Samsung Electronics has chosen Texas for a new $17 billion chip plant.

The factory will be sited in the town of Taylor, near Austin.

Samsung had also considered locations in Arizona and New York.

But Reuters sources say Texas offered the best incentives.

Governor Greg Abbott said it was a testament to the state's low taxes and benign regulations.

Samsung joins rivals TSMC and Intel in the race to expand chip making in the U.S.

Washington sees the sector as an area of strategic competition with China.

It's earmarked billions of dollars in federal funds to boost U.S. chip output and development.

Samsung hasn't said exactly what its new plant will make.

But analysts expect it to focus on cutting-edge chips for large clients like Qualcomm.

Texas last winter suffered a multi-day power outage that caused millions of dollars of damage to Samsung's existing plant in Austin.

Governor Abbott said he was confident the power grid could support the new facility.