTexas Tech Now, Texas Tech Receives $19 Million Grant to Further Semiconductor Innovation Primary source, official · ttu.edu
AI-enabled epitaxial growth of ultrawide-bandgap semiconductorsTexas Tech Now, Texas Tech Receives $19 Million Grant to Further Semiconductor Innovation Primary source, official · ttu.edu
Conventional semiconductor design relies heavily on physics-based modeling.Texas Tech Now, Texas Tech Receives $19 Million Grant to Further Semiconductor Innovation Primary source, official · ttu.edu
We are grateful to Governor Abbott and state leaders for this investment in Texas Tech University and the state’s future,Texas Tech Now, Texas Tech Receives $19 Million Grant to Further Semiconductor Innovation Primary source, official · ttu.edu
Texas Tech previously earned TSIF awards to develop a new clean room and to develop wide/ultrawide bandgap semiconductors for use in harsh environmentsTexas Tech Now, Texas Tech Receives $19 Million Grant to Further Semiconductor Innovation Primary source, official · ttu.edu
after receiving a $12 million Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund (TSIF) grant awardTexas Tech Now, Texas Tech to Build $24 Million Clean Room for Semiconductor Development Primary source, official · ttu.edu
The university will match the state’s funding, bringing the total project award to $24 millionTexas Tech Now, Texas Tech to Build $24 Million Clean Room for Semiconductor Development Primary source, official · ttu.edu
received roughly $4.5 million from the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund (TSIF)Texas Tech Now, Texas Tech Receives $4.5 Million Grant to Advance Semiconductor Research Primary source, official · ttu.edu
TSIF grants are administered by the Texas CHIPS Office, within the Office of the Governor’sTexas Tech Now, Texas Tech Receives $4.5 Million Grant to Advance Semiconductor Research Primary source, official · ttu.edu
Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law the Texas CHIPS Act in 2023, establishing both the TSIFTexas Tech Now, Texas Tech Receives $4.5 Million Grant to Advance Semiconductor Research Primary source, official · ttu.edu
Questions about this decision
Answered from the record itself. Every answer is assembled from stored fields, so an answer the record has no basis for is left out rather than guessed.
What is this decision?
Texas Tech University said on November 13th, 2026 that its Whitacre College of Engineering received an additional award of over $19 million from the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund. The money will help the university establish a next-generation computing cluster in Lubbock. The project will integrate artificial intelligence with high-fidelity simulation data and experimental results. The university says this should shorten development cycles for new semiconductor devices and materials. Planned work includes AI-driven materials discovery and AI-enabled epitaxial growth of ultrawide-bandgap semiconductors. Engineering dean Roland Faller says Texas Tech will be one of the first universities with access to Nvidia's newest generation of chips to power the cluster. The cluster is not built yet and the announcement gives no install date. The fund is run by the Texas CHIPS Office in the Office of the Governor. It gave the same college $12 million in January toward a clean room, which the university will match for a $24 million project. In May it gave roughly $4.5 million for wide and ultrawide bandgap research.
Who decides it?
Texas CHIPS Office, Office of the Governor (Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund) decides. The record names the deciding body for every entry it carries.
Can the public take part?
The award is announced in the university's own release. A state research grant is not a public proceeding and has no window for comment. No dated public window is on the record. The deciding body is named and reachable.
Where in Texas does it apply?
It covers Lubbock County.
Has it been decided?
It has been decided. The dates on the item page carry when.
What happens next?
No future date is on the record. The last dated step on it was filed on November 13th.
When did it start?
The earliest date on its record is November 13th, 2026.
What kind of decision is it?
It is filed under research and science.
What sources back it?
Three sources back it. Three of them are primary.
Is it on the ERCOT grid?
Yes. It sits inside the ERCOT interconnection.
When was it last checked?
Every fact on it was last verified against its source on November 14th, 2026.
Cite this
Texas AI Docket, The state's chip fund gives Texas Tech over $19 million for an AI computing cluster in Lubbock that is meant to speed up semiconductor research. Tracked since November 13th, 2026. Last verified November 14th, 2026. https://texasaidocket.com/item/tx-2026-0247/. Reuse permitted under CC BY 4.0 with attribution. The same entry is in the docket JSON as item tx-2026-0247.
Beat
Filed under Research and science, with every other decision on that beat.