SAN FRANCISCO and ZURICH—Minds.ai, a pioneering company focused on applying artificial intelligence (AI) to semiconductor manufacturing optimization and autonomy, recently secured a “significant investment” from the venture capital firm Momenta. In a release, Momenta said that Minds.ai is “poised to revolutionize semiconductor manufacturing by driving significant productivity and waste reduction advancements.”
Semiconductor manufacturing facilities, or “fabs,” are perhaps the world’s most expensive, complex, and productive factories. Building and outfitting a new fab can cost as much as $20 billion. The latest fabs are heavily automated, with highly skilled workers augmented by robust software systems.
Last year, the semiconductor industry is said to have produced more transistors than the combined quantity of all goods produced by all other companies and industries in human history. “Nothing else comes close,” the release said. “Fabricating ever-miniaturizing semiconductors has been the most significant engineering challenge of our time.”
Semiconductor device makers have already begun their journey to generate value with AI. Within the next few years, AI could generate more than $35 billion in value annually, and over the longer term, it could contribute over $85 billion, according to the release. The largest share of value creation will come from using AI to reduce semiconductor manufacturing costs and begin the move to autonomous manufacturing, the release said.
Recognizing the immense potential in semiconductor manufacturing, Momenta decided to invest in Minds.ai. Strongly committed to optimizing efficiency, Minds.ai is said to offer “innovative solutions that revolutionize semiconductor manufacturing processes.” Through the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning, the company’s products are designed to address complex scheduling and resource allocation challenges faced by professionals in the industry, Momenta said in the release.
“Minds.ai is privileged to count Momenta among our investors and board members, given their deep passion and engagement in smart manufacturing,” said Minds.ai CEO and Founder Sumit Sanyal, in the release.
Michael Dolbec, managing partner of Momenta, said, “Minds.ai is pioneering deep commercial use of deep reinforcement learning for fab automation, with the potential to save hundreds of millions through productivity gains and waste reduction. They have a significant opportunity to transform semiconductor manufacturing.”
This is the thirteenth investment from Momenta’s AIoT Ecosystem Fund, powered by Advantech. The new funding will enable Minds.ai to extend its library of AI-enabled applications and expand its solutions to more fabs and geographies, Momenta said in the release.
“We are pleased to support this investment in Minds.ai,” said Jerry O’Gorman, vice president at Advantech IIOT division, in a statement. “Our leading role in edge computing and IoT solutions gives us a deep appreciation for the value of semiconductor manufacturing operations and, thus, the potential for AI-powered optimization solutions. We see a tremendous opportunity to collaborate with Minds.ai to co-create solutions to address the huge investment in new semiconductor fabrication facilities in North America and Europe.”