GlobalFoundries Inc (NASDAQ:GFS) saw its shares rise 2.5% in premarket trading Wednesday following the announcement of a strategic collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission focused on AI chip development.
Under the arrangement, Genesis Mission-supported research teams - including participants from National Laboratories, universities, industry partners and startups - will gain access to GlobalFoundries’ U.S. manufacturing platform and design enablement resources. Those resources are intended to create a direct path from AI-enabled chip concepts to prototype silicon.
GF Labs, the company’s research and development arm, will lead the collaboration. As part of the agreement, GlobalFoundries will make available key technology platforms to Genesis Mission researchers, explicitly including process design kits (PDKs) and device models. The company will also provide prototype fabrication capacity via its multi-project wafer program.
"By bringing our U.S. manufacturing platform, our PDKs and our multi-project wafer program to the Genesis Mission, we can give researchers a real path from concept to working silicon - and help the National Labs, universities and industry pull in the same direction," said Tom Caulfield, executive chairman of GlobalFoundries.
The collaboration will concentrate on multiple technical areas, notably AI-enabled semiconductor design and prototype fabrication. It will also target advancement of next-generation technologies that the announcement identified by name, including silicon photonics for data centers and quantum computing.
The Genesis Mission is described as a U.S. Department of Energy initiative that aims to accelerate scientific discovery through artificial intelligence and advanced computing. The announcement notes that industry partners contribute technical expertise and infrastructure to help advance the mission’s objectives alongside national laboratories and academic research institutions.
The terms described in the announcement emphasize access to design enablement and prototype fabrication rather than commercial-scale production. The stated scope centers on creating pathways from design to working silicon for research-led teams supported by the Genesis Mission.
Note: The announcement details the elements of the collaboration and the parties involved; it does not specify implementation timelines, production scaling plans or other logistics beyond the technology access and prototype fabrication provisions.