At SEMICON West, Prabhu Jayanna from AMD presented a compelling vision for how the semiconductor ecosystem can strengthen trust in the devices it produces. His focus was silicon provenance—a structured, evidence-based approach to proving where a device came from, how it was built, and whether it remained unaltered throughout its lifecycle.
His presentation emphasized that provenance is no longer a niche concern. As chips become central to economic competitiveness and national security, customers and governments alike are demanding assurances that devices are authentic, untampered, and securely manufactured. Jayanna’s framework illustrates how semiconductor companies can meet these expectations.
1. Why Silicon Provenance Is Becoming Essential
Jayanna began by placing provenance within a global context. Several converging forces are accelerating demand:
- Regulatory pressure for secure-by-design systems
- Customer demands for transparency and authenticity
- Geopolitical concerns about tampering or IP theft
- Supply chain complexity that limits visibility
- Growing counterfeit markets undermining trust in components
In this environment, provenance becomes a linchpin for security and assurance.
2. Device Traceability: Documenting Every Manufacturing Step
A core pillar of Jayanna’s approach is end-to-end traceability. Every major action—from wafer fabrication to packaging to distribution—should leave a secure, immutable, and queryable record.
Traceability enhances:
- Quality assurance
- Supply chain accountability
- Tamper detection
- Lifecycle transparency
By creating a digital thread from raw wafer to final device, organizations can verify authenticity and investigate anomalies.
3. Authenticity and Integrity Through Cryptography
Jayanna explained that authenticity requires more than structured documentation—it requires cryptographic guarantees. These may include digital signatures, hash-based integrity checks, or other mechanisms that bind design files, manufacturing metadata, and final silicon into a cohesive trust chain.
This prevents substitution attacks, Trojan insertion, or counterfeit replacement by ensuring that each device’s identity is mathematically verifiable.
4. Auditability Through Independent Validation
A third pillar of silicon provenance is auditability. Jayanna emphasized the importance of third-party review, which:
- Provides external credibility
- Reduces disputes
- Ensures adherence to established frameworks
- Builds trust with customers and regulators
Audits reinforce that provenance data isn’t simply self-asserted—it’s externally validated.
5. Alignment With SMCC and Industry Efforts
Jayanna called attention to SEMI’s Security Member Council (SMCC), noting that alignment with these standards forms the collaborative backbone for provenance adoption. Standards help ensure that provenance practices are interoperable across equipment vendors, fabs, and design houses.
6. Provenance as an Enabler of Trust in a Global Industry
Jayanna closed by framing provenance as a strategic differentiator. As the semiconductor landscape becomes more distributed, provenance enables companies to demonstrate integrity, meet regulatory expectations, and strengthen customer confidence.
Silicon provenance is more than documentation—it is a framework for trust, one that will shape how the industry assures device integrity for years to come.
Source: “Secure Together: Building Cybersecurity Resilience Through Industry Alliances,” SEMICON West 2025. Speakers: James Kaplan (McKinsey & Company); Quentin Kantaris (TXOne Networks); Bradford Hegrat (Accenture); Nijaz Velic and Richard Morris (NY CREATES); Tom Palmaers and Giselle M.H. Van Tornout (imec); SZ Lin (Sun Square); Ross Mahler and Marty Wachi (Moxa); Simon Davies (Renesas); Jennifer Lynn (IBM); Prabhu Jayanna (AMD); Anusha Annapareddy (Applied Materials); Bertrand F. Cambou (High Entropy Security); Daniel O'Loughlin (Qualcomm). Panel moderator: Andrew M. Seward (Tokyo Electron America).
