IBM Corp. will invest $3 billion to build a better semiconductor chip, the Armonk-based technology giant announced Thursday. The investment represents 10 percent of the company”™s entire research budget, according to Forbes.
Over the next three years, IBM will research innovations to build smaller chips to meet the tech market shift toward cloud computing and “big data” applications that require smaller parts.
The company also will research the viability of shifting materials used in chipmaking, creating durable and low-energy alternatives to what is currently on the market.
The first step in development is to scale down semiconductors to 7 nanometers from their current 22 nanometers. The company said its researchers and those at other companies expect the 22 can be scaled down to 14 and 10 in the next several years. John Kelly, senior vice president of IBM Research, said, “The question is not if we will introduce 7-nanometer technology into manufacturing, but rather how, when and at what cost?”
It was unclear how much of the research and development would be conducted at IBM’s local plants.
