Microsoft-backed Lace raises $40 million for advanced chipmaking equipment tech

Lace, a Norway-headquartered chipmaking equipment startup which is backed by Microsoft, has raised $40 million in funding to further develop a technology that could enable significant advances in semiconductor design and manufacturing, the company said on Monday. To make cutting-edge chips, manufacturers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co ‌and Intel employ a ⁠process called ⁠lithography that uses light to draw complex circuits that form the foundation of advanced artificial intelligence chips. Manufacturers use light-based lithography systems made by the Dutch company ASML – which dominates the market – as they race to shrink chip components and squeeze in more features to boost the computing horsepower on a limited area of silicon.