TSMC to open chip design centre in Munich, could later support AI development

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said on Tuesday (May 27) it will open a design centre in Munich, Germany, which could at a later date help develop chips via leading manufacturing processes for applications such as artificial intelligence (AI).

President of TSMC Europe, Paul de Bot, said at the company’s 2025 Technology Symposium event that the Munich Design Centre would open during the third quarter of 2025.

“It’s intended to support European customers in designing high-density, high-performance, and energy-efficient chips with a focus on applications again in automotive, industrial, AI, and IoT,” de Bot said.

Europe is currently formulating a strategy to catch up with the US and China on AI.

TSMC is building together with Infineon, NXP and Robert Bosch a new 10 billion euros (S$14.6 billion) microchip manufacturing plant in Dresden, Germany, through a joint venture called European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC).

When asked if ESMC or the design centre could assist in meeting Europe’s AI chips ambitions at a later stage, executive Kevin Zhang said TSMC has engaged in conversations with its partners.

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“I’m all for building up the most semiconductor capability in Europe for AI applications... This design centre obviously potentially can be leveraged to bring the leading node support,” Zhang said in a press briefing with journalists, referring to advanced processes used to make AI chips, among others.

The Munich centre will work on all ESMC nodes, not exclusively depending on the future customer base, he said.

TSMC joins its largest customer in the Bavarian capital, Apple, which has invested two billion euros to build its largest engineering hub in Europe there.

Dresden-based ESMC aims to manufacture chips using smaller manufacturing technology previously unavailable at European chipmakers such as Infineon, STMicroelectronics, or NXP.

“We have to be on the ground right here closer. We need to have people here to really directly engage with customers,” Zhang added. REUTERS