What Is Ajinomoto Doing in AI Chips?

Most people know Ajinomoto as the Japanese company behind MSG and food seasonings found in kitchens and restaurants around the world.

What far fewer people realize is that the same company also plays a crucial role in the modern semiconductor industry, especially in the production of advanced AI chips.

Over several decades, Ajinomoto quietly transformed itself from a food-focused business into one of the most important suppliers in the global semiconductor industry and chip supply chain. Today, its technology is used in the packaging of high-performance processors that power artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and modern data centers.

The Surprising Origin of Ajinomoto’s Semiconductor Business

Ajinomoto’s entry into semiconductor materials began unexpectedly.

In the 1970s, researchers at the company were studying amino-acid-based resin compounds and byproducts generated during the production of MSG and other fermentation products. During this research, they discovered that certain resin materials had useful insulating and heat-resistant properties suitable for semiconductor packaging applications.

Instead of abandoning the discovery, Ajinomoto invested years into improving the technology. After decades of development, the company created Ajinomoto Build-up Film (ABF), a specialized insulating material used in advanced semiconductor packaging.

At the time, few could have predicted that a food company would become deeply connected to the future of computing and artificial intelligence.

However, Ajinomoto continued refining the technology while the semiconductor industry rapidly evolved.

By the late 1990s and early 2000s, ABF had become increasingly important for high-performance chips requiring faster processing speeds and more complex architectures.

Why ABF Matters for AI Chips

Modern AI processors such as NVIDIA’s H100 GPUs. It is widely used by global cloud providers and even several Indian AI companies. It contains billions of transistors and extremely dense electrical connections.

To operate efficiently, these chips require sophisticated packaging materials that can:

• Handle high-speed signal transmission

• Provide electrical insulation

• Support extremely compact chip designs

• Help maintain thermal and structural stability

This is where ABF becomes essential.

ABF is used in semiconductor package substrates, where it acts as an insulating layer that enables dense wiring patterns and reliable chip performance. Without advanced substrate materials like ABF, manufacturing cutting-edge AI accelerators would be far more difficult.

Although ABF represents only a small fraction of the total cost of a GPU, it plays an outsized role in enabling advanced semiconductor performance.

Ajinomoto’s Dominance in the ABF Market

Ajinomoto is widely regarded as the dominant supplier of ABF insulating film used in advanced semiconductor substrates.

Industry reports often estimate that the company controls roughly 95-96% of the global market for high-end ABF materials, making it one of the most influential companies in the AI hardware ecosystem.

Its technology supports not only AI chips powering modern AI data center infrastructure but also:

• Data center processors

• High-performance computing systems

• Networking hardware

• Advanced server infrastructure

As demand for AI infrastructure continues to grow worldwide, dependence on advanced packaging materials like ABF is also increasing.

Conclusion

Ajinomoto’s rise from a food seasoning company to a key semiconductor industry supplier shows the value of long-term innovation.

While companies like NVIDIA and TSMC lead AI headlines, Ajinomoto’s ABF technology quietly helps power modern AI chips and AI data center infrastructure.

Its story shows that key AI infrastructure companies are not always the most visible.

The next time you see Ajinomoto on a food packet, remember that the same company is also helping power the future of artificial intelligence.