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Germany’s Infineon opens major chip plant as EU seeks tech autonomy
- usrnm 4mo ago> The plant will produce chips for intelligent power management > The company ... sought to capitalise on the massive AI investment boom These chips are probably very useful and important, but I don't see what they have to do with AI. Does everything need to have the word AI these days?
- wolfi1 4mo agothere was a buzzword bingo and their application reached Bingo! first.
- alephnerd 4mo ago> don't see what they have to do with AI Not directly. This fab is meant to primarily fabricate compound semiconductors which is Infineon's niche and is a major bottleneck for European industry today. > Does everything need to have the word AI these days Because Infineon's press release [0] for their compound semiconductor fab called out "AI". Additonally, the "semiconductor" and "hardware" segment has now been rebranded has "AI" in a number of funds. By calling out something that's even tenuously tied to "AI", it allows funds that are contractually tied to investing in "AI" to purchase Infineon stock. Investor relations is important as well. [0] - https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/infineon-opens-the-worlds-largest-fab-for-power-semiconductors-and-analogmixed-signal-technologies-in-dresden-302816962.html https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/infineon-opens-the-...
- _fizz_buzz_ 4mo agoInfineon is betting big on the 800V dc power distribution that seems to become the new standard for AI data centers which is directly relevant for the chips that are made in this fab.
- tencentshill 4mo agoHopefully they can use that tech to expand the EV fast charger network once the AI bubble pops.
- _fizz_buzz_ 4mo agoI think (but I have no actual insides), they picked 800V dc for datacenter also because that is commonly used for the DC bus in EVs. So, one can share a lot of components across industries. Also, 800V just kind of works well for power transistors like SiC Fets.
- 1718627440 4mo agoI think this fab was already in construction before the AI hype, this is just marketing.
- joe_mamba 4mo ago[flagged]
- topspin 4mo ago"Process node," in the sense of logic, RAM or Flash density, isn't relevant here. These are power devices. Silicon Carbide FETS and whatnot; bulk current switching and related devices. Not frontier process node logic devices. That reality is carefully left unclear in all this "silicon sovereignty" narrative. It's a nice plant with new tooling cranking out 300mm wafers, but it's not the same game as a TSMC or Intel fab making cutting edge, high margin silicon, and there are a number of competitors making similar power devices around the world. And yes, the "AI" fluff is pure marketing nonsense; everyone needs lots of power devices for everything. Yes, they'll obviously seek lucrative contracts to supply exotic power devices for AI applications, but that stuff gets commoditized quickly.
- alephnerd 4mo agoAs I mentioned about this before [0], this is a compound semiconductor fab - a very critical bottleneck for European industry and a much more worrisome NatSec issue than sub-14nm logical chip fabrication or arguably even AI. This is not directly related to AI or logical compute, so kvetching about GPUs, SoCs, TSMC, AI, and other buzzwords is dumb. [0] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48557914 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48557914
- blitzar 4mo agoI would also like to see local PCB manufacturers - pcbway etc like. Modern production facilities might even be locally competitive given the amount of automation that can be had.
- alephnerd 4mo agoThey should, but sadly it's extremely difficult for PCB board manufacturing to return to Europe. EU has FTAs with Japan and SK, and others that dominate the segment like Taiwan, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and India have already unlocked public-private subsidized for the sector. Additionally, the big players in the industry like ZDT, Unimicron, Nippon Mekatron, Foxconn, Compeq, TTM, and Flex have much stronger financial and political linkages in Asia or the Americas. This fab itself is important, but was extremely difficult to stand-up and was largely a result of the supply chain issues that the automotive industry faced during zero covid, so it basically took 6 years to execute on this project. That lag-time is the biggest issue unless individual European states decide to take industrial policy their own hands, which becomes expensive very quickly. Concentrating on building a niche in compound semiconductors as well as 2.5/3D packaging would probably be the best bet for the EU today, but I expect to see French-German industrial rivalry to undermine coordination.
- plextoria 4mo agoDoes AISLER[1] do the same thing as pcbway? They seem to be based in Germany/EU [1] https://aisler.net/en https://aisler.net/en
- 4mo ago
- petcat 4mo agoMy understanding is that these are pretty low-tech chips only for industrial uses?
- alephnerd 4mo ago> these are pretty low-tech chips only for industrial uses I don't like this framing. These aren't logic ICs but that doesn't mean they are useless or "easy". Heck, the only countries with Gallium Nitride fabrication capabilities and knowhow are the US, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and India. In fact, compound semiconductors and power electronics is one segment where Europe's China dependency is extremely high, as they have significant uses from automotive to PLCs to weapons systems, and China has already begun embargoing the EU's access to rare earth elements [0] and has begun enforcing sanctions against the EU's aerospace and UAV industry [1]. These are dual use technologies and a major reason why both the US and China heavily invested in compound semiconductor capacity in the late 2010s and early 2020s. Edit: can't reply > In 2024 Belgium closed its only semi fab, which had recently pivoted to GaN THEMA Foundries is working in photonics, not GaNs [2]. The GaN initiative (BelGaN) failed and the only two buyers interested in buying out the property for GaN fabrication were a Chinese and Indian player [2]. [0] - https://www.reuters.com/world/china/eu-firms-brace-more-shutdowns-due-china-rare-earth-controls-despite-summit-2025-09-17/ https://www.reuters.com/world/china/eu-firms-brace-more-shut... [1] - https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3351292/china-places-7-eu-entities-export-control-list https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3351292/... [2] - https://www.semiconductor-today.com/news_items/2025/apr/belgan-110425.shtml https://www.semiconductor-today.com/news_items/2025/apr/belg...
- chicken-stew 4mo agoIn 2024 Belgium closed its only semi fab, which had recently pivoted to GaN.
- joe_mamba 4mo ago>Heck, the only countries with Gallium Nitride fabrication capabilities and knowhow are the US, China, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Germany, and India. So basically all major industrial powers? In which case I don't get the use of the world "only" here, as if the EU, the richest block in the world, deserve praise for doing something countries a lot less wealthier are doing. > and China has already begun embargoing the EU's access to rare earth elements [0] and has begun enforcing sanctions against the EU's aerospace and UAV industry [1]. The way it's framed it sounds like China is some evil bad guy for doing that but that's standard practice that the EU and US also do. The EU also restricts ASML EUV machines to China and sanctions Chinese tech in their defense sector. Standard stuff.
- TheChaplain 4mo agoFunny that the article didn't mention it. Infineon got €1bn of tax payer money to open the plant (~$1.1bn).
- advisedwang 4mo agoThe article says: > The facility was backed by the EU's Chips Act with one billion euros in subsidies
- 1718627440 4mo agoThere are worse ways to spend tax payers money.
- 48484949 4mo agoLet's see the state of this project in 5 years. Experience tends to show European projects dragging forever and then suddenly closing whilst funds mysteriously move into semi public companies with boards full to the brim with retired political figures
- logicchains 4mo agoStill better odds of success than if that money was used to pay welfare for unskilled migrants instead.
- 1718627440 4mo agoYou are aware, that this is the report of the factory being completed right?
- 48484949 4mo agomember the swedish battery superfactory I member
- Squarex 4mo agoYeah, most europeans are not aware how much do we spend on agriculture, pensions and healthcare.
- Tade0 4mo agoEDIT: Apparently it's a different plant. It's not just Infineon - it's called the European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC) and is a joint venture by TSMC, Bosch, Infineon, and NXP, with TSMC being the majority (70%) shareholder. I've met one of the engineers designing the piping for that plant. Hardest project to date for him and mainly because TSMC was setting the pace.
- jansan 4mo agoIsn't that TSMC joint venture another plant that will open next year?
- 1718627440 4mo agoThese are different plants, that are situated in the same quarter. https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1191197175 https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1191197175 vs. https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/583767292 https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/583767292
- Tade0 4mo agoYou're right, honest mistake. I checked this several times, thinking "surely there aren't two chip plants built at the same time, in roughly the same location with the same company involved?". Apparently there are.
- 1718627440 4mo agoThere are actually more than these two. There is also GlobalFoundries also on the same street, and also Bosch, although I am not sure, whether the latter is really separate from the ESMC joint venture.
- jijijijij 4mo agoI wonder how these will fare in Saxony. I presume it's an industry which will attract and depend on highly qualified foreign workers. Dresden itself may be fine, but parts of Saxony are sadly no-go areas for anyone remotely non-white, or even moderately liberal. It's a really brain-damaged region outside of Dresden and Leipzig, and even those cities are not exactly welcoming examples of diversity. Given a historic chance of prosperity, I think odds are eastern Germany will shoot itself in the foot epically with this.
- hyperionultra 4mo agoInfinity neon! A nice company name.
- jijijijij 4mo agoIf I was Queen of Germany, I would put everything into a platform like Arduino or RaspPi which can be widely used across industries and education. Some amount of taxes will be allocated to buy these boards and guarantee demand for manufacturing. Then every citizen gets such a device in return. Basically mandatory purchase. The education sector can completely lean in on the platform, abundance will have it dominate DIY projects and may create additional demand as reference platform. Whoever doesn't need it, can sell it or give it away to charity. This will stabilize a critical industry and aid digital education, engineering and so on. I feel like people would be more easy about a tax, if they get a physical product in exchange. Over time this program would be extended to include and bring back other critical industries and manufacturing capabilities, ultimately leading to citizens being able to choose their mandatory product to some extent and preference. For example it would be really cool to have a basic, but very robust and repairable sewing machine, 3D printer, ... which all aid survivability/adaptability of the collective in crisis, if widely distributed. These products would also set the baseline for quality and accessibility expectations. Of course this goes hand in hand with a 4 day work week, so people can actually learn to appreciate their mandated crisis hobbies and indulge their family and friends doing so. And if all of this doesn't pan out economically, I would simply plunder and enslave a neighboring country <3
- 1718627440 4mo agoGood, that you are not. An overpriced variant, running on marketing, of a cheap non-customizable product, riddled with design errors in the hardware and non-existent to actually broken software, without any liability and support, basically only suitable for consumers with too much time and interest, being mandatory for the industry is surely going to help.
- jijijijij 4mo agoHusch, husch, zum Schafott mit ihm!