News
Applied Materials invites Japanese firms to join EPIC platform to reduce transistor power consumption
Tuesday, March 10, 2026 at 01:02 PM
Applied Materials is inviting Japanese companies to join its Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization (EPIC) platform. The initiative aims to accelerate the development of transistor technologies that could potentially reduce power consumption by a factor of 10,000.
Context
Applied Materials has invited Japanese semiconductor firms to join its EPIC (Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization) platform, a strategic initiative aimed at drastically reducing transistor power consumption. This push comes as the industry faces a critical "energy wall" due to the exponential growth of AI data centers. By leveraging the EPIC model, which facilitates earlier access to R&D and faster cycles of learning, the company aims to enable breakthrough transistor architectures that could eventually reduce power usage by as much as 10,000 times.
This invitation follows a series of high-profile expansions for the $5 billion Silicon Valley-based center, which is scheduled to become operational in 2026. Industry leaders including Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and Micron have already signed on as founding partners to co-develop next-generation logic and memory technologies. For investors, these collaborations signal a shift toward a more integrated supply chain model, accelerating the transition to 2nm nodes and beyond while addressing the urgent global demand for energy-efficient AI infrastructure.
Sources (4)
Applied Materials Announces New Collaboration Model for Advanced Packaging at Summit on Energy-Efficient Computing | Applied Materials[PDF] SEMICON West 2023 Keynote: A Collaborative Playbook For Net Zero Gary Dickerson, President and CEO, Applied Materials Prepared RApplied Materials and SK hynix Announce Long-Term R&D ...Applied Materials forges partnerships with Micron and SK Hynix for AI memory chips | Reuters
Related Companies
Applied Materials
AMAT
Micron
MU