SEALSQ and GlobalFoundries Partner to Build Post-Quantum Security Into the Semiconductor Stack

SEALSQ and GlobalFoundries have announced a strategic Memorandum of Understanding to co-develop secure semiconductor technologies for Post-Quantum Cryptography, secure chiplet architectures, and emerging quantum computing infrastructure.

The partnership brings together two areas that are becoming increasingly connected: cybersecurity and semiconductor manufacturing. SEALSQ contributes its focus on hardware-based security, PQC-ready silicon, PKI, provisioning services, and secure semiconductor platforms, while GlobalFoundries brings process technology, manufacturing capacity, and a growing portfolio of quantum-focused semiconductor capabilities.

The announcement comes as the industry prepares for a long transition toward quantum-resistant security. In 2024, NIST finalized its first set of post-quantum cryptography standards, giving governments, enterprises, and infrastructure providers a clearer path to begin replacing cryptographic systems that may become vulnerable to future quantum computers.

Why the Partnership Matters

Most conversations about quantum risk focus on algorithms, encryption standards, and software migration. This collaboration points to another layer of the problem: the chips that enforce trust at the device, infrastructure, and system level.

SEALSQ already positions its technology around post-quantum secure semiconductors, hardware roots of trust, PKI, and provisioning services for connected devices and critical infrastructure. That is especially relevant for systems with long deployment cycles, including vehicles, medical devices, smart meters, industrial controllers, aerospace platforms, defense systems, and IoT endpoints.

These environments cannot always rely on quick software patches or frequent hardware replacement. Embedding quantum-resistant security into silicon could make PQC adoption more practical in sectors where security must be durable, certified, and difficult to tamper with.

Certified PQC Security IP

One of the core goals of the collaboration is to expand GlobalFoundries’ IP ecosystem with certified post-quantum security building blocks.

In partnership with MIPS, now a GlobalFoundries company, SEALSQ and GF plan to co-develop pre-certified PQC security IP hard macro blocks and Chiplet Hardware Security Module components. These are expected to target applications such as Hardware Security Modules, secure enclaves, and other systems where cryptographic trust needs to be embedded directly into the silicon design.

The broader implication is that customers may eventually be able to integrate post-quantum security at the chip-design stage rather than treating it as a separate software layer added later.

Securing the Chiplet Era

The partnership also addresses secure chiplet architectures, an increasingly important area as semiconductor design moves beyond single monolithic chips.

Chiplets allow different components to be combined into advanced packages, enabling more flexible and specialized systems. But this also creates new security challenges. Each chiplet, interface, and communication path introduces questions around identity, authentication, encryption, tamper resistance, and trusted execution.

A chiplet hardware security module could act as a trust anchor inside these advanced systems. That could become important for AI accelerators, automotive platforms, edge devices, data center infrastructure, and other environments where multiple specialized chips need to operate securely as one system.

CryoCMOS and the Quantum Computing Stack

The collaboration will also explore cryoelectronic ASICs and CryoCMOS technologies for future quantum computing systems.

Quantum computers require more than qubits. They also need control electronics, readout systems, interconnects, advanced packaging, and manufacturing processes that can scale beyond laboratory prototypes. CryoCMOS refers to semiconductor electronics designed to operate at extremely low temperatures, closer to the operating conditions required by certain quantum systems.

GlobalFoundries has been expanding its work in this area through its Quantum Technology Solutions business, which is focused on technologies that can support the scaling of quantum systems. SEALSQ’s ambitions in quantum ASIC design add another layer to the collaboration, particularly around secure and specialized chips for quantum-era infrastructure.

Trusted Supply Chains Are Becoming a Security Requirement

The partnership is also aligned with European and U.S. priorities around sovereign and trusted semiconductor supply chains.

For governments, defense agencies, energy providers, financial institutions, and industrial operators, semiconductor security is no longer just about performance. It is increasingly about provenance, traceability, certification, resilience, and the ability to trust the manufacturing and provisioning process.

That makes the SEALSQ-GF collaboration relevant beyond post-quantum cryptography alone. It sits at the intersection of secure hardware, national semiconductor strategy, critical infrastructure protection, and the long-term transition toward quantum-safe systems.

A Sign of Where the Industry Is Heading

The announcement is still an MoU, not a finished product launch. The companies have not yet disclosed specific product timelines, certification milestones, commercial deployments, or manufacturing volumes.

Even so, the direction is meaningful. The semiconductor industry is moving toward a future where post-quantum cryptography, hardware roots of trust, chiplet security, and quantum computing infrastructure are developed together rather than in isolation.

For customers, the promise is reduced complexity. Instead of adding quantum-resistant protections after systems are designed, future platforms could be built with post-quantum security already integrated into the hardware foundation.

For chipmakers, the opportunity is to differentiate not only through performance, power efficiency, and cost, but also through security assurance and quantum-era readiness.

What Comes Next

The success of the partnership will depend on execution. SEALSQ and GlobalFoundries will need to turn PQC IP, secure chiplet components, and CryoCMOS designs into technologies that customers can deploy in real systems.

But the strategic logic is clear. As quantum computing advances, the infrastructure surrounding it will need to be both scalable and secure. That transition will not be handled by software alone. It will require foundries, secure semiconductor providers, chiplet designers, hardware security specialists, standards bodies, and customers to move in the same direction.

SEALSQ and GlobalFoundries are positioning this partnership at that intersection. If the collaboration progresses from MoU to deployable technology, it could become part of the hardware foundation for a more secure and quantum-ready digital infrastructure.