Spain injects €115 million into Openchip to boost AI chip development

The Spanish central government and the Catalan regional government have each approved a joint €115 million investment in Openchip, a Barcelona‑based semiconductor start‑up. The funding, channelled through the Sociedad Española para la Transformación Tecnológica (SETT), will increase Openchip’s capital as it designs high‑performance chips for artificial‑intelligence and high‑performance computing workloads.

Openchip, created in 2021 from research at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and the engineering firm GTD, employs around 300 staff. The company aims to deliver its first chip prototypes by 2026 and to reduce Europe’s reliance on U.S. and Asian microelectronics. The investment is part of a broader European effort to strengthen strategic autonomy in critical technologies.

The €115 million public contribution is expected to be complemented by private investors in a larger financing round, further supporting Spain’s ambition to expand its presence in the global semiconductor industry.