Northwest AI Hub Advances to Project Year 2 with Continued Investment in Scalable, Energy-Efficient AI Hardware

The National Security Technology Accelerator (NSTXL) has announced the Microelectronics Commons Project Year 2 (PY2) awards, advancing a national effort to strengthen U.S. leadership in microelectronics and accelerate lab-to-fab innovation.

For PY2, the Northwest AI Hub continues its work on the Energy-Efficient and Scalable AI Hardware Systems through Heterogeneous Integration of Specialized Chiplets (ScaleAI) project, focused on overcoming key performance and efficiency barriers in next-generation AI systems.

In Project Year 1, the ScaleAI team achieved a first-of-its-kind milestone: fabrication of a monolithic 3D chip in a U.S. foundry integrating silicon CMOS, Resistive RAM (RRAM), and Carbon Nanotube Field-Effect Transistors (CNFETs). This architecture delivered a 4x improvement in hardware throughput and directly addressed the “memory wall,” a critical bottleneck limiting real-time AI performance. The system was designed for mission-critical needs, enabling low-power operation, high-bandwidth data movement, and rapid retraining.

Building on this foundation, Project Year 2 will focus on scaling and transitioning the technology toward deployable systems. Key efforts include optimizing multi-tier CNFET fabrication processes, developing multi-megabit 3D memory architectures, and creating an AI compiler for automatic workload mapping across heterogeneous hardware platforms.

A central component of the PY2 roadmap is the development of a multi-chiplet system with scalable interconnects, including photonic links, to support high-performance, distributed AI workloads. The project also incorporates trusted execution frameworks to ensure the integrity, security, and reliability of sensitive AI applications operating in constrained or contested environments.

This continued investment reflects the strength of the Microelectronics Commons model and the critical role of regional hubs in driving innovation, collaboration, and workforce development. Through efforts like ScaleAI, the Northwest AI Hub is helping translate research into resilient, high-performance systems aligned with national priorities.

This work contributes to a broader effort to strengthen the domestic semiconductor ecosystem, foster cross-sector partnerships, and accelerate innovation pathways supported by the CHIPS and Science Act. For more information on the Microelectronics Commons Project Year 2 awards, visit: https://nstxl.org/microelectronics-commons-project-year-2-awards-announced/