Today's Hardware Pulse
Nvidia driver adds DLSS 5 profile options, hinting at next‑gen AI rendering
Nvidia's GeForce Game Ready driver 610.47 introduces three new profile settings—Enable DLSS NR override, Enable DLSS NR SL override, and Override DLSS NR presets—suggesting continued development of its upcoming DLSS 5 neural‑rendering technology. The earlier DLSS 5 reveal sparked debate over AI‑driven image alteration, after which Nvidia fell silent on the feature.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Cyient Semiconductors raises $30M Series A
Bidirectional All‐Optical Synapses for Neuromorphic Computing and Vision
Researchers have created a bidirectional all‑optical synapse using a carbon‑dot hybrid (CDH) that responds to both ultraviolet and infrared light. The dual‑photon approach enables controllable exciton release and phosphorescent emission, delivering true optical potentiation and depression. Leveraging this capability, the platform performs optical logic operations and a neurovision system that tracks moving light objects with 97% accuracy. This breakthrough moves photonic neuromorphic hardware closer to real‑time, low‑latency computing and imaging.
China AI Firm Discloses $92 Million of Banned Nvidia Chip Servers to Beijing
Sharetronic Data Technology, a Shenzhen AI‑data‑center firm, disclosed invoices for 276 Super Micro servers equipped with Nvidia H100/H200 chips, valued at 632 million yuan (about $92 million). The hardware is subject to U.S. export bans that have been in place since 2022, yet the...
The Android Tablet That Runs Steam Games : Lenovo Legion Tab Gen 5
Lenovo’s Legion Tab Gen 5 brings a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 processor and up to 24 GB of RAM to the Android tablet market, delivering performance that rivals many ultrabooks. The device ships with a desktop mode that mimics a PC interface, offering multi‑window support,...
The Race to Secure Data
Chip makers are racing to secure data both at rest and in motion as AI models expose software flaws faster than ever. Broadcom’s SecureHBA line now embeds post‑quantum cryptography on 64‑Gb/s Fibre Channel adapters and has taped out 128‑Gb/s silicon...
Anthropic Mulls Building Its Own AI Chips
Anthropic is weighing the development of its own AI chips as the industry grapples with a persistent silicon shortage. The move follows a surge in demand for its Claude chatbot, which pushed run‑rate revenue to roughly $30 billion, up from $9 billion...
Bridgewater’s $650B AI Infrastructure Warning:
Bridgewater Associates warns that the seven dominant tech firms – Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Apple, NVIDIA and Tesla – will pour an estimated $650 billion into AI infrastructure in 2026. The spending will focus on data‑center expansion, custom silicon and high‑speed...
‘75% of What We Need Is Not There’: Australian States Race to Deploy Gigawatts of Battery Storage
Australian states are scrambling to meet soaring battery storage targets as solar penetration outpaces wind. New South Wales now needs 56 GWh of storage by 2030—75% of which lacks financing—while Victoria aims for 6.3 GW by 2035 and Western Australia’s grid runs...
Google's Compute Domination
Google’s Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) fleet expanded 11.5‑fold over seven quarters and now consumes more electricity than Microsoft’s entire AI compute stack. The growth rate is accelerating, with Q4 2025 adding more compute in a single quarter than xAI has built...
Vertiv AI Innovation Roadshow Returns to Africa as Virtual Event
Vertiv, a global critical‑infrastructure provider, is holding its AI Innovation Roadshow for Africa as a fully virtual webinar on April 15 at 11 am SAST. The event, themed “AI‑ready data centres for Africa: building infrastructure for what’s next,” will explore how power,...
Valeo Inaugurates ADAS Camera Production at Sanand
Valeo has inaugurated a high‑definition surround‑view camera production line at its Sanand plant in Gujarat, India. The line will supply advanced driver‑assistance (ADAS) and advanced rider‑assistance (ARAS) vision systems to domestic OEMs. It forms part of a broader Sanand expansion...
F&S M.2 AI Accelerator Uses NXP Ara-240 for Edge Inference Workloads
F&S Elektronik Systeme launched an M.2 AI accelerator powered by NXP Ara‑240, delivering up to 40 TOPS for edge inference. The module uses a standard M.2 Key‑M 2280 form factor, supports PCIe Gen3/Gen4 x4, and includes up to 16 GB LPDDR4 memory while drawing...
Intel Nova Lake-S Could Come with Optional 2L-ILM: Leak Suggests a Flatter IHS Contact for Enthusiast Boards
A leak from VideoCardz suggests Intel’s upcoming Nova Lake‑S platform may include an optional two‑lever independent loading mechanism (2L‑ILM) for high‑end enthusiast motherboards. The 2L‑ILM would provide a flatter contact surface between the CPU’s integrated heat spreader (IHS) and the cooler,...
TSMC Is Upgrading Japan’s Second Plant to the 3-Nanometer Process. Kumamoto Is Transitioning From a Backup Site to a True...
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has received approval to launch 3‑nanometer production at its second Japanese fab in Kumamoto, with equipment installation slated for 2026 and volume output expected in 2028. The plant will initially run at a capacity of...
SiFive Raises $400 Million; Nvidia Bets on RISC-V for Data Centers
SiFive announced a $400 million Series G financing round that values the RISC‑V IP company at $3.65 billion. Nvidia participated as an investor, reinforcing a joint plan to deliver high‑performance RISC‑V CPUs with NVLink Fusion connectivity for data‑center AI workloads. The capital will...
Intel Bartlett Lake-S Launches on Z790 Motherboard: Modder Bypasses BIOS Limits, Support Remains Unofficial
A modder named “kryptonfly” successfully patched a consumer Z790 BIOS to boot Intel’s Bartlett Lake‑S Core 9 273PQE, an embedded 12‑core processor not officially supported on desktop boards. The original firmware capped supported performance cores at eight, causing boot failures until the...
Fabs & Labs: Filtronic
Filtronic has inaugurated a new state‑of‑the‑art headquarters, design centre and manufacturing facility at NetPark in Sedgefield, County Durham. The complex includes advanced cleanroom environments tailored for high‑frequency components used in space, defence and communications applications. By consolidating R&D and production...
Aqara Multi-State Sensor P100: A Single-Body Sensor with Matter and Thread Support
Aqara’s new Multi‑State Sensor P100 consolidates a nine‑axis sensor array into a single housing, eliminating the traditional magnet‑and‑body design. It operates in two modes—door/window monitoring and valuables‑protection—using AI to interpret motion, tilt, vibration and gesture inputs. The device supports Zigbee...
Scientists Develop Three-in-One Diode
Researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China have unveiled a GaN‑based PN junction photodiode that simultaneously handles photosensing, memory storage, and processing. By inserting an n‑AlGaN charge‑storage layer, the device can switch among three functional modes using...
Marktech Launches High Power 280nm UVC LEDs
Marktech Optoelectronics has introduced a family of high‑power 280 nm UVC LEDs available in single‑, two‑ and four‑chip formats. The devices deliver wall‑plug efficiencies up to 7% and are rated for more than 15,000 hours at the L70 degradation point. By...
Japanese Team Achieves 2 Μm-Band PCSEL Laser Oscillation
Asahi Kasei Microdevices (AKM) and Kyoto University have demonstrated laser oscillation in a 2 μm-band photonic crystal surface‑emitting laser (PCSEL). The breakthrough showcases PCSEL’s ability to deliver high directionality and ultra‑narrow linewidth in a compact infrared source. By operating at 2 μm,...
QuinAs Links Memory Device Physics to AI Performance
QuInAs Technology has published research linking its ULTRARAM compound‑semiconductor memory device directly to AI system performance. The paper introduces a physics‑based compact modelling framework that captures resonant tunnelling and floating‑gate dynamics, enabling hardware‑aware benchmarking of ULTRARAM as a synaptic element...
CEA-Leti, CEA-List and PSMC Collaborate
CEA‑List, CEA‑Leti and PSMC announced a collaboration to merge RISC‑V processor IP with silicon‑photonic interconnects on PSMC’s 3D‑stacking platform, targeting next‑generation AI systems. The joint effort will embed customizable RISC‑V compute blocks and microLED‑based optical links into high‑bandwidth chiplet architectures,...
AI Compute Boom Propels Foundry 2.0 Market to $360 Billion
The AI‑driven compute boom is pushing the Foundry 2.0 market toward a $360 billion valuation in 2026, with advanced nodes and CoWoS packaging remaining scarce. TSMC raised its 3 nm capacity target to 165,000 wafers per month and aims for a 44% market...
Gartner Forecasts Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue to Exceed $1.3 Trillion in 2026
Gartner projects worldwide semiconductor revenue to exceed $1.3 trillion in 2026, reflecting a 64 % year‑over‑year increase. Memory revenue is expected to triple as DRAM and NAND flash prices surge 125 % and 234 % respectively, a phenomenon Gartner dubs “memflation.” AI semiconductors will...
Tag Values Updating Late Even Though Communication Is Healthy
Operators sometimes see SCADA tag values lag a few seconds even though PLC‑SCADA communication shows no errors. The delay typically stems from configuration choices such as overly long scan rates, PLC programs that update variables on slow cycles, or network...
SLB OneSubsea Lands Gulf of Mexico Subsea Boosting Deal
SLB OneSubsea, a joint venture of SLB, Aker Solutions and Subsea7, secured a contract from Beacon Offshore to supply a high‑pressure, high‑temperature (HPHT) multiphase boosting system for the Shenandoah field in the Gulf of Mexico. The system is engineered to...
Ikea Unveils Varmblixt Smart Lamp with Adaptive Lighting and Motion Sensors
Ikea introduced the Varmblixt smart lamp, a doughnut‑shaped fixture that combines adaptive color temperature, motion sensing and voice‑assistant integration. The launch positions Ikea as a serious contender in the fast‑growing smart‑home lighting segment.
NATO Pushes for Cold‑Weather Drone Tech to Guard Arctic Frontiers
NATO officials announced a renewed drive to acquire inexpensive drones that can operate in extreme Arctic cold, citing gaps in situational awareness and rising Russian and Chinese activity. Experts warned that battery performance, sensor icing and lack of spare parts...
Syncere’s $1,500 ‘Laundry‑Folding Lamp’ Faces Skepticism as a Doomed Robotics Venture
Startup Syncere announced Lume, a lamp‑shaped robot priced at $1,500 that can fold shirts and make beds, promising shipments within eight weeks. Industry observers question whether consumers will pay for such niche home‑automation, citing past failures and the high expense...
Surprise: Not Every Lenovo Laptop Is Worth Recommending in 2026 - the Yoga 7i Is Proof
Lenovo’s Yoga 7a 2‑in‑1 positions itself as a mid‑range convertible with a premium 2K OLED screen and an improved magnetic stylus sleeve, but its performance and pricing lag behind newer rivals. Powered by an AMD Ryzen AI 7 445 CPU, up to 24 GB RAM and...
Google Owns the Most AI Compute, and It Built It Its Way
Google is now the largest single owner of AI compute, holding roughly one‑quarter of the world’s capacity – about 5 million H100‑equivalent units, most of which are its own TPU chips. By contrast, only about 25 % of that compute relies on...
Mississippi Data Center Construction Expands With $12B New Phase in Madison and Clinton
Amazon announced a $12 billion expansion of its Mississippi data‑center portfolio, adding an $11 billion build‑out in Madison County and a $1 billion conversion of a former Delphi plant in Clinton, Hinds County. The phase will create 800 new jobs—700 in Madison and...
Can Diversification Boost CRUS' Revenue Stability & Margin Profile?
Cirrus Logic (CRUS) is shifting its growth strategy away from a heavy reliance on a single smartphone customer toward broader exposure in PCs, automotive, and AI‑enabled interfaces. The company leverages its low‑power analog and mixed‑signal expertise to launch new codecs,...
Faulty Adapter Causes Netgear Hotspot Power Drain
There seems to be something wrong with power adapter, cable, or software related to that on Netgear hotspots. Same thing happened on newer and older device. They started running out of power to the point they were unusable. Switching to...
Chiplet Architectures May Overcome Miniaturization Limits
Are Chiplet Architectures a Real Answer to Chip Miniaturization Limits? by @antgrasso #EmergingTech #Innovation #Tech #Technology https://t.co/piyQQEWYq6
Buses Found Using Chinese Chips
Taiwanese bus operators Da Nan Bus and Shin‑Shin Bus discovered that 82 of their 244 electric buses were equipped with Huawei‑affiliated HiSilicon chips, violating a contractual ban on Chinese components. The chips, used in around‑view monitor systems, were allegedly concealed...
Large‑format LFP Cells Exceed 314 Ah for BESS
Beyond 314Ah: A comparison of large-format LFP battery cells for BESS #energysky -- via Energy Storage News: https://t.co/xSvqIcKWYL
3D‑Printed Robot Arm Demonstrates Precise Pick‑and‑Place
3D Printed Robot Arm Pick and Place Testing #3dPrinted #Robot #STEM #Robotics #Arduino #engineering #BlackWomenInSTEM #NoireSTEMinist #NationalRoboticsWeek #BlackSky #STEMSky #BlackSTEMSky #BlackWomenInSTEM #BlackInSTEM #AcademicSky #AcademicChatter #WomenInSTEM https://t.co/TrXj9dXq5V
Panmnesia Wins Government Project to Develop AI Accelerator Link Controller
Panmnesia announced on April 8 that it secured a South Korean government‑backed project to develop AI accelerator link controllers and switches using open‑standard interconnects. The initiative, part of the K‑Cloud AI semiconductor program, focuses on UALink and Ethernet technologies, with silicon...
MOKiN 8‑in‑1 USB‑C Hub Simplifies All Connections
Running out of ports or want to simplify plugging your notebook into your accessories, from keyboard to monitor? Then you'll really appreciate the MOKiN 8-In-1 USB-C Hub. It even has some secret functions that are pretty slick, as I demonstrate:...
Big Tech Will Soon Design Its Own Chips
File this under Pat’s Law Of Always: Every large tech company will consider designing its own chips.
The Politics of a Subsea Data Cable Link to Antarctica
Researchers note Antarctica remains the only continent without a fiber‑optic link, despite mature subsea cable technology. The U.S. National Science Foundation is studying a cable from New Zealand or Australia to McMurdo, while a Chile‑backed effort eyes a route to King George...
Anthropic Builds Custom AI Chips to Ease Shortage
JUST IN: Anthropic is developing its own AI chips to combat the escalating shortage fueling their advanced systems.
BObsweep MAXIM: The Ferrari of Robot Vacuums
With its amazing features and capabilities, I'm not exaggerating when I call the @bObsweep MAXIM Robot Vacuum and Mop the "Ferrari of robot vacuum cleaners". Watch my video to see why it finally offers a clean that other devices just...
The End of the VSAT Parts Bin
Tactical VSAT systems are moving from a modular “parts‑bin” approach to fully integrated terminal‑modem‑interface platforms. The shift consolidates antennas, ruggedized outdoor modems and a single browser‑based control GUI, slashing deployment time and reducing field failures. Parabolic dishes still dominate high‑throughput...
VMUG Connect Minneapolis Recap
In this recap of VMUG Connect Minneapolis, hosts John and Brad Tompkins discuss the event’s focus on VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) upgrades, highlighting cost‑saving opportunities and the expanded Broadcom Compatibility Guide that eases migration from vSphere 8 to 9. They...
Hong Kong: AI, IoT for Sewer Infrastructure Management
Hong Kong Polytechnic University unveiled a multi‑tiered AI and IoT platform that modernises sewer infrastructure management. The system uses deep‑learning algorithms and real‑time sensors to prioritize high‑risk pipe segments, cutting inspection time by roughly one‑third. Predictive analytics achieve 85% accuracy...
The Nintendo Switch Ended Handheld Gaming as We Knew It
The Nintendo Switch, with 155 million units sold, redefined portable gaming by uniting console and handheld experiences. Its success, amplified by the Switch 2 launch in 2025, effectively collapsed the traditional handheld gaming category, a space once dominated by devices like the...
A New Memory Chip Survives 700°C and Could Enable AI in Space
Researchers at the University of Southern California have demonstrated a memristor memory chip that functions at 700 °C (1,300 °F) without degradation. The device uses a tungsten electrode, hafnium‑oxide insulator and a graphene interlayer that blocks tungsten filament formation. It retains data...
ZYT and Lisheng Technology Form Strategic Partnership on Intelligent Driving
ZT Y and Lisheng Technology signed a strategic partnership on April 3, 2026 to co‑develop intelligent driver‑assistance systems. The agreement covers chip adaptation, system integration and large‑scale manufacturing, with joint projects on mainstream automotive‑grade chips and a multi‑chip ecosystem to...