Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that it has formed an alliance with the University of Tokyo to develop advanced semiconductor technology and explore solutions to solve the physical limits of circuit scaling.
It is the first “organization-wide” collaboration launched by TSMC, as the world’s largest contract chipmaker has only teamed up with individual academics in the past.
The company would provide its CyberShuttle multiproject wafer prototyping service to the Systems Design Lab of the university’s Graduate School of Engineering, a joint statement said.
The lab, launched last month, would adopt TSMC’s Open Innovation Platform Virtual Design Environment for its chip design process, the statement said, adding that the alliance would help turn the lab’s designs into functioning chips.
The two sides also plan to collaborate on cutting-edge research in materials, physics, chemistry and other fields to push the limits of scaling, as well as explore other paths to advance semiconductor technology, the statement said.
University researchers from a wide range of disciplines earlier this month met with TSMC technologists at a symposium in Hsinchu to identify opportunities for collaborative research, the firm said.
TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) at a semiconductor trade show in Taipei in September called for extensive partnerships between the government, academia and industry to boost basic scientific research in Taiwan.
This would be crucial to industrial transformation and contribute to the world semiconductor industry for another 60 years, he said.
Local firms’ investment in basic scientific research last year rose for a third consecutive year to NT$44.9 billion (US$1.47 billion), making up 7.28 percent of the nation’s total research and development spending of NT$616 billion, government data showed.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI