A smartphone with a displayed Applied Materials logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photoon Tuesday released its first major update to some of its core semiconductor manufacturing equipment in more than decade, aiming to boost the number of chips factories can make while using less energy.
Applied Materials announced the new system at a chipmaking conference in San Francisco. The United States is poised to deploy tens of billions of dollars in subsidies on chip factories and European Union lawmakers were set to enact similar legislation. The new system is also fitted with thousands of sensors that feed data into an artificial intelligence system, where factories can analyze the data to tweak manufacturing processes and cut down the use of electricity. The new system cuts energy use by about 10%, Applied said.