Applied Materials sits at the foundation of AI, driven by our leadership in materials engineering innovation. As demand for energy-efficient computing accelerates, we have both the opportunity and responsibility to improve performance and sustainability across the chip lifecycle—from manufacturing to use.

In our recently published 2025 Impact Report, Powering Sustainable Growth , we show how Applied is advancing this responsibility through innovations that help reduce the resources required to manufacture the semiconductors and technologies that support more energy-efficient computing in use. The report also highlights how Applied is progressing toward our sustainability goals, including our Scope 1, 2 and 3 science-based emissions targets and goal of achieving 100% renewable energy use globally by 2030. It also shows how we are supporting the broader technology industry by investing in continuous learning and development for our global workforce, expanding our emerging-talent pathways, and strengthening interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in our communities.

Driving Energy Efficiency Across the Chip Lifecycle  

In 2020, Applied established a goal to reduce the equivalent energy consumption of our semiconductor products by 30% by 2030. Through an engineering-led focus on embedding sustainable design principles into product development, we are making meaningful progress. Since our 2019 baseline, we have achieved an average 17% improvement in energy consumption per wafer pass across semiconductor products through efficiency upgrades and improvements to both fab and subfab equipment. Our commitment to developing more sustainable technologies and processes is reflected in our expanding portfolio of sustainable ecoUP™ solutions and ECO Services offering. These innovations help customers reduce cost, improve performance, and meet their own sustainability goals.

The opening of our state-of-the-art EPIC Center in Silicon Valley later this year can further accelerate this progress. Designed as a high-velocity co-innovation platform for the global semiconductor ecosystem, the EPIC Center brings together leading partners—including TSMC, Micron Technology, SK hynix Inc. and Samsung—to advance next-generation chip technologies. Targeting LEED Gold certification, the facility incorporates a range of high-efficiency and low-carbon design features that reduce energy use and environmental impact. Collectively, these innovations make the EPIC Center a model for more sustainable semiconductor R&D and manufacturing.

Integral to driving energy efficiency across the chip lifecycle is our commitment to continue advancing our Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions goals, which have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative. While increased capital investment related to new facilities construction, including the EPIC Center, combined with a shift in the mix of products sold in 2025 contributed to an increase in our absolute emissions compared with 2024, our GHG intensities continued to decline year-on-year reflecting progress in driving operational and product efficiencies along with expansions in our renewable energy sourcing.

Scaling Access to Clean Energy

Across our worldwide operations, Applied matched 75% of our global electricity use with renewable sources in fiscal 2025. That year, we signed our largest virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) to date, supporting the Pinnington Solar Project in Jack County, Texas. This will enable us to maintain matching 100% of electricity with renewable sources for our U.S. operations—including the EPIC Center—while further diversifying our renewables portfolio, which includes VPPAs, power purchase agreements and on-site generation.

More broadly, sustainable growth requires expanding the use of clean energy to power AI infrastructure and the semiconductor industry that enables it. To support this transition, Applied has published Sustainable Energy Abundance for AI, a playbook designed to accelerate grid decarbonization, energy-efficient computing and new opportunities for semiconductors. We are also a founding sponsor of the SEMI Energy Collaborative, helping to address policy barriers and accelerate clean energy investment in the Asia-Pacific region, where a large portion of the world’s semiconductor manufacturing takes place.

Investing in Talent and Innovation

Applied is investing in the people and skills that will drive the next era of innovation. We strengthened workforce capability across all levels in fiscal 2025 by launching a unified Management and Leadership Development Curriculum and delivering more than two million hours of learning and development—an average of 56 hours per employee. Our New College Graduate, internship and apprenticeship programs continue to build a strong global talent pipeline aligned with our long-term business needs.

Applied and the Applied Materials Foundation invested more than $17 million in fiscal 2025 in strengthening our communities, including sparking interest in STEM and supporting programs that help emerging engineers pursue high-demand careers.

A Systems-View Approach to Responsible Growth

AI offers tremendous opportunity to address global challenges and improve lives, if done responsibly. Applied is committed to taking a holistic and sustainable approach to power AI’s possibilities, as demonstrated by the progress outlined in our 2025 Impact Report. Together with our ecosystem partners, we are building a more sustainable foundation for the technologies that will shape the future.

Read more about our approach to powering sustainable growth in the Applied Materials 2025 Impact Report.