Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) is speeding up manufacturing at its massive north Phoenix campus and may accelerate the production schedule for more facilities, the company announced yesterday.

Why it matters: TSMC is expanding its local footprint, expediting already ambitious plans and cementing Arizona's status as a national semiconductor hub.

• The Arizona facility is part of its grand plan to diversify semiconductor manufacturing away from Taiwan's political volatility and to support a bipartisan U.S. national security push to increase domestic chips production and accelerate the AI economy.

State of play: In a quarterly earnings call, TSMC chairman and CEO CC Wei announced the company will increase production of the silicon disks used to make computer chips at the second of its six planned factories, known as fabs.

• Fab 2 will manufacture the company's 3-nanometer chips.
• TSMC also might ramp up the production schedule at its third fab — which broke ground in April — due to strong AI demand.

What they're saying: "We are seeing strong interest from our leading U.S. customers and are working on speeding up the volume production schedule by several quarters to support their need," Wei said.

• TSMC produces chips for tech giants including Apple and Nvidia.

Catch up quick: The company announced in April it will produce 30% of its most advanced chips in Arizona once all six fabs are operational.

• Production at the first fab began in late 2024, and its output is now comparable to TSMC's fabs in Taiwan, Wei said.
• TSMC is also planning two advanced packaging facilities and a research-and-development site in Arizona, which, combined with the six fabs, will constitute a "gigafab cluster" in the state to produce technology for smartphones, AI and high-performance computing.
• The company said in March it would invest an additional $100 billion in U.S. production, on top of the existing $65 billion commitment in Arizona.

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The Phoenix metro area has fewer gyms per capita than the national average.

Why it matters: Gyms offer city dwellers a way to get and stay healthy, and can serve as "third places" to hang out and connect outside of home or work.

By the numbers: In the third quarter of 2024, the Valley had 11.9 gyms per 100,000 residents, compared to 13.6 nationally.

• The Bridgeport, Connecticut, metro area led the nation.

How it works: These figures represent "fitness and recreational sports centers" in the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data for Q3 2024.

• Axios looked at metro areas with at least 500,000 residents, for which BLS had sufficient data.

WNBA players rated the Phoenix Mercury as the league's best-run franchise, according to a poll conducted by The Athletic.

State of play: In the anonymous poll of 39 players from all 13 franchises — no rookies were included to best represent veterans' views — 28.6% of respondents picked the Mercury.

• The New York Liberty were second, with 25.7%.
• Players couldn't vote for their own teams.

Zoom in: Players cited Phoenix's investment in the franchise, with one telling The Athletic, "It's cool to see that, they raised the bar with their facility and stuff."

• The team unveiled a new $100 million practice facility last summer, next to a new office complex the Suns, who share an owner with the Mercury, opened months earlier, south of downtown Phoenix.

1 big trash talker: Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas was voted by her fellow players as the WNBA's biggest trash talker, garnering 13 of 36 votes.

• "She smiles and talks s—, that's the crazy part, it's psycho stuff, she's crazy, man," one player said.
• "Everyone knows AT talks s—. I don't even guard her, and she talks s— to me," commented another.

Yes, but: The Athletic noted that, like retired Mercury star Diana Taurasi — the "runaway winner" in the category two years ago — Thomas backs up her trash talk with her game.

• She leads the league in assists with 9.5 per game and received one vote in the survey for best WNBA player (ultimately, Minnesota's Napheesa Collier won).

What we're watching: Going into this weekend's All-Star Game, the Mercury are on a roll, sporting the league's third-best record and leading power rankings for The Athletic, Sports Illustrated, CBS Sports and NBC Sports.

🚫 U.S. Senate Republicans blocked Arizona's U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego's resolution calling for the Trump administration to release files on the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. (Axios)

👋 The Arizona Democratic Party voted to remove embattled chair Robert Branscomb amid internal disputes and feuds with top elected officials. (KJZZ)

💻 Hackers accessed the Arizona Secretary of State's online candidate portal in late June and changed candidate photos on the special election results page, prompting the office to shut down the system for a week. (Votebeat)

A former correctional officer filed a federal lawsuit against the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, alleging anti-trans discrimination. (AZcentral)

Welcome to another edition of "Where in the Valley?"

How it works: We show you something cool. You tell us where it is.

• The first reader who names the spot gets a shout-out in the newsletter.

You tell us: Where in the Valley can you find this golf cart?

Catch up quick: No one gave us the correct location of last week's "Where in the Valley?" photo.

• The mural is at Novel Ice Cream on Grand Avenue.