Applied Materials and Besi expand partnership to push AI chip packaging forward

Applied Materials and BE Semiconductor Industries, better known as Besi, are expanding their partnership to develop packaging technology built for scaling artificial intelligence hardware.

The focus is hybrid bonding, a technique that sounds like a chemistry exam question but may decide how fast the next generation of AI chips can run.

What the partnership actually covers

The two companies have worked together since 2020. Their shared project centers on hybrid bonding for advanced semiconductor packaging.

Technically, hybrid bonding creates direct copper-to-copper connections between chips. That skips the tiny solder bumps used in older methods, which allows far more connections in the same space.

More connections mean data moves faster between stacked chips. It also means less power gets wasted along the way.

The relationship took a meaningful step in April 2025, when Applied Materials acquired a 9% stake in Besi. That made Applied the largest shareholder in the Dutch equipment maker.

Applied has said it does not plan to buy additional shares or seek board representation.

Kinex moves from launch to factory floors

The partnership’s flagship product is the Kinex die-to-wafer hybrid bonding system, launched in October 2025.

Kinex combines three steps into a single machine: surface preparation, bonding, and metrology. Metrology is the measurement and inspection step that confirms everything lined up correctly.

The system has already attracted a notable customer. In March 2026, SK hynix ordered a Kinex inline system valued at approximately 20 billion won, with the goal of advancing high-bandwidth memory development.

Hybrid bonding technology connected to the partnership is also in mass production at TSMC for high-performance products such as AMD’s 3D V-Cache.

Applied Materials has also hosted 25 customer engagements at its Singapore Center of Excellence, according to Besi’s 2026 presentations. Those same materials indicated that leading HBM manufacturers are broadly evaluating hybrid bonding solutions.

Why packaging became the new frontier

Besi’s 2026 investor materials frame hybrid bonding as a cornerstone technology for AI accelerators and co-packaged optics. Co-packaged optics place optical components right next to processors, using light instead of electrical signals to move data more efficiently.

The industry is projecting high-volume manufacturing processes for hybrid bonding in 2027.

What this means for the chip equipment race

For Applied Materials, the Besi tie-up gives it a direct line into one of the fastest-evolving corners of chipmaking. Applied brings process expertise in surface preparation and inspection, while Besi brings its bonding know-how.

The SK hynix order is worth watching closely. A development-stage system for HBM is not the same as a fleet of production tools, but it signals that a major memory supplier is seriously testing the platform.

The TSMC production use case provides a credibility anchor, with AMD’s 3D V-Cache offering a real-world reference.

For investors following semiconductor equipment, the key signals are follow-on orders from HBM makers, any shift from development tools to production volumes, and whether the 2027 manufacturing ramp stays on schedule.