After more than three decades of working together, Applied Materials has announced a new partnership with TSMC focused on speeding up the development of advanced semiconductor technologies for the future of AI. The collaboration will take place at Applied Materials’ EPIC Center in Silicon Valley, where both companies will work on improving materials engineering, chipmaking equipment, and process integration to create more energy-efficient AI technologies for data centers and edge devices.
Applied Materials CEO Gary Dickerson said the two companies have built a strong relationship based on trust and a shared goal of driving semiconductor innovation. He added that bringing their teams together at the EPIC Center will help accelerate solutions for the growing complexity of next-generation chip manufacturing.
“As semiconductor device architectures evolve with each new generation, the demands on materials engineering and process integration continue to increase,” said Dr. Y.J. Mii, Executive Vice President and Co-Chief Operating Officer at TSMC. “Meeting the challenges of AI at a global scale requires industry-wide collaboration. Applied Materials’ EPIC Center provides an ideal environment to accelerate equipment and process readiness for next-generation technologies.”
Through the EPIC Center engagement, Applied and TSMC will collaborate on materials engineering innovations targeting the most critical challenges facing advanced logic scaling. Areas of focus include:
- Process technologies that enable continuous power, performance and area improvements across leading-edge logic nodes, addressing the growing demands of AI and high‑performance computing
- New materials and next-generation manufacturing equipment enabling precise formation of increasingly complex 3D transistor and interconnect structures
- Advanced process integration approaches that improve yield, variability control and reliability as devices move toward vertically stacked and highly scaled architectures
“Advancing leading foundry technologies calls for a new model for collaboration and innovation,” said Dr. Prabu Raja, President of the Semiconductor Products Group at Applied Materials. “As a founding partner of the EPIC Center, TSMC gains earlier access to Applied’s innovation teams and next‑generation equipment, helping accelerate the path from technology development to high‑volume manufacturing.”
Applied’s new, $5 billion* EPIC Center in Silicon Valley represents the largest-ever U.S. investment in advanced semiconductor equipment R&D. The center, which will be operationally ready this year, is designed from the ground up to dramatically reduce the time it takes to commercialize breakthrough technologies from early-stage research to full-scale manufacturing. For chipmakers, the EPIC Center will provide earlier access to Applied’s R&D portfolio, faster cycles of learning and accelerated transfer of next-generation technologies into high-volume manufacturing, within a secure collaborative environment. In addition, the co-innovation programs at the EPIC Center will provide Applied with greater multi-node visibility to guide R&D investments while increasing R&D productivity and value sharing.
*Capital spending is expected to scale over time to approximately $5 billion as customer projects commence.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including those regarding Applied’s investment and growth strategies, the development of new materials and technologies, industry outlook and technology requirements, the plans and expectations for the EPIC Center, and other statements that are not historical facts. These statements and their underlying assumptions are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements include, without limitation: the demand for semiconductors and customers’ technology requirements; the ability to develop new and innovative technologies; the ability to obtain and protect intellectual property rights in key technologies; the ability to achieve the objectives of the EPIC Center; and other risks and uncertainties described in Applied’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Applied’s most recent Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. All forward-looking statements are based on management’s current estimates, projections and assumptions, and Applied assumes no obligation to update them.
