Researchers in a European project led by Eindhoven University of Technology have built and tested computer chips designed to carry out AI tasks directly inside devices. The work could help cameras, machines and other equipment respond faster while relying less on distant data centres. TU Eindhoven presented the results in September.
The chip platform, called Chimera, brings together different processing components, each suited to particular tasks. The aim is to give devices useful AI capabilities within the limits of their batteries, size and cooling.
For Brainport, the development connects university research with a practical industrial question: which companies could turn the technology into products? Eindhoven businesses including ViNotion and Axelera AI participated in the wider project, alongside established manufacturers and research institutions across Europe.
The research programme, CONVOLVE, received approximately €8.4 million in EU funding. It began in November 2022 and formally ended in April 2026. Its ambitions included making AI processors more energy-efficient, shortening development time and building security into the hardware.
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XIVER has acquired an ASML lithography system to expand its manufacturing capabilities in Eindhoven. The former Philips business plans to use the equipment to produce more intricate structures for photonic chips, sensors and other specialised devices. Announced on 13 October, the system is expected to become operational in 2027.
The acquisition is part of a €55 million investment programme. ABN AMRO announced on 1 October that it is providing €28 million in debt financing for improvements to XIVER’s facilities and equipment, including the ASML system.
The investment highlights a distinctive connection within Brainport. XIVER uses ASML technology to develop its manufacturing capabilities, while also supplying thin-film microcomponents and membranes to ASML. Equipment and specialist manufacturing expertise move in both directions between the two businesses.
A partnership with Italy’s PhotonPath extends that relationship beyond the region. The companies are preparing to manufacture PhotonPath’s optical chip technology using XIVER’s production infrastructure in Eindhoven, connecting an Italian technology developer with Dutch manufacturing capacity.
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Across our writing on European technology, finance and public policy, a recurring question has emerged: how do individual decisions add up to Europe’s ability to shape its own future? An investment announcement, an industrial partnership or a new funding programme each tells part of the story. Understanding their significance requires examining how they connect.
That is the role Altair Media Europe wants to develop. We bring research, journalistic explanation and editorial judgement together to make consequential developments understandable. The same analytical approach underpins the services we want to offer: commissioned research, strategic papers and moderated discussions for organisations facing complex decisions.
Independent judgement is the foundation of useful analysis.
Our starting point is a conviction that European cooperation can expand what people and organisations are able to achieve. Shared expertise, access to larger markets and joint investment can create opportunities beyond the reach of individual participants. Our task is to examine how those possibilities become practical results, who benefits and what needs to improve.
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