The European Commission is scheduled to publish Chips Act 2.0 on June 3, 2026, marking a major strategic pivot in Europe's semiconductor policy. According to draft language circulating in Brussels, the revised framework targets €120 billion ($140 billion) in investments by 2035 and reorients the bloc from courting advanced fabrication plants to making sure European industry actually buys the chips Europe is being built to produce.
From supply subsidies to demand aggregation
An early draft of the proposal makes the shift explicit: "While the initial Chips Act has been predominantly supply-driven, the Chips Act 2.0 places greater emphasis on demand-side measures." The new mechanisms include policy-driven "demand aggregation" — effectively positioning the Commission as a matchmaker between European chip makers and the automotive, cloud and defence customers that should be buying their wafers.
A €30 billion 3nm AI foundry on the table
Among the boldest items under discussion is a €30 billion advanced AI semiconductor foundry that would produce chips at the 3 nm node, with funding split between the Commission, member states and private partners. The initiative also expands oversight of supply-chain risks (technology leakage, dependence on non-EU suppliers) and crisis preparedness for the European semiconductor ecosystem.
Why AI changes the equation
Chips Act 2.0 explicitly elevates leading-edge nodes below 10 nm — the segment used for AI accelerators, high-performance computing, defence systems and advanced automotive electronics. The renewed urgency is informed by Europe's continuing under-representation in advanced node manufacturing and by the rapid growth of AI compute demand, which the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics now expects will push the global chip market past $1.5 trillion in 2026.
What it means for the global chip industry
The publication of Chips Act 2.0 lands in a week dense with chip news: Intel, SambaNova and Foxconn unveiled rackscale AI infrastructure at Computex on June 2, and NVIDIA and TSMC announced an AI-driven chip design partnership. By targeting demand as much as supply, Brussels is betting that policy can pull European customers — automotive OEMs, hyperscalers and defence integrators — into the same orbit as US and Asian chip strategy.
Reporting based on coverage from Digital Watch Observatory, Euronews, ValueTheMarkets, Crypto Briefing and CSIS analysis.