German innovation organisation SPRIND and Dutch counterpart NADI are investing 40 million euro in small research teams accelerating chip design with AI.
Germany’s Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation (SPRIND) and its Dutch counterpart, the National Agency for Disruptive Innovation (NADI), have announced their first partnership programme, where they will sponsor the development of chip design both supporting and incorporating 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 Jano Costard, Head of Challenges, SPRIND.
“NADI’s mission is 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,” said Jelle Prins, co-founder of NADI.
Securing Europe’s chip sovereignty
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.
Speeding up the lengthy development process
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:
- Stage 1, from November to July 2027, will select seven teams, each receiving €2.6m.
- Stage 2 will run for the year afterwards, shortlisting three teams to receive €7m each.
The programme will also facilitate insight sharing from technical and commercial industry leads to help bring the new chip designs to market.
