Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) is planning to open a chip design centre in Munich, Germany, reports Reuters.
The facility is expected to contribute to the development of advanced chips for applications such as AI.
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TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot was cited by the news agency as saying at the company’s 2025 Technology Symposium that the facility is expected to become operational in the third quarter of 2025.
Bot said: “It’s intended to support European customers in designing high-density, high-performance, and energy-efficient chips with a focus on applications again in automotive, industrial, AI, and IoT.”
TSMC is also involved in a major semiconductor manufacturing project in Dresden, Germany, through a joint venture known as European Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (ESMC).
The venture, which includes partners Infineon, NXP, and Robert Bosch, is building a €10bn ($11.3bn) microchip fabrication plant aimed at boosting Europe’s production capabilities.
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By GlobalDataTSMC executive Kevin Zhang noted that the Munich centre will work on all ESMC nodes.
Zhang said that TSMC is in discussions with its partners about supporting Europe’s ambitions in AI chip development through both the ESMC plant and the new design centre.
“I’m all for building up the most semiconductor capability in Europe for AI applications… This design centre obviously potentially can be leveraged to bring the leading node support,” he added.
The ESMC facility in Dresden will manufacture chips using smaller-scale technologies that have not been previously available to European companies such as Infineon, STMicroelectronics, and NXP.
In April 2025, TSMC started construction on its third semiconductor fabrication facility in Phoenix, Arizona in the US.
TSMC’s first fab in Arizona is scheduled to begin production using 4nm technology in the first half of 2025.
A second fab will focus on advanced 2nm technology and next-generation nanosheet transistors, with production targeted for 2028.
