The leader of Belgium’s premier semiconductor research facility is pushing for Europe to develop its own artificial intelligence chip design companies as the European Union prepares its next major technology initiative.
Patrick Vandenameele, who became CEO of imec in April, stated that Europe’s initial 43 billion euro ($50 billion) Chips Act from 2023 successfully helped stabilize the continent’s semiconductor industry amid competition from the United States and China.
However, Vandenameele emphasized that the upcoming version, scheduled for presentation by the European Commission on May 27, must focus on strengthening Europe’s AI chip design capabilities in a sector currently controlled by American corporations.
“If we do not get the Nvidias of the future, if we don’t get any of those in Europe, that will be a problem,” Vandenameele explained during remarks in Antwerp, Belgium on Tuesday.
The European Commission plans to incorporate its revised semiconductor strategy into a broader “tech sovereignty” initiative. The initial Chips Act fell short of its objectives to attract cutting-edge manufacturing operations and increase the region’s worldwide chip market presence to 20% by 2030.
According to Vandenameele, Europe’s prospects lie not in semiconductor manufacturing but in leveraging current advantages in equipment development and design capabilities. He highlighted companies such as ASML, ASM, BESI and EV Group as representing Europe’s most valuable technological resources.
Regarding advanced manufacturing capabilities, Vandenameele suggested the logical approach would involve encouraging TSMC of Taiwan, which produces chips for Nvidia, to expand its current European manufacturing initiative beyond the facility currently being built in Dresden to include more sophisticated operations.
