Intel Corp twitted a press release with the title "Are Chips the Testbed for Increased Transatlantic Cooperation?" recently, making clear its stance to support a collaboration between the US and the EU to yield the greatest benefits from investments in leading-edge manufacturing investments and more advanced semiconductor research.

The presser, authored by Riccardo Masucci, director of security and technology policy and Greg Slater, vice president of global regulatory affairs at Intel, compared the initiatives proposed by the EU and America, showing that the EU Chips Act not only has an implementation advantage over that of the US, it also requires the companies that apply the subsidies to be "first-of-a-kind" facilities as well as a commitment to invest in "next-generation chips," while the US only stressed that the facilities have to be "in the interest of the United States."

They stressed that aligning the semiconductor policies and principles of both sides of the Atlantic is "of utmost importance to achieve their common long-term objectives, yet finding shared solutions is key to practical implementation." Intel referred to the EU's requirement for member states to "expedite permitting processes of semiconductor facilities, and even allows derogations in permit granting procedures, including in certain environmental assessments if other conditions are met" as examples of such "practical implementations."

Areas such as talent training, pre-competitive semiconductor research and development to tackle challenges such as "patterning technologies beyond today's extreme ultra-violate lithography, transistor stacking process flows for improved density and finding new interconnect materials for improved density, performance and reliability" are mentioned as priorities for collaborations between the EU and the US.

Intel said it is already benefiting from bilateral R&D programs with CEA-Leti of France, IMEC of Belgium, and Fraunhofer in Germany on photoresist and advanced packaging projects.

Hendrik Bourgeois, vice president of European Government Affairs at Intel, wrote to a media in Europe, urging the European lawmakers not to see semiconductors as a "zero-sum" game.

"When it comes to chips, the EU is not only pushing the frontiers of innovation with success stories like ASML and IMEC, but also pursuing a policy for semiconductors that will deliver results faster and better than the US," wrote Bourgeois.

IMEC shared its sub-'1nm' silicon and transistor roadmap at its Future Summit event in Antwerp, Belgium in late May 2022. They revealed a roadmap with a timeline through 2036, in which architectures and transistor design breakthroughs will push chip processing towards sub 1nm nodes. IMEC will research and develop in its labs in cooperation with TSMC, Intel, Samsung, and ASML, among many others.

It is not difficult to figure out that Intel is striving to be the largest beneficiary in a transatlantic collaboration in chips. After all, Intel has announced to invest of 80 billion euros to build fabs in Europe and another multibillion-dollar project in Ohio.

Europe not only houses top-ranked R&D institutes and the most advanced chip processing equipment manufacturer, its largest semiconductor companies – Infinieon, STMicroelectronics, and NXP together enjoy nearly 60% of the global auto chips and micro-controller chip markets while playing an important role in industrial power chips and discrete chips. Since Intel has started a foundry business, these European companies can also become potential clients.

Will Intel be able to make a legendary comeback by 2025 as promised by its CEO Pat Gelsinger? It is not difficult to tell that Intel is banking heavily on capturing the benefits a transatlantic alliance in chips can bring.

By: DocMemory
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