Khaberni - As the global artificial intelligence race accelerates, a new challenge emerges that could hinder the industry. It is not related to the manufacturing of the chips themselves, but to a lesser-known stage known as "advanced packaging," which has become a major bottleneck in the supply chain.
While American companies such as "Intel" and "Nvidia" lead the development of chips, most advanced packaging operations are currently done in Asia, especially at "TSMC" in Taiwan, forcing chips manufactured in the United States to make a reverse journey to complete their manufacturing.
Why has packaging become an issue?
Packaging is the stage where chips are integrated into systems capable of interacting with devices, such as computers, cars, and robots.
With the complexity of artificial intelligence models, it's no longer just about putting a chip inside a casing, but rather an advanced process for integrating multiple chips — such as processors and high-bandwidth memory — into a single high-performance unit, according to a report published by "CNBC" and reviewed by "Al Arabiya Business".
"TSMC" relies on advanced technology known as CoWoS, which is experiencing annual growth of over 80%, given the huge demand from companies like "Nvidia," which has booked most of the available production capacity.
Chip's Journey from America to Asia
Even chips that are manufactured within the United States, like the "TSMC" plant in Arizona, are sent to Taiwan for the packaging process, before being sent back again, increasing both time and cost.
However, the company is working on building new packaging facilities within the United States, alongside its plants in Arizona, with the goal of reducing dependence on Asia and speeding up production.
"Intel" attempts to seize the opportunity
Meanwhile, "Intel" is seeking to enhance its position through packaging services, where it collaborates with companies like "Amazon" and "Cisco," and even with ambitious projects led by Elon Musk for "Tesla" and "SpaceX".
Analysts believe that packaging could become an indirect entry for Intel to attract new customers in chip manufacturing, especially with increasing American government support for the industry.
From two-dimensional to three-dimensional
Packaging technologies have evolved significantly, from traditional two-dimensional models to 2.5D technologies like CoWoS, and onto three-dimensional packaging, which allows for stacking chips on top of each other to achieve higher performance and greater efficiency.
Companies such as "Samsung," "SK Hynix," and "Micron" are developing similar technologies, especially in the area of high-bandwidth memory (HBM).
The competition in the world of chips is no longer limited to manufacturing alone, but has extended to how these chips are integrated and operated efficiently.
With the increasing demand for artificial intelligence capabilities, advanced packaging may become the decisive factor in determining who leads the next stage of the technological revolution.
