The world’s first open-source AI Large Language Model (LLM) created especially for the semiconductor industry, called SemiKong, was unveiled by Aitomatic. SemiKong, which made its debut at SEMICON West 2024, promises to transform semiconductor processes and fabrication technology. 
The SemiKong is said to possibly change the $500 billion semiconductor market in the next five years.
The ground-breaking open-source AI LLM is the outcome of industry-wide cooperation within the AI Alliance, an organization that supports open and ethical AI development. Based on the open-source Llama3 model developed by Meta, a member of the AI Alliance, SemiKong makes use of knowledge from top semiconductor firms, such as Tokyo Electron, and AI experts, such as FPT Software. The AI Alliance’s dedication to open research and cross-industry innovation is best demonstrated by this strategy.
SemiKong frequently outperforms more larger general-purpose models in industry-specific tasks, showing notable advances in accuracy, relevance, and understanding of semiconductor processes. Potential benefits of this performance increase include increased innovation and lower costs throughout the semiconductor value chain, mentioned its official release.
Dr. Christopher Nguyen, CEO of Aitomatic, leader behind the SemiKong project, and Co-Lead of the Foundation Models Focus Area in the AI Alliance, stated: “SemiKong is set to redefine semiconductor manufacturing. This open innovation model, enabled by the AI Alliance, harnesses collective expertise for industry-specific challenges. At Aitomatic, we’re using SemiKong to create Domain-Specific AI Agents that tackle complex fabrication problems with unprecedented effectiveness.”
Dr. Yann LeCun, VP and Chief AI Scientist at Meta, the company behind Llama3 and a member of the AI Alliance, added, “SemiKong, built on Llama3, shows open-source AI’s potential to drive specialized innovation. It’s a prime example of why we advocate for AI openness.”
Atsushi Suzuki, Director of Product Lifecycle Management DX at Tokyo Electron and AI Alliance member, highlighted: “As an industry expert collaborating through the AI Alliance, I believe SemiKong represents a significant step forward in applying AI to semiconductor manufacturing.”
Daisuke Oku, Senior Specialist at Tokyo Electron and an early proposer of a Semiconductor Industry Model, added: “SemiKong is the beginning of an exciting journey in open-source AI for semiconductors. Aitomatic’s innovative approach has the potential to create huge leaps for our industry.”
Dr. Phong Nguyen, Chief AI Officer of FPT Software, noted: “FPT Software is excited to be part of this innovative initiative and eager to explore the potential applications of this model, especially to spark the convergence of global AI and Semiconductor. We are confident that our participation will reinforce our position as a frontrunner in shaping the future of the global semiconductor industry.”
In the next years, customers could expect to pay less for more powerful laptops, smartphones, and smart home appliances as SemiKong reduces the cost of semiconductor production costs.
Members of the AI Alliance include Tokyo Electron, FPT Software, and Aitomatic. The AI Alliance was established in 2023 and works to promote open innovation in a variety of AI-related fields, including as software, data and models, safety, security, and trust, tooling, assessment, hardware, education, open science, and advocacy.
One of the main initiatives of the AI Alliance, SemiKong was created to solve significant cross-community issues and provide members and individual contributors a chance to work together, grow, and influence AI’s future.
Dr. Anthony Annunziata, IBM Director of AI Open Innovation and AI Alliance Engagement, commented: “This work exemplifies how The AI Alliance’s mission of open collaboration can bring together diverse expertise to drive advancement in applying AI to critical industries like semiconductor manufacturing.”
Availability
SemiKong will be accessible for download on GitHub and HuggingFace. It provides businesses with a base upon which to build proprietary models by utilizing industry-wide expertise. The first process-specific models are anticipated by September 2024, while the next, more powerful version of SemiKong is scheduled for December 2024.
In order to create an ecosystem of AI tools that will lead the semiconductor industry into a new era of efficiency and creativity, the collaborators are dedicated to continuing research and development. This discovery may hasten the development of technology related to renewable energy and quantum computing.
For Further Info: https://www.semikong.ai | https://www.aitomatic.com/
