German Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation, SPRIND and the Dutch National Agency for Disruptive Innovation (NADI) are investing €40 million in small research teams accelerating chip design with AI.
The agencies said the partnership programme, which is the first between them, was aimed at sponsoring the development of chip design, supporting and incorporating artificial intelligence (AI).
“The launch of NADI’s first programme is a huge statement of Europe’s intent to combine two of the continent’s greatest strengths: collaboration and innovation… We expect to see more nations commit to backing pan-European, radical breakthroughs. The need is great, and the model works,” said SPRIND head of Challenges, Jano Costard.
Also, NADI co-founder, Jelle Prins said his organisation’s mission was to catalyse breakthrough innovation in areas of significant societal and economic importance. “We are excited to run our first Challenge together with SPRIND, on a topic that is strategically relevant for the Netherlands and Europe. SPRIND has been advising the Dutch government on how to set up NADI, and this collaboration is the next opportunity for us to learn from their experience,” Costard said.
Currently, America and China dominate the global tech market, with the US particularly dominant when it comes to AI and the chip sector. Recent energy price pressures and supply chain issues have highlighted how Europe’s home industry needs to expand to meet demand.
SPRIND and NADI are hoping that by combining German research and industrial production and the resources within the Netherlands’ healthy ecosystem of tech companies and €33.6 billion semiconductor sector, European chip design can become more competitive on the global stage and ensure security at home.
Designing and developing new chips often takes years, but it is hoped that AI will help accelerate this process. The Challenge will run over 20 months in two stages, with stage 1 beginning from November 2026 to July 2027. The selected seven teams will receive €2.6 million each. Stage 2 will run for the year afterwards, shortlisting three teams that will receive €7 million each.
The programme will also facilitate insight sharing from technical and commercial industry leads to help bring the new chip designs to market.
