The early calculations have indicated that Google is working to produce new open-source chips in collaboration with NIST. Will Grannis said that it is supposedly hundreds of times cheaper for manufacturers and researchers. On September 13, the CEO of Google Public Sector announced the significance of the R&D agreement in an interview.
Moreover, the R&D agreement was signed between Google and the Department of Commerce. It was considered a type of open-source project to enhance cybersecurity by encouraging cooperation on hardware design with security researchers. The early figures showed it would supposedly become hundreds of times cheaper for researchers and manufacturers.
Google’s Recent Partnership is Efficient and Effective
Google Public Sector CEO added the latest public-private partnership is considered economically more efficient and effective. It would establish a leadership position for chip design manufacturing in the United States. The recent agreement with NIST will produce more than 40 different circuit designs for the chips. Google will pay the initial production costs and the first production run.
Keep in mind that a Minnesota-based Sky Water Technology firm Bloomington will manufacture these chips. However, the R&D agreement is designed to support the invention of the university and startup researchers. The circuit designs of NIST are open-source to allow academic and small business researchers to use the chips.
Open-Source is Essential to Manufacturing a Device
However, open source is essential to the manufacturing of any modern electronic device without any restrictions or licensing fees. The research physicist at NIST, Brian Hoskins, said the recent collaboration between Sky Water and Google is the only domestic provider. This partnership of an open-source process will design kits for producing semiconductor wafers.
Hoskins added the company is interested in providing the US domestically sourced manufacturing test vehicle. The company will distribute it to the public without requiring a license or any restriction. So, this is currently the only mechanism to do that. However, the members of the academic community have asked for better access to the semiconductor supply chain.
The Recent Chip Partnership is Considerably Cheaper
The company is now estimating its requirements and efficiently trying to respond to them. The tech giant and the Department of Commerce said the chip partnership will make it considerably cheaper. It would provide ease to university researchers and small commercial manufacturers to produce inventive chip designs. It will efficiently fulfill the specific needs of everyday products for the federal government.
Meanwhile, the new chip designs will offer bottom-layer chips with modified structures for measuring and performance testing of components. It includes new types of memory devices, bioelectronics, Nano-sensors, and more advanced devices essential for AI and quantum computing. Keep in mind that it is more difficult to produce new memory tech if you don’t access it.
A Series of Workshops Allowed the Recent Collaboration
Hoskins also said an intermediate step could have the ability to prototype at the millions level. It is essential prior to moving on to the final production process. However, the gap between academic research and technology commercialization needs more concentration. The latest collaboration took place with a series of workshops. The National Science Foundation conducted these workshops.
Moreover, NIST officials met with Google’s program managers at these events. They realized that both companies were specifically working on common objectives in the chip manufacturing area. It is noteworthy that Grannis is the founder, leader of the CTO Office of Google, and a 7-year veteran of the company. He has excellent private sector experience including 6 years at Boeing as a product manager.
