By Meryl Kao / Staff reporter
Egis Technology Inc (神盾) yesterday signed a strategic partnership with French processor designer SiPearl to jointly develop central processing units (CPU), targeting high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI) and data center applications.
The partnership links Egis’ ARM-based Mobius100 (M100) CPU project with SiPearl, combining Taiwanese and French technology and commercial resources to advance processor development, Egis said in a statement.
Egis, which started as a fingerprint sensor designer, has expanded its product portfolio through its subsidiaries into silicon intellectual property, universal chiplet interconnect express technology, advanced packaging and server CPUs.
From left, Alcor Micro chairman Lee Yi-ping, SiPearl chief executive officer Philippe Notton and Egis Technology chairman Steve Ro sign an agreement at a ceremony in Taipei yesterday.
Photo courtesy of Egis
As AI applications diversify and expand into more vertical industries, Egis has stepped up its efforts to develop chiplet technology and heterogeneous integration, with investments made about two years ago now beginning to bear fruit, the company said.
Egis’ 3-nanometer chiplet is expected to tape out in the first quarter of next year, with mass production slated for the second half of 2028, Egis chairman Steve Ro (羅森洲) told reporters on the sidelines of a signing ceremony for the SiPearl collaboration.
Egis’ chiplets were mainly developed through its subsidiary Alcor Micro (安國).
The partnership with SiPearl would help it expand into European and Middle Eastern markets, with cooperation on second and third-generation products already being planned, Ro said.
The broader roadmap extends across nearly four generations through 2035, while the group is also planning a 12-nanometer AI chip, he said.
SiPearl is a French start-up developing high-performance CPUs for supercomputing, AI and data centers.
The company previously raised 130 million euros (US$146 million), with investors including Cathay Venture Inc (國泰創投), a venture capital arm of Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控).
“The partnership with Egis and Alcor Micro would deepen technology cooperation between Taiwan and Europe, and help develop advanced, resilient hardware solutions for global HPC, AI and data center markets,” SiPearl chief executive officer Philippe Notton said.
Egis plans to center its CPU development work on the latest ARM architecture and build a broader partner ecosystem with Taiwanese suppliers from foundry, chip packaging and CPU customers, Ro said.
The company aims to advance technology development and business opportunities through closer cooperation among industry players, he added.
Through its chiplet and design service businesses, the group has received strong market interest in specialized AI applications and plans to target opportunities in agentic AI, servers and vertical industries, Alcor Micro senior special assistant Cindy Chen (陳巧昕) said.
Beyond Europe, the Middle East and the US, the group also maintains close cooperation with customers and partners in Japan and South Korea, Chen said.