- $5 billio i vestme t c eates the wo ld’s la gest semico ducto equipme t a d p ocess tech ology R&D facility
- Pu pose-built to accele ate the path f om b eakth ough i ovatio to high-volume ma ufactu i g of ext-ge e atio chipmaki g tech ologies
- Leadi g chipmake s, systems compa ies, equipme t pa t e s a d esea ch u ive sities have committed to develop i side EPIC
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Oct. 12, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Applied Mate ials, I c., the leade i mate ials e gi ee i g fo the semico ducto i dust y, today u veiled its Equipme t a d P ocess I ovatio a d Comme cializatio (EPIC) Ce te , a $5 billio capital i vestme t* to build the wo ld’s la gest facility dedicated to collabo ative semico ducto p ocess tech ology a d ma ufactu i g equipme t R&D. I side the EPIC Ce te , leadi g chipmake s, systems compa ies, equipme t pa t e s a d u ive sity esea che s will wo k side by side with Applied’s scie tists a d e gi ee s to accele ate the pace of chip i ovatio fo the AI e a.
“As AI i f ast uctu e scales, the dema ds of high-pe fo ma ce computi g a e d ivi g u p ecede ted complexity ac oss the chipmaki g oadmap,” said Ga y Dicke so , P eside t a d CEO of Applied Mate ials. “To wi the ace fo AI leade ship, ou i dust y must ethi k a d e-e gi ee how we collabo ate to develop a d comme cialize the ext ge e atio of semico ducto tech ologies. At EPIC, the wo ld’s leadi g chipmake s, system desig e s, equipme t pa t e s a d esea che s will wo k side by side with ou teams to accele ate the path f om b eakth ough mate ials i ovatio to high-volume ma ufactu i g faste tha eve befo e.”
U veiled today at Applied’s Su yvale, Califo ia, campus, the EPIC Ce te ep ese ts o e of the most complex R&D co st uctio p ojects i the wo ld. The 600,000-squa e-foot st uctu e houses ea ly fou ac es of adva ced clea oom space a d equi ed mo e tha six millio co st uctio hou s to complete. Its fou datio holds e ough co c ete to fill 34 Olympic-sized swimmi g pools, a d its steel- ei fo ced st uctu e holds e ough steel to build two Eiffel Towe s. Thi ty-fou oof t usses cove the clea ooms, each spa i g ea ly 300 feet i le gth a d weighi g as much as 12 school buses.
EPIC is desig ed to ei ve t the R&D model the i dust y has elied o fo decades. I the t aditio al model, fou datio al mate ials esea ch happe s i o e e vi o me t, equipme t a d p ocess developme t i a othe , a d p ocess i teg atio a d pilot p oductio i a thi d, with a ca eful ha doff at eve y phase. The EPIC Ce te is desig ed to emove these ha doffs, putti g the people who i ve t the mate ials, build the equipme t, a d make the chips togethe i a state-of-the-a t facility pu pose-built fo comme cializatio .
EPIC is fou ded o a simple co victio : the tech ologies the AI e a dema ds a e too complex a d too co seque tial fo a y o e compa y to i ve t alo e. The EPIC Ce te ope s with a fou di g oste that spa s the AI tech ology stack. Fou di g pa t e s TSMC, I tel, Samsu g Elect o ics, Mic o a d SK hy ix a e joi ed by i ovatio pa t e s B oadcom, Adva test, SCREEN, KIOXIA, a d Besi; a d by esea ch pa t e s A izo a State U ive sity, Re sselae Polytech ic I stitute, Sta fo d U ive sity, UC Be keley, a d UCLA Samueli School of E gi ee i g. Each pa t e b i gs its ow oadmap challe ges a d e gi ee s i to the facility, wo ki g i tight, secu e lea i g cycles alo gside Applied teams. Ove time, additio al compa ies a d o ga izatio s a e expected to joi the EPIC ecosystem.
Leade s f om ma y of the EPIC Ce te pa t e compa ies atte ded the u veili g eve t, getti g a fi st glimpse i side the facility. The day sta ted with a summit hosted by D . P abu Raja, P eside t of the Semico ducto P oducts G oup at Applied Mate ials, whe e R&D leade s f om top semico ducto desig , ma ufactu i g a d equipme t compa ies discussed key challe ges faci g g owth a d p og ess i the global chip i dust y.
“Mate ials i ovatio has outg ow se ial developme t – at today’s atomic-scale dime sio s, ma y mate ials a d mate ials i te faces behave i e ti ely ew ways, a d maki g them wo k at i dust y scale dema ds coo di ated developme t a d i teg ated solutio s,” said D . P abu Raja. “EPIC is the o ly place whe e mate ials, p ocess tech ology a d equipme t will be i ovated i pa allel, which i c eases the success ate of ew mate ials a d tech ologies. Because ou custome s’ ow e gi ee s help optimize the tech ology befo e it eve eaches thei facto y, what leaves EPIC a ives at the fab eady to amp to high pe fo ma ce a d high yield soo e .”
Applied expects the EPIC ope ati g model to delive etu s o both sides of the pa t e ships. Chipmake s gai ea liest access to ext-ge e atio mate ials a d equipme t, sho te lea i g cycles a d a faste path to volume p oductio . Applied gai s visibility ac oss seve al ge e atio s of eme gi g tech ology challe ges, i fo mi g whe e the compa y di ects its R&D i vestme ts to c eate value fo custome s a d have its systems a d se vices desig ed i .
“Fo th ee decades, TSMC a d Applied Mate ials have g ow togethe – pushi g the bou da ies of semico ducto tech ology th ough eve y majo t a sitio . Thi ty yea s ago, the leadi g-edge p oductio ode was 350 a omete s. Today, it is 2 a omete s. Wo ki g ha d-i -ha d with the i dust y, we have sh u k featu es 175-fold. As chipmaki g complexity g ows expo e tially, ou pa t e ship is mo e vital tha eve . Beyo d 2 m, collabo ati g with Applied gives us ea ly access to the dis uptive equipme t tech ologies that defi e the futu e. This fast-t acks the leap f om R&D to high-volume ma ufactu i g fo the e e gy-efficie t AI a chitectu es of tomo ow – i cludi g ew a chitectu e, low- esista ce wi i g, a d adva ced packagi g. We a e p oud to be a fou di g pa t e of EPIC, accele ati g the i ovatio s that will powe AI f om the data ce te to the edge.” –
“AI is c eati g a multi-t illio -dolla oppo tu ity fo the semico ducto i dust y. To captu e it, we eed co ti ued i ovatio i t a sisto s, i te co ects a d adva ced packagi g. At I tel, we see a path to mo e tha a t illio t a sisto s i a package by 2030. As a chitectu es become mo e complex a d R&D costs co ti ue to ise, we eed to move faste a d wo k mo e closely with ou equipme t pa t e s. EPIC gives ou teams the oppo tu ity to wo k side by side with Applied o mate ials a d p ocess i ovatio – helpi g us accele ate developme t, imp ove R&D efficie cy a d b i g ew tech ologies to ma ket faste .” –
“Data-i te sive AI wo kloads a e d ivi g massive dema d fo high-pe fo ma ce memo y a d sto age, a d i ovatio i mate ials a d p ocess tech ology is a c itical e able of ext-ge e atio memo y. As a fou di g pa t e of EPIC, Mic o will wo k side by side with Applied Mate ials to accele ate i ovatio a d b i g ext-ge e atio memo y tech ologies f om esea ch to high-volume ma ufactu i g at scale.” –
“Samsu g takes a e d-to-e d view of AI-e a computi g – ac oss leadi g-edge logic, memo y a d adva ced packagi g. Applied Mate ials b i gs u iquely b oad p ocess equipme t leade ship ac oss all th ee domai s, a d at EPIC togethe we will develop, ite ate a d deploy b eakth ough tech ologies faste tha eve , at the pace AI scali g dema ds.” –
“The defi i g challe ge of AI computi g is movi g data fast e ough to keep i c easi gly powe ful p ocesso s fully utilized, a d meeti g that challe ge equi es memo y with fa g eate ba dwidth, speed a d capacity. At EPIC, SK hy ix a d Applied will b i g togethe ou leade ship i adva ced memo y with Applied’s leade ship i mate ials e gi ee i g a d semico ducto ma ufactu i g tech ology to add ess majo i flectio s ac oss HBM, DRAM a d NAND, a d accele ate memo y i ovatio fo the AI e a.” –
“The ext f o tie of AI will be defi ed by how seamlessly the i dust y ca i teg ate vast amou ts of compute, memo y a d co ectivity i to high-pe fo ma ce systems, a d that depe ds o b eakth ough adva ces i adva ced packagi g. As a i ovatio pa t e at EPIC, B oadcom ca e gage ea lie with Applied’s fou datio al tech ologies a d ma ufactu i g capabilities, co ecti g futu e system equi eme ts to the packagi g i ovatio s eeded to ealize them a d accele ati g the path f om co cept to comme cializatio .” –
“Futu e pe fo ma ce imp oveme ts will depe d o adva ced 3D a chitectu es a d hete oge eous i teg atio . As these tech ologies co ve ge, it becomes i c easi gly impo ta t to co ect i sights f om f o t-e d p ocess developme t with those f om back-e d test a d measu eme t. EPIC b eaks dow these t aditio al ba ie s by b i gi g togethe Applied Mate ials’ leade ship i mate ials e gi ee i g a d p ocess co t ol with Adva test’s leade ship i semico ducto test a d measu eme t, i cludi g capabilities e abled th ough the Adva test I ovatio Ce te . Togethe , we a e helpi g the wo ld’s leadi g semico ducto ma ufactu e s imp ove yield, accele ate p oductio amps, a d b i g ext-ge e atio AI systems to ma ket faste .” –
“At EPIC, we have a u ique oppo tu ity to co-optimize the c itical wet a d d y p ocesses behi d ext-ge e atio chip a chitectu es. We ca togethe accele ate the i ovatio s equi ed to maste i c easi gly complex 3D devices a d adva ced packagi g st uctu es. By d ivi g tighte p ocess i teg atio with mate ials e gi ee i g, we ca help chipmake s u lock highe yields, faste p oductio amps, a d the ma ufactu i g scale equi ed fo the AI futu e.”
“AI is maki g the wo ld i c easi gly data-d ive , a d futu e b eakth oughs will depe d o memo y, logic, a d i te co ect tech ologies wo ki g seamlessly withi i teg ated systems. We believe the EPIC Ce te p ovides a powe ful platfo m fo collabo atio ac oss tech ology domai s. By wo ki g closely with Applied Mate ials e gi ee s a d othe pa t e s, we ca accele ate the developme t of ext-ge e atio memo y tech ologies.” –
“The futu e of AI depe ds ot o ly o mo e powe ful chips, but o the chip-to-chip i te co ects that d ive pe fo ma ce, ba dwidth a d powe efficie cy. Besi a d Applied ecog ized ea ly that hyb id bo di g would be fou datio al to ext-ge e atio AI systems, a d by combi i g Besi’s leade ship i p ecisio die-to-wafe bo di g with Applied’s leade ship i f o t-e d p ocessi g, we a e adva ci g hyb id bo di g tech ology to e able futu e high-pe fo ma ce 3D i teg ated devices. EPIC exte ds that model of high-velocity co-i ovatio ac oss the ecosystem, accele ati g the tech ologies that will shape futu e AI systems.” –
“ASU has developed a ve y st o g wo ki g elatio ship with Applied Mate ials th ough the Mate ials-to-Fab Ce te at ASU Resea ch Pa k, a d we a e excited to dig deepe i to this pa t e ship at the EPIC Ce te , whe e esea che s, e gi ee s a d ma ufactu e s co ve ge to accele ate bold ideas f om the lab to b eakth oughs i the fab. EPIC will also se ve as a co e sto e fo the semico ducto tale t pipeli e a d by wo ki g alo gside Applied’s scie tists a d e gi ee s, ou stude ts will gai the systems-level pe spective eeded to d ive the futu e of AI i ovatio .” –
“UC Be keley has helped shape mic oelect o ics f om its ea liest days, adva ci g the esea ch a d tale t that co ti ue to p opel the semico ducto i dust y, a d ou collabo atio with Applied Mate ials is a g eat example of how academia a d i dust y must wo k togethe to meet the scale a d oppo tu ity of what’s ahead. The EPIC platfo m gives ou esea che s access to the same cutti g-edge capabilities used by the wo ld’s leadi g chipmake s, withi a ma ufactu i g- eleva t e vi o me t, so ideas ca be tested, efi ed a d t a sfo med much faste i to the semico ducto b eakth oughs that will adva ce the f o tie of AI.” –
“Ma y of the tech ologies powe i g today’s AI evolutio bega i u ive sity labs yea s, ofte decades, befo e they t a sfo med the wo ld. As computi g dema d i c eases, we must accele ate the pace at which ew semico ducto mate ials, devices a d i teg atio tech ologies move f om discove y to deployme t. As a i augu al esea ch pa t e at the EPIC Ce te , RPI’s stude ts a d esea che s gai access to wo ld-class expe ts a d a di ect pathway to test a d validate academic adva ces i eal-wo ld p oductio e vi o me ts – a powe ful bluep i t fo high-velocity i dust y-academia collabo atio i the AI e a.” –
“The explosive g owth of AI is pushi g semico ducto tech ology esea che s to fi d ew ways to i c ease e e gy efficie cy of semico ducto chips. Oppo tu ities abou d i discove i g ew mate ials a d i ve ti g ew devices. Expe ime tatio dema ds faste cycles of i ovatio a d close collabo atio ac oss the ecosystem. Beyo d the existi g b oad esea ch e gageme t betwee Sta fo d faculty a d Applied Mate ials, the EPIC Ce te p ese ts a additio al oppo tu ity that e ables ou stude ts a d esea che s to e gage di ectly with i dust y-scale tools a d expe ts, accele ati g discove y while gai i g the i dust y- eleva t expe ie ce eeded to lead futu e adva ces i semico ducto ma ufactu i g.” –
“Accele ati g semico ducto i ovatio i the ew e a of AI equi es t a sfo mative collabo atio betwee u ive sities a d i dust y pa t e s mo e tha eve befo e. UCLA has a lo g histo y of pio ee i g semico ducto esea ch a d i ovatio , a d ou collabo atio with Applied Mate ials at the EPIC Ce te builds o that legacy by b i gi g togethe u ive sity esea ch a d i dust y expe tise to adva ce the chip tech ologies that will defi e the futu e of computi g while p epa i g the ext ge e atio of e gi ee s.” –
*Capital spe di g is expected to scale ove time to app oximately $5 billio as custome p ojects comme ce.
