CPU Applied Materials, TSMC Partner at EPIC Center

According to reports, Applied Materials has announced a new strategic partnership with TSMC to accelerate the development and commercialization of next-generation semiconductor technologies required for artificial intelligence (AI) computing.

The collaboration will take place at Applied Materials’ EPIC (Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization) Center in Silicon Valley, where both companies will jointly advance materials engineering, equipment innovation, and process integration technologies. The partnership aims to improve energy efficiency across the semiconductor ecosystem, from data centers to edge computing devices.

Gary Dickerson, President and CEO of Applied Materials, stated that the two companies have maintained more than 30 years of collaboration, built on mutual trust and a shared commitment to advancing semiconductor innovation. He noted that bringing joint teams together at the EPIC Center will further strengthen this relationship and accelerate the development of technologies needed to address increasing complexity in future chip manufacturing roadmaps.

Y.J. Mii, Executive Vice President and Co-Chief Operating Officer of TSMC, emphasized that as semiconductor architectures continue to evolve with each generation, demands on materials engineering and process integration are becoming significantly more complex. He highlighted that global challenges driven by AI require deeper industry collaboration, and that the EPIC Center provides an ideal environment to accelerate readiness for next-generation manufacturing tools and processes.

Through this collaboration, the two companies will focus on key areas of advanced materials innovation and process development. These include continued improvements in power, performance, and area (PPA) for advanced logic nodes to meet rising demand from AI and high-performance computing (HPC), as well as the development of new materials and manufacturing equipment capable of precisely forming increasingly complex 3D transistor and interconnect structures.

Another focus area is advanced process integration techniques aimed at improving yield, variability control, and reliability as semiconductor devices move toward vertically stacked and highly scaled architectures.

Prabu Raja, President of the Semiconductor Products Group at Applied Materials, added that advancing leading-edge foundry technology requires new models of collaboration and innovation. As a founding partner of the EPIC Center, TSMC will gain earlier access to Applied Materials’ innovation teams and next-generation equipment, helping shorten the path from technology development to high-volume manufacturing.

The EPIC Center represents a US$5 billion investment and is one of the largest advanced semiconductor equipment R&D initiatives in the United States. Scheduled to begin operations this year, the facility is designed to significantly shorten the commercialization cycle from early-stage research to full-scale production.

For chip manufacturers, the EPIC Center is expected to provide earlier access to advanced R&D platforms, accelerate learning cycles, and support faster transition of next-generation technologies into production within a controlled collaborative environment. Through joint innovation programs, Applied Materials also aims to gain broader multi-node technology insights, guiding future R&D investments while improving productivity and enabling shared value creation across the ecosystem.