Imec CEO calls for stronger AI design push in EU’s Chips Act

By Toby Sterling

ANTWERP, Belgium, May 19 (Reuters) – Europe should aim to create home-grown AI chip design companies, the new head of Belgian research hub imec said on Tuesday, as Brussels prepares a package of measures dubbed Chips Act 2.0.

Patrick Vandenameele said Europe’s first 43 billion euro ($50 billion) Chips Act, launched in 2023, had helped stabilise its industry in the face of U.S. and Chinese competition.

But the next round, due to be presented by the European Commission on May 27, should help build a stronger AI chip design ecosystem in a market dominated by U.S. companies.

“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,” said Vandenameele, who took over as CEO of imec, Europe’s leading chip research laboratory, in April.

The Commission is including its updated chip strategy as part of a larger “tech sovereignty” package. The original Chips Act failed to achieve goals of attracting advanced manufacturing and doubling the bloc’s global chip market share to 20% by 2030.

Vandenameele said Europe’s future does not lie in chip production, but building on existing strengths in equipment and design. He cited firms including ASML, ASM, BESI and EV Group as Europe’s strongest assets.

For advanced manufacturing, Vandenameele said the obvious path would be to encourage Nvidia chipmaker TSMC of Taiwan to expand its existing European manufacturing project, under construction in Dresden, to a more advanced facility.

($1 = 0.8615 euros) 

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Alexander Smith)