The European Union has made a significant stride in securing its technological autonomy and semiconductor innovation capacity by investing €700 million in a new state-of-the-art microelectronics facility—known as NanoIC. Described as Europe’s largest pilot line under the Chips Act, the NanoIC facility was officially inaugurated this week, as reported in the article “EU invests €700 million in newly opened NanoIC: Europe’s largest Chips Act pilot line” on the European Commission’s Digital Strategy website.
Situated in Grenoble, France, the NanoIC facility aims to position the EU at the forefront of next-generation integrated circuit (IC) development. The project will focus on designing and testing nanoscale chips operating at or below the 10-nanometer threshold, essential for future breakthroughs in high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, and secure connectivity.
Part of a wider €2.5 billion initiative, NanoIC is led by CEA-Leti, a premier French microelectronics research institute, and brings together over 100 partners across industry and academia. The facility plays a critical role in the EU Chips Joint Undertaking, an ambitious public-private partnership to reduce dependency on foreign chip supplies and ramp up domestic manufacturing capabilities.
Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for the Internal Market, stressed that the opening of NanoIC represents a concrete deliverable under the EU Chips Act. The Act, adopted in 2023, seeks to double the EU’s global semiconductors market share from the current 10 percent to 20 percent by 2030. “This new pilot line is a fundamental step to keep Europe in the global race for advanced chips,” Breton said during the opening ceremony.
Beyond its strategic objectives in geopolitics and digital sovereignty, the NanoIC initiative is also expected to have substantial economic impacts. It is projected to create thousands of skilled jobs and help bridge the innovation gap between laboratory research and full-scale production. With its focus on advanced materials, heterogeneous integration, and energy-efficient processes, NanoIC is designed to reduce the time-to-market for novel semiconductor solutions while strengthening Europe’s technological competitiveness.
The project has garnered broad support from both the public and private sectors, with key stakeholders emphasizing its importance in ensuring supply chain resilience. By establishing an industrial-grade environment focused on experimentation and pre-industrial manufacturing, NanoIC will serve as a common platform for startups, SMEs, and large-scale companies to co-develop new chip designs with access to cutting-edge infrastructure.
The pilot line is one of several initiatives under the Chips for Europe programme, which represents the EU’s most comprehensive response to the global semiconductor supply crisis. As global demand for semiconductors accelerates, the strategic imperative for secure and sustainable production lines has become a focal point of innovation policy worldwide. With NanoIC, the European Union underscores its commitment to leading in the most advanced segments of chip technology.
While the road to self-sufficiency in semiconductors remains challenging, the launch of NanoIC demonstrates a tangible movement toward closing the gap between Europe and its global competitors. As the continent pushes forward in implementing the Chips Act, this new investment reaffirms a long-term strategic vision anchored in innovation, security, and economic resilience.
