Applied Materials introduces the EPIC Center for Collaborative Chip Research and Development – ​​Unite.AI

Applied Materials broke ground on its Equipment and Process Innovation and Commercialization (EPIC) Center at its Sunnyvale, California campus on October 12, 2026, a facility the company describes as a $5 billion capital investment and the largest in the world dedicated to collaborative semiconductor process technology and manufacturing equipment research and development.

A footnote to the investment figure states that capital spending is expected to increase over time to approximately $5 billion as customer projects begin. Inside the center, chip makers, systems companies, equipment partners and university researchers will work together with Applied scientists and engineers. President and CEO Gary Dickerson said the scaling of AI infrastructure is driving new levels of complexity in the chip manufacturing roadmap and that the industry must redesign how it collaborates to develop and commercialize the next generation of semiconductor technologies.

A parallel development model

EPIC built and applied to replace the sequential research and development structure that the chip industry has relied on for decades. Under the traditional model, fundamental materials research occurs in one environment, equipment and process development in a second, and process integration and pilot production in a third, with a handover at each stage. The center is designed to eliminate these labor steps by bringing together in one facility the people who invent materials, build equipment and make chips. The company’s EPIC Center page says the partners work alongside Applied scientists and engineers on the technology three to four generations ahead of production, developing in parallel rather than sequentially.

Applied expects the operating model to generate returns on both sides of the partnership. Chipmakers gain timely access to next-generation materials and equipment, shorter learning cycles, and a faster path to volume production, while Applied gains visibility into multiple generations of emerging technology challenges, informing where it directs R&D investments.

The opening day began with a summit hosted by Dr. Prabu Raja, president of Applied’s Semiconductor Products Group, where R&D leaders from semiconductor design, manufacturing and equipment companies discussed the challenges facing the global chip industry. “EPIC is the only place where materials, process technology and equipment will be innovated in parallel, which increases the success rate of new materials and technologies,” Raja said.

Construction scale and sustainability

The 600,000-square-foot facility houses nearly four acres of advanced cleanrooms and required more than six million hours of construction to complete, according to the release, which characterizes EPIC as one of the most complex research and development construction projects in the world. Its foundation contains enough concrete to fill 34 Olympic-sized swimming pools, its steel-reinforced structure contains enough steel to build two Eiffel Towers, and 34 roof trusses cover the cleanrooms, each nearly 300 feet long and as heavy as 12 school buses.

The company’s EPIC page also describes the building’s sustainability features: an all-electric central volatile organic compound abatement unit and electrified central facility equipment eliminate Scope 1 stationary combustion emissions associated with central boilers, and the facility is designed to recycle and reuse approximately 40% of water.

Founding and innovative partners

The center opens with founding partners TSMC, Intel, Samsung Electronics, Micron and SK hynix, plus innovation partners Broadcom, Advantest, SCREEN, KIOXIA and Besi, and research partners Arizona State University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Stanford University, UC Berkeley and UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. Each partner brings their own challenges and roadmap engineers to the facility, working in safe learning cycles alongside Applied teams. Applied previously revealed EPIC-focused collaborations with Intel and with Besi, both of which were listed in the center’s news on its EPIC page.

Leaders from many partner companies attended the grand opening for a first look inside the facility. CC Wei, president and CEO of TSMC, said the cutting-edge manufacturing node has gone from 350 nanometers thirty years ago to 2 nanometers today, and that collaboration with Applied beyond that node gives TSMC early access to equipment technologies aimed at power-efficient AI architectures. Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said that Intel sees a path to more than a trillion transistors in a package by 2030 and that EPIC allows its engineers to work side-by-side with Applied on materials and process innovation.

Micron President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said Micron will work with Applied to take next-generation memory technologies from research to large-scale manufacturing. Jaihyuk Song, CTO of Samsung Device Solutions, said the partners will develop, iterate and implement technologies across logic, memory and advanced packaging, while SK hynix president and CEO Nohjung Kwak said the companies will address major inflections across HBM, DRAM and NAND. Broadcom Semiconductor Solutions Group President Charlie Kawwas highlighted prior engagement with Applied’s core technologies, while Besi President and CEO Richard Blickman cited joint work to advance hybrid bonding for future integrated 3D devices. Applied expects other companies and organizations to join the EPIC ecosystem over time.