Verit schreef op 20 februari 2025 11:14:
The European Commission has approved a €920M German aid to Infineon Technologies (OTCQX:IFNNY) (OTCQX:IFNNF) to help build a new semiconductor manufacturing plant in Dresden.
The measure will allow Germany-based Infineon to complete the MEGAFAB-DD project which will be able to produce a range of different types of chips, the Commission said in a press release on Thursday.
The aid will take the form of a direct grant of up to €920M to Infineon to support its investment of €3.5B, the EU regulator noted.
The manufacturing plant will bring flexible production capacity to the EU and strengthen Europe's security of supply, resilience and technological autonomy in semiconductor technologies, according to the agency.
The facility will produce two technology families — discrete power technologies used for power switching, management and control in electronic systems; and analog/mixed-signal integrated circuits.
According to the Commission, the plant will be the first one in Europe that will be able to rapidly switch its production between the two technology families while maintaining its high output capacity.
It will be a front-end facility, covering wafer processing, testing and separation.
The plant will reach its full capacity in 2031, the Commission added.
The U.S., EU, China, Japan and South Korea are among the several regions that have stepped up efforts to boost domestic chip manufacturing to stay ahead in the AI race.
Last week, the European Commission's President Ursula von der Leyen launched an initiative called InvestAI to mobilize €200B for investment in AI, including a new European fund of €20B for AI gigafactories.
The EU announced its €43B Chips Act in 2023 aimed at supporting local chipmaking. Europe also wants a Chips Act 2.0.
Last month, U.S. President Donald Trump officially announced a $500B four-year initiative called the Stargate Project to build out AI infrastructure. Previously, Trump had signed an executive order which revoked the Biden Administration's AI policies and directed the development of an AI Action Plan to boost America's AI dominance.