TSMC unveils advanced process in U.S. to meet AI chip demand

Taipei, April 24 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) on Wednesday unveiled a slew of advanced technologies at its North America Technology Symposium in California, with a focus on its next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) chips.

TSMC Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) hosted the opening ceremony in Santa Clara for the company's flagship customer event of the year, which drew registrations from more than 2,500 attendees.

"Representing a significant advancement from TSMC's industry-leading N2 process," the A14 logic process technology is designed to drive AI transformation "by delivering faster computing and greater power efficiency," TSMC said in a statement on Thursday.

TSMC's current A14 development is progressing smoothly, with its yield performance ahead of schedule, and the process is expected to enter production in 2028, according to the statement.

Compared to the N2 process, which is about to enter volume production later this year, the A14 could offer up to a 15 percent speed improvement at the same power level, or it could reduce power consumption by up to 30 percent at the same speed, TSMC said.

In addition, the company said, it continues to advance its Chip on Wafer on Substrate (CoWoS) technology for high-performance computing applications to address AI's enormous need for more logic and high-bandwidth memory (HBM).

TSMC also said it plans to bring its 9.5 reticle size CoWoS to volume production in 2027.

After showcasing its revolutionary System-on-Wafer (SoW) technology in 2024, TSMC on Wednesday unveiled its SoW-X, a CoWoS-based platform to create a wafer-sized system, which has computing power 40 times greater than the current CoWoS solution, with mass production planned for 2027.

In addition, the company also debuted new logic, specialty, advanced packaging, and 3D chip stacking technologies, which it said will contribute to broad technology platforms for high-performance computing (HPC), smartphone, automotive, and Internet of Things (IoT).

These include the N4C RF, the latest generation of TSMC's radio frequency technology, designed to meet the requirements of emerging standards such as WiFi8 and AI-enabled True Wireless Stereo platforms. The N4C RF is scheduled to enter risk production in the first quarter of 2026, according to the company.