Today's Hardware Pulse
Nvidia driver hints at next‑gen DLSS 5 work
Nvidia’s GeForce Game Ready driver 610.47 adds three new profile options—Enable DLSS NR override, Enable DLSS NR SL override, and Override DLSS NR presets—suggesting continued development of DLSS 5 neural‑rendering technology. The earlier DLSS 5 reveal had sparked debate over AI‑driven image alteration, and the new driver hints at a quiet but ongoing effort.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Cyient Semiconductors raises $30M Series A
Jane Street Commits $6bn to CoreWeave AI Cloud Partnership
Jane Street has signed a $6 billion agreement with CoreWeave to use its AI cloud platform for high‑performance computing. The deal also includes a $1 billion purchase of CoreWeave Class A shares at $109 each, deepening the strategic tie. CoreWeave will deliver Nvidia Vera Rubin‑based GPU resources, dedicated networking, and custom storage across multiple data centers. The partnership is aimed at scaling Jane Street’s machine‑learning models for trading and research.
Mercy Ships Selects Wilson Connectivity to Enable Seamless Cellular Connectivity
Wilson Connectivity has partnered with Mercy Ships to outfit the Africa Mercy II hospital ship with its Zinwave wideband distributed antenna system (DAS). The DAS delivers native cellular, private mobile radio and private 5G connectivity without satellite‑based fees or logins, automatically linking to...
Change of Mayor Prompts Appeal Against Data Center Planned in Provence, France
Telehouse’s plan to build a 50 MW data center at the Sybilles business park near Marseille faces a fresh appeal after the long‑time mayor of Les Pennes‑Mirabeau stepped down. The new municipal officials, backed by local residents and neighborhood associations, argue the...
Cadence and NVIDIA Expand Partnership for Agentic AI Design
Cadence and NVIDIA announced an expanded partnership that couples Cadence's agentic AI‑driven EDA and system design tools with NVIDIA's CUDA‑X, AI‑physics, and Omniverse libraries. The collaboration promises up to 100× speedups for solvers and a new AgentStack super‑agent that orchestrates...
NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) Turns to AI-Powered Robots to Power Industrial Revolution
NVIDIA showcased its latest AI‑robot initiatives at the GTC conference, unveiling Isaac GR00T, an open‑source model that lets robots interpret natural‑language commands, and Cosmos, a synthetic‑data engine for large‑scale robot training. These tools extend NVIDIA’s dominant GPU and software stack...
Oracle Corporation (ORCL) Eyes Fuel Cell Systems for AI and Cloud Build Out
Oracle announced an expanded partnership with Bloom Energy, securing up to 2.8 GW of fuel‑cell systems, with an initial 1.2 GW already being deployed in U.S. data centers. The on‑site power solution is aimed at supporting the company’s rapid AI and cloud‑infrastructure...
Winda Energy to Build Battery Storage Facilities in Finland
Winda Energy announced plans to build two industrial‑scale battery storage facilities in central Finland, in partnership with investment firm Wood & Co. The Äänekoski site will deliver 30 MW of power with 60 MWh of storage, while the Laukaa project will provide...
Logitek Features Glide Glass Console
Logitek unveiled Glide, the first fully self‑contained glass console that runs without an external PC, paired with a new 2RU platform called JetFlex. JetFlex serves as a console engine, audio router, and modular AoIP I/O device, supporting Livewire, Dante and...
Fire TV Gets Free UI Overhaul and New Channels
Own a Fire TV device? You're getting a free update soon, with refreshed layout and new streaming channels — and Amazon's also launching a slimmer Fire TV Stick https://www.techradar.com/televisions/streaming-devices/own-a-fire-tv-device-youre-getting-a-free-update-soon-with-refreshed-layout-and-new-streaming-channels-and-amazons-also-launching-a-slimmer-fire-tv-stick
Audio-Technica Launches Two New Broadcast Mics
Audio‑Technica introduced two new mid‑side stereo broadcast microphones, the BP350ST‑UB and BP350ST‑UL, aimed at professional broadcast, production, and field‑recording markets. The BP350ST‑UB features a 5‑inch gooseneck and low‑profile boundary housing for discreet stereo capture, while the BP350ST‑UL is a compact...
Cadence Collaborates with Google on AI-Driven Chip Design
Cadence has teamed up with Google to embed Google’s Gemini large‑language model into its ChipStack AI Super Agent, a cloud‑native platform for chip design and verification. The integration runs on Google Cloud’s elastic compute, delivering up to ten‑fold productivity gains...
Windracers Selected as Key Supplier in UK Government’s Biggest Ever Drone Package for Ukraine
Windracers has been named one of three primary suppliers in the UK Government’s £752 million (≈$956 million) drone support package for Ukraine, the largest such aid ever announced. The programme will deliver 120,000 drones, bolstering Ukraine’s long‑range operational capability. Windracers’ ULTRA platform,...
SA Firm Raises R85m to Scale AI Stethoscope for TB Screening
South African medtech firm AI Diagnostics secured roughly R85 million (about $4.6 million) in a pre‑Series A round led by The Steele Foundation for Hope. The capital will accelerate rollout of its AI‑enabled Ostium digital stethoscope, which screens for tuberculosis using lung‑sound analysis...
Nvidia Ising and DARPA's Heterogeneous Architectures for Quantum Program
Nvidia launched its open‑source Ising family of AI models on World Quantum Day, targeting quantum‑processor calibration and real‑time error‑correction decoding. The company argues that large‑language models can turn today’s noisy quantum chips into reliable, large‑scale computers. Meanwhile, DARPA’s Heterogeneous Architectures...
What Happens when $90 Billion of Data Centers Come to Town
The AI‑driven data‑center boom in Spain’s Aragon region has attracted over €80 billion ($94 bn) in investments from Amazon, Microsoft and other tech giants, spurring a fast‑track legal framework (PIGA) that can override local zoning and force land sales. Regional officials tout...
Shoe Retailer Allbirds Pivots to AI with $50m to Buy up GPUs
Allbirds, the sustainable shoe retailer, announced a $50 million investment to acquire approximately 1,660 NVIDIA H200 GPUs. The hardware spend marks a strategic pivot toward building in‑house artificial‑intelligence capabilities. By securing high‑performance GPUs, Allbirds aims to accelerate product design, demand forecasting,...
Cops Hand Motorola £25M No-Bid Deal to Keep 2000-Era Radios Alive
UK police have awarded a no‑competition £25 million (≈$31.8 million) extension to Motorola and Sepura to keep the legacy Airwave TETRA radios operational. The Airwave replacement, now slated for 2029, is twelve years behind schedule and £3 billion (≈$3.8 billion) over budget. The National...
Quinas Completes Innovate UK Project Advancing ULTRARAM for AI and Neuromorphic Computing
Quinas Technology has finished an Innovate UK‑funded project that demonstrates its ULTRARAM memory’s suitability for neuromorphic and compute‑in‑memory AI systems. The £1.1 million (~$1.4 million) grant enabled device optimisation, architectural design work, and validation of ultra‑low‑energy operation. ULTRARAM uniquely blends DRAM‑class speed, flash‑class...
Phantom Neuro Secures Approval for Muscle-Machine Interface Trial
Phantom Neuro has received regulatory clearance to launch its first‑in‑human trial of the Phantom X muscle‑machine interface in Melbourne, Australia. The early feasibility study, called CYBORG, will enroll up to ten unilateral below‑elbow amputees who will receive a single outpatient implant...
India’s Electronics Push Shifts to Design, but Ownership Gap Remains
India’s electronics strategy is pivoting from sheer manufacturing volume to design ownership, highlighted by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s approval of a ₹7,104 crore (~$765 million) fourth tranche of the Electronic Component Manufacturing Scheme. Industry veterans argue that without independent...
Panel-Level Packaging’s Second Wave Meets Engineering Reality
Panel-level packaging is gaining traction as wafer‑level economics falter under the growing size of AI and high‑performance computing modules. By switching to rectangular glass or organic panels, manufacturers can increase units per run, spreading fixed costs more efficiently. However, the...
Chiplet Standards Aim For Plug-N-Play
The semiconductor industry is moving beyond basic chiplet interconnects like UCIe and BoW toward a full suite of standards that enable a true plug‑and‑play marketplace. Organizations such as the Open Compute Project, JEDEC, and IEEE are defining specifications for system...
Silicon Photonics Lights The Way To More Efficient Data Centers
Silicon photonics is emerging as a solution to the power‑intensive data‑movement problem in modern data centers, especially as AI workloads generate massive east‑west traffic. By replacing copper with optical links, photonic interconnects can dramatically increase bandwidth density while slashing energy...
EBeam Initiative At SPIE ALP 2026: Continuing Progress On Curvilinear, EUV, And Data Challenges
The eBeam Initiative’s 17th SPIE Advanced Lithography lunch gathered about 150 industry leaders to assess progress on curvilinear masks, EUV adoption, data handling, and multi‑beam mask writers. Speakers highlighted how GPU‑accelerated design and multi‑beam eBeam tools are finally making fully...
Automate And Speed Up TCAD Calibration With Expert Modules And ML Calibration Accelerator
Synopsys has upgraded its Sentaurus Calibration Workbench with expert calibration modules and a new ML Calibration Accelerator, each delivering more than a five‑fold speed increase. The expert modules pre‑build 80% of the workflow, giving TCAD engineers a 5× productivity boost,...
MSI Expands PRO MAX Series with 27-Inch FHD 144Hz Business Display
MSI has launched the PRO MAX 271PHW E14, a 27‑inch Full HD business monitor that combines a 144 Hz refresh rate with circular‑polarization technology to lessen eye fatigue. The IPS panel delivers 250 nits brightness, a 1000:1 contrast ratio and 4 ms (1 ms MPRT) response times, while...
Monolithic 3D Tantalum Pentoxide Nonlinear Photonics
Researchers have demonstrated a monolithic 3‑D integration of tantalum pentoxide (Ta₂O₅) onto lithium‑niobate substrates, enabling wafer‑scale fabrication of low‑loss nonlinear photonic circuits. The approach leverages room‑temperature deposition and modest annealing, preserving underlying devices while delivering high‑Q microresonators for χ³ processes....
Apple Trims Mac Mini, Mac Studio Lineup as AI Demand Spikes
Apple quietly removed its highest‑memory Mac mini (32 GB and 64 GB) and Mac Studio (128 GB and 256 GB) configurations from the US online store, following a recent pull of the 512 GB Mac Studio model. The cuts come amid a broader industry RAM...
TCL Unveils 2026 Product Lineup for South Africa, Bringing Revolutionary SQD-Mini LED TV Technology to Local Consumers
TCL announced its 2026 South African lineup, introducing the first SQD‑Mini LED TVs—C7L and C8L—paired with Bang & Olufsen audio. The C7L launches at roughly $1,050 for the 65‑inch model, while the C8L 75‑inch starts around $1,580. The rollout also includes...
Microsoft Counters MacBook Neo with Free Game Pass and Office Bundle on Windows Laptops
Microsoft has launched a limited‑time promotion that bundles a free year of Microsoft 365 Premium, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and a custom Xbox controller with eligible Windows laptops purchased before July 31. The move directly counters Apple’s newly priced MacBook Neo, which undercuts the traditional entry‑level Windows...
The State of AI Compute
In Q1 2024 the world’s leading tech firms collectively owned about 2.5 million H100‑equivalent AI compute units. By the end of 2025 that figure surged to 21.3 million, an 8.5‑fold increase in just eight quarters. The growth reflects a structural shift, not merely...
Artificial Intuition: Building an AI Mind for Electromagnetic Design and Engineering - ARENA Physica
In this CDFAM Computational Design Symposium talk, Mike from Arena Physica outlines the company’s mission to create electromagnetic (EM) superintelligence through three pillars: the Atlas agentic platform, the Heaviside foundation model for fast forward EM simulation, and the Marconi diffusion‑based...
Waters Debuts Industry-First Extended-Range MALS Detector for UHPLC/UPLC, Powering Rapid Characterization of Large Molecules
Waters Corporation launched the omniDAWN™ Multi‑Angle Light Scattering (MALS) Photometer, the first extended‑range detector compatible with UHPLC and UPLC. The instrument covers particle radii from 50 nm to 500 nm, enabling absolute molar mass and size measurements for large biomolecules such as...
Bullet Train Upgrade Brings 5G Windows and Noise-Cancelling Cabins to Japan
Japanese rail operator JR Central announced that its Shinkansen will feature premium private suites equipped with windows that embed 5G antennas and cabins fitted with NTT’s Personalized Sound Zone noise‑cancelling system. The antennas, supplied by AGC, weave microscopic wires into...
Terafab Equipment and Chip Orders
Elon Musk announced equipment orders for Tesla's upcoming Terafab, designed to process 3,000 wafers a month—about 36,000 wafers or 3‑4 million chips annually. The capacity could expand to over 10 million chips per year by 2027, supporting Tesla vehicles, Cybercabs, Optimus robots,...
Darkbloom – Private Inference on Idle Macs
Eigen Labs’ Darkbloom launches a decentralized AI inference network that harvests idle Apple Silicon Macs. By routing encrypted requests directly to these devices, the service offers an OpenAI‑compatible API at roughly half the price of centralized providers. Operators retain virtually...
CORRECTING and REPLACING Panmnesia to Mass-Produce PCIe 6.4-CXL 3.2 Fusion Switch
Panmnesia, a South Korean fabless AI‑infrastructure chipmaker, announced mass production of its PCIe 6.4‑CXL 3.2 fusion‑switch chip in the second half of 2024. The chip uniquely implements the full CXL 3.2 specification with Port‑Based Routing, supporting PCIe Gen 6 64 GT/s and all CXL sub‑protocols. It...
Anthropic Is Reportedly Testing Its Own AI Chips: No Product yet, but a Clear Signal in the Infrastructure Race
Anthropic is reportedly evaluating the development of its own AI accelerators, though no product or dedicated team has been confirmed. The move follows a surge in Claude’s demand, with projected 2026 revenue surpassing $30 billion, up from $9 billion in 2025. Anthropic...
AMD Ryzen AI 400, Aka “Gorgon Point”: Lots of New Model Names, but Based on Current Information, It Appears to...
AMD officially launched the Ryzen AI 400 series, codenamed “Gorgon Point,” in early 2026. The lineup re‑uses Zen 5/Zen 5c cores and RDNA 3.5 graphics from the earlier Strix Point and Krackan Point APUs, with modest clock‑speed and SKU tweaks rather than a new architecture. Desktop variants now...
Radiation-Hardened Electronics and the Business of Space-Grade Components
Radiation‑hardened electronics remain essential for space missions because they must survive harsh radiation environments where replacement is impossible. The market is defined by rigorous certification, long lead times, and a limited pool of qualified suppliers, making components a strategic asset....
Use Existing Outlets, Skip Expensive Home Charger
Get a quote from a few different electricians. Prices can sometimes vary widely. Some electricians will charge more than they need to because they know EV owners tend to have higher incomes and will pay it. A dedicated wall charger...
Allbirds Is Ditching Years of Clean and Green Street Cred
Allbirds announced a strategic pivot from sustainable footwear to AI compute infrastructure, rebranding as NewBird AI and planning to purchase GPUs for a GPU‑as‑a‑service model. The SEC filing proposes stripping the company of its environmental charter and public‑benefit corporation status,...
India's Apple Component Exports to China Surge to Record $2.5 Billion Under ECMS Scheme
Apple’s Indian suppliers have shipped a record $2.5 billion of iPhone components to China in FY 26, a direct result of the government’s Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS). The surge follows a rapid rise from $920 million in FY 25 to $2.8 billion by January,...
In-Order Interleaving
The tenth video in the Performance‑Aware Programming series, titled “In‑order Interleaving,” explains how arranging dependent instructions in a strict order can minimize pipeline stalls and boost execution speed. The tutorial walks through practical code examples hosted in the accompanying GitHub...
XPS Costs $350 More for Same Processor
Galaxy Book6: $1249 Dell XPS 14: $1599 Both powered by the Core Ultra 5 325 It's not until you spend $2049 on the XPS that you get a flagship Ultra X7 processor. I don't understand why the XPS is so expensive with the...
Compute Strategy: Build Your Own AI Infrastructure
Everyone's debating AI models. Almost no one asks what they run on. XPU co-development. Custom Ethernet for AI. Boston Dynamics in production. Compute is now strategy. Rent it: ceiling set by someone else. Build it: you write your own. https://t.co/U5DIK1nJt6
Is Tesla a Chip Stock Now? Investors Are Cheering a Semiconductor Milestone.
Tesla announced that its next‑generation AI5 chip has completed tape‑out, locking the design for fabrication. The chip is intended to power humanoid robots and Tesla’s supercomputing platforms, with volume production targeted for 2027. Shares surged after CEO Elon Musk posted...
Memory Reallocation to AI Workloads Constrains LPDDR4 Supply, Slowing High-End Cellular IoT Module Growth
Memory vendors are shifting wafer capacity toward high‑bandwidth memory and AI‑centric nodes, leaving LPDDR4 supply constrained. Counterpoint now projects global cellular IoT module shipments to grow only 4% YoY in 2026, half the prior 8% forecast, as high‑end 5G and...
SCADA Working Fine Locally but Lagging on Remote Stations
SCADA platforms deliver real‑time process data flawlessly on the local server, but remote operator stations often suffer lag, delayed tag updates, and sluggish screen navigation. The primary culprits are network latency, excessive tag subscriptions, and heavyweight graphics that strain bandwidth...
Allbirds' Sudden Shift From Sneakers to AI GPUs
Great to be on @OutFrontCNN @ErinBurnett discussing the head scratching Allbirds overnight pivot from a sneaker company to an AI GPU tech vendor 📺😳🍿👇 @CNN @cnnbrk https://t.co/7TCFWZpGc7