Applied Optoelectronics Inc. (NASDAQ: AAOI) received a $20.9 million grant from the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund to support manufacturing expansion at its Sugar Land facility. The company announced the award on April 29.

The grant will support AOI's plans to occupy an additional 210,000-square-foot manufacturing facility adjacent to its current headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas. The expansion is intended to establish production capacity for AI-focused data center transceivers and create over 500 jobs.

The Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund provides grants to higher education institutions, state entities, and businesses for research, development, and economic development related to semiconductor design and manufacturing.

"We are honored to accept this award. The support from the State of Texas is critical to our expansion plans and is a tangible commitment by the state to advancing semiconductor innovation for the AI era," said Stefan Murry, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer at AOI.

AOI develops and manufactures optical and HFC networking products for AI datacenters, CATV, and broadband fiber access networks. The company operates research and development facilities in Atlanta and has engineering and manufacturing facilities in Sugar Land, Texas, as well as locations in Taipei, Taiwan and Ningbo, China.

The information was provided in a company press release statement.