Compound semiconductors essential to unlocking the UK’s AI action plan, says new report

Compound semiconductors will be critical to helping the UK achieve its AI action plan, driving economic growth and significant benefits for society. 

This is according to a new report published today by Compound Semiconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult. 

With the global market for AI set to grow to over $1.5 trillion by 2030, the report outlines the significant upgrade in hardware capability needed to cope with the increased computational and energy demands of AI technology.  

The report states that the UK is well positioned to lead the AI transformation through its recently published AI Opportunities Action Plan.  

 But to realise this vision, it states that the UK must capitalise on its expertise in compound semiconductors.

Compound semiconductors offer greater energy efficiency, faster data processing, and better reliability.  

They are superior to traditional silicon semiconductors in areas such as power electronics, photonics and radio frequency (RF)  communications – vital for infrastructure such as data centres that will underpin the AI revolution. 

As AI models grow and get more sophisticated, their power consumption also significantly increases. The data centres that power AI are already using 1% of global electricity — a figure that is expected to grow to 8% by 2030. 

The need for a shift to faster and more efficient hardware is therefore clear. 

Compound semiconductor-based photonic devices will also dramatically increase the speed at which computers process and transmit data, significantly reducing latency in AI applications.  

Meanwhile, radio frequency (RF) technologies leveraging compound semiconductors will improve the speed and efficiency of data transfer in AI applications, edge computing, and the Internet of Things (IoT), which is expected to connect over 32 billion devices worldwide by 2030.