Applied Materials, Broadcom Collaborate on AI Chip Packaging

Applied Materials and Broadcom have announced a new collaboration on advanced semiconductor packaging technologies intended to support next-generation AI chips and high-performance computing systems.

The collaboration will involve research and development activities across Applied Materials’ global network of semiconductor innovation centers, including the company’s new EPIC Center currently under development in Silicon Valley.

As part of the agreement, Broadcom will join Applied Materials’ EPIC platform as an innovation partner focused on accelerating development and commercialization of advanced packaging architectures designed for increasingly complex AI computing environments.

Growing demand for AI infrastructure has significantly increased industry focus on advanced semiconductor packaging technologies capable of supporting higher interconnect density, improved bandwidth, lower latency, and greater performance-per-watt across multi-chip computing architectures.

Semiconductor manufacturers and system designers are increasingly adopting heterogeneous integration strategies involving multiple interconnected chips packaged together within highly optimized computing systems to address the scaling requirements associated with AI workloads and high-performance computing applications.

“The EPIC platform is designed to drive co-innovation across the ecosystem to change the way semiconductor technologies are developed and commercialized,” said Gary Dickerson, President and CEO of Applied Materials. “This new model gives leading system designers like Broadcom early access to foundational innovations in materials and process equipment, providing an opportunity for deep collaboration to accelerate the introduction of new advanced packaging technologies.”

According to the companies, the partnership is intended to accelerate development of advanced packaging building blocks supporting future AI systems requiring substantially greater interconnect density and data transfer bandwidth than conventional semiconductor architectures.

“Close collaboration with partners throughout the supply chain is critical to delivering the next generation of high-performance AI systems,” said Charlie Kawwas, President of the Semiconductor Solutions Group at Broadcom. “By bringing together Applied’s expertise in materials engineering with Broadcom’s leading capabilities in semiconductor and system design, we can accelerate the time to market for new innovations in AI.”

Applied Materials stated that Broadcom will leverage research and development activities taking place throughout the EPIC platform to evaluate semiconductor packaging technologies intended to improve system-level integration and energy-efficient compute performance.

The collaboration also reflects broader industry movement toward more integrated semiconductor ecosystem partnerships involving materials engineering, process technologies, packaging architectures, and system-level chip design as AI infrastructure requirements continue increasing.

“Innovation in advanced packaging is essential to enabling sustainable progress in the AI era,” said Dr. Prabu Raja, President of the Semiconductor Products Group at Applied Materials. “We look forward to working side-by-side with Broadcom engineers to explore new technologies for boosting performance-per-watt through advanced chip packaging. With our global innovation platform and the new EPIC Center in Silicon Valley, Applied is uniquely positioned to help chipmakers and system designers accelerate the journey from concept to commercialization.”

“Cross-ecosystem collaboration has never been more important to address the rising complexity of chips for AI systems,” said Dilip Vijay, Vice President and Head of Global Operations for Silicon Products at Broadcom. “System designers must navigate a complex array of solution paths and packaging architectures, while simultaneously driving a faster cadence of product introductions. Collaborating with Applied will provide earlier access to the foundational technologies needed to accelerate progress in advanced packaging.”

Applied Materials stated that its EPIC Center is intended to support accelerated commercialization of advanced semiconductor manufacturing and packaging technologies by reducing the time required to transition new technologies from research environments into full-scale semiconductor manufacturing.

The facility is expected to become operational during 2026.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials develops materials engineering technologies and semiconductor manufacturing systems supporting semiconductor fabrication, advanced packaging, display technologies, and next-generation electronics manufacturing worldwide. The company develops process equipment, materials engineering technologies, and manufacturing systems used throughout semiconductor production environments involving logic devices, memory, advanced packaging, AI chips, and high-performance computing systems. For more information, please click here. 

About Broadcom

Broadcom develops semiconductor technologies and infrastructure software solutions supporting networking, broadband, wireless communications, data center infrastructure, enterprise software, and high-performance computing applications. The company develops semiconductor products involving connectivity, networking, custom silicon, optical technologies, storage systems, and AI infrastructure architectures used across enterprise, cloud, telecommunications, and industrial computing environments. To learn more, please click here. 

Source/Photo Credit: Applied Materials

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