CSA Catapult relaunches as the Semiconductor Catapult, aiming at AI hardware and defence

The Compound Semiconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult has relaunched as the Semiconductor Catapult. In a release dated 29 September 2026, the organisation said it "was launched today to strengthen UK supply chains and accelerate semiconductor technologies from concept to reality", with a focus on the AI hardware and defence markets.

A rename and a refocus, set out in June

This is an existing body under a new name, not a new organisation. The government's UK AI Hardware Plan, published on 8 June 2026, lists this intervention: "A refocused Semiconductor Catapult, building on the existing Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult to focus on AI hardware and support UK-based companies to integrate and validate systems as they move towards deployment."

The government's news release the same day said the Catapult "will be rebranded as the 'Semiconductor Catapult' and refocused around AI hardware". On 15 June the Catapult said it "will start the transition to Semiconductor Catapult over the summer". It describes itself as part of the Innovate UK Catapult Network.

What the Catapult says it offers

According to the 29 September release, the Semiconductor Catapult:

• provides "access to UK semiconductor supply chain integration, design, system test and validation";
• has capability in "design, development, integration, advanced packaging, test and validation";
• works with customers "on commercial and collaborative research and development projects", giving access to engineering expertise, laboratories and equipment;
• serves the UK market "from its labs in Newport, Bristol, and Glasgow", working with start-ups, SMEs and large businesses.

The release claims the Catapult "is the only place in the UK, and one of the few places in Europe, with co-located, multidisciplinary teams spanning RF and microwave, photonics, power electronics, advanced packaging, and quantum". That is the Catapult's own claim, and we have not independently tested it.

Four priority areas, two phases

The release names four technology areas: advanced packaging and heterogeneous integration (including chiplet and system-in-package designs); power electronics and thermal management, described as "enabling high-density AI hardware"; photonics and optical interconnects; and RF and mixed-signal integration.

It sets out a plan in two phases. In the first, the Catapult "will establish an integration-ready capability and core silicon capabilities" so customers can validate architectures. In the second, it "will demonstrate mature, system-level integration capability and clear routes to scale-up and small volume production". The release gives no dates for either phase.

What was said

Caroline O'Brien, Chief Executive Officer of the Semiconductor Catapult, said in the release: "The market opportunity for the UK in AI hardware and defence is moving quickly." She added that the Catapult "will help companies reduce risk and accelerate their route to market", and: "We bridge gaps in device innovation, test, validation and scale-up particularly in heterogenous design, photonics integration and in RF, serving the AI hardware and defence markets."

The release's closing line reads: "Semiconductors are the critical infrastructure behind AI hardware, defence, energy and communications." It is printed as a separate quote on the Catapult's page; Semiconductor Today attributes it to O'Brien.

In June, AI Minister Kanishka Narayan was quoted in the Catapult's transition announcement: "The new Semiconductor Catapult will help close that gap, supporting British firms to get their technology out of the lab and into the systems driving the AI revolution."

The money question

The 29 September release contains no funding figure. The AI Hardware Plan describes "over £1.1 billion of targeted support" in total. In the plan's list of interventions, the refocused Catapult appears as its own bullet under "Innovation", alongside a "£120m investment in AI hardware innovation" and a "new £18m Hardware Security R&D Programme", but no sum is attached to the Catapult line itself. On our reading of the plan, it does not say how much, if any, of those sums goes to the Catapult.

Defence is not new territory

The release puts defence alongside AI hardware in its headline. Defence was already among the CSA Catapult's priority areas before the rename: the government's 2023 National Semiconductor Strategy listed the CSA Catapult's priority areas as including "electric vehicles, future 5G telecom networks, defence and quantum technologies". The new release does not name any defence customers or programmes.

Why it matters

On our reading, the relaunch is mainly a change of name and focus rather than a new pot of money: the release names no budget. The government's own plan frames the refocused Catapult as help for UK companies to "integrate and validate systems as they move towards deployment". In June the minister put the problem this way: "One of the biggest challenges for UK chip companies is getting from a brilliant design to a product that is ready for market." Whether it delivers on its two-phase plan, and with what funding, is not set out in either the release or the plan.