Singapore’s Silicon Box to build $3.5b AI chip factory in Italy

Silicon Box factory in Singapore / Photo credit: Silicon Box

Silicon Box, a Singapore-based semiconductor firm, plans to invest 3.2 billion euros (US$3.5 billion) into building a chip factory in northern Italy, Bloomberg reported. However, the government didn’t reveal the sources of this investment’s financing.

Italian Industry Minister Adolfo Urso made this announcement after failing to attract US chipmaker Intel to the country, the report noted.

Once fully operational, the factory is set to provide up to 1,600 jobs. It will focus on producing chiplets, which takes a modular approach to building processors and allows for the creation of more energy-efficient systems.

This move marks a significant step in the growth of Italy’s tech sector in the face of rising global chip demand. The global semiconductor market is projected to grow 13.1% this year to US$588 billion.

In January, Silicon Box raised US$200 million in funding, pushing its value past US$1 billion. The company’s key investors include BRV Capital, Event Horizon Capital, Lam Capital, and TDK Ventures.

The firm said at the time that it would use the funds to expand its chiplet tech globally and support the development of large language models, generative AI, mobile computing, data centers, and automotive tech.

Silicon Box was founded in 2021 by industry veterans, including the billionaire husband-and-wife duo behind US-based semiconductor firm Marvell Technology.

The startup enables chip designers to transition from single-chip processing to a chiplet architecture. Its US$2 billion factory in Singapore has been mass-producing chiplets since October 2023.

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