Today's Hardware Pulse
Apollo and Blackstone fund $35B credit line for Anthropic’s TPU acquisition
Apollo Global Management and Blackstone closed a $35 billion private‑credit facility to finance Anthropic’s purchase of Broadcom‑built Google‑designed TPU chips. The financing is expected to add about 1 GW of compute capacity, with deployment slated for Fluidstack data‑center sites by mid‑2024.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Factorial Energy goes public via $1.3B SPAC merger
London’s Nscale Signs €1.1 Billion Debt Facility to Deploy Large-Scale GPU Clusters in Europe
London‑based Nscale has secured a €1.1 billion delayed‑draw term loan to fund the purchase of GPU infrastructure for large‑scale AI clusters across Europe. The loan, led by PIMCO, Blue Owl and LuminArx, builds on a €146 million Series A and a record‑breaking €936 million Series B raised in the past two years. Nscale plans to deploy both massive hubs in Norway and low‑latency metro clusters, leveraging low‑cost renewable energy data centres. The financing adds liquidity for pipeline projects already under contract with enterprise customers.
Newland AIDC North America CEO Talks Scanning Innovations
At NRF 2026, Newland AIDC North America CEO Roy Chen outlined the company’s expanding portfolio of scanning solutions, ranging from mounted and kiosk units to handheld and wearable devices. He emphasized how these technologies streamline store operations, accelerate checkout, and...
Performance and Reliability: The Non-Negotiables in Live IP Broadcast
Live broadcast is transitioning from SDI to IP workflows built on SMPTE ST 2110, raising the bar for performance and reliability. Purpose‑built media switches now incorporate redundant power, precise PTP timing and boundary‑clock support, eliminating the compromises of repurposed data‑center...
Prusa Vs. Competitors: Repairability and Upgrade Paths
iFixit’s latest video highlights how Prusa’s MK2 printer can be upgraded through three generations, culminating in the 2025 Core 1 model, showcasing the brand’s long‑standing commitment to repairability. The segment also reveals Prusa’s shift from a pure open‑source license to an...
Start Building AI Now—No $10k Machine Needed
Alex bought a $10,000 Mac to run @openclaw with powerful local models. He isn’t alone. Know a guy with several NVIDIA H200’s in his house. Now that I am building I get it. Having your own local AI changes your whole approach...
Tattile’s Comark+ Laser Combines Technology and Expertise
Tattile has merged Comark’s laser and radar expertise with its ANPR leadership to launch Comark+ Laser, a high‑precision traffic‑analysis sensor. The device features a 210° aperture, detects vehicles up to 250 km/h across two lanes, and operates at 100 Hz without an...
Radxa Cubie A7S Integrates A733 SoC, RISC-V MCU, and LPDDR5 Memory
Radxa unveiled the Cubie A7S, a 51 × 51 mm single‑board computer powered by the Allwinner A733 SoC. The board pairs dual Cortex‑A76 cores with six Cortex‑A55 cores, LPDDR5 memory up to 16 GB, and an integrated 3 TOPS NPU for edge‑AI workloads. It also...
Google Backs Apple Vision Pro, Hinting at AI Partnership
It's great to see the Apple Vision Pro being invested in by Google. This might have something to do with the Google and Apple AI deal, and if it does, it's a great sign. I hope to see Google Genie...
Bluetooth Pacemakers Could Be Tracked via War‑Driving
For the Nancy Guthrie case, an idea and maybe a crazy one but she had a pacemaker which often implantable devices use bluetooth such as Medtronic's. Couldn't you war-drive (drones even better) with a high gain antenna with amplifiers -...
Custom Kernels for All From Codex and Claude
Hugging Face released a 550‑token CUDA‑kernel agent skill that equips coding agents like Claude and Codex with architecture‑aware optimization knowledge. The skill was used to generate production‑ready RMSNorm, RoPE, GEGLU and AdaLN kernels for a diffusers video pipeline and a...
Private 5G Networks: Solving the Space and Power Problem
Samsung introduced a ‘Network in a Server’ (NIS) solution that consolidates private 5G core, RAN, transport and AI functions onto a single COTS server. By virtualising these network elements on an AMD EPYC 8000 platform with GPU support, the architecture...
GE HealthCare Installs Allia Moveo at USF Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation
GE HealthCare’s Allia Moveo, a compact cable‑free C‑arm with a lateral wide‑bore for Cone Beam CT, has been installed at the University of South Florida’s Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS). This makes CAMLS the first Florida and...
Xinnor's Alternative Software RAID Filer for AI
Software RAID vendor Xinnor unveiled xiNAS, an all‑flash NAS filer built on its xiRAID stack, XFS, and NFS over RDMA, targeting AI, HPC and data‑intensive workloads. In a Supermicro validation, a single node achieved up to 74.5 GB/s sequential read and...
Globalfoundries (GFS) Hits New High on Swing to Profits
Globalfoundries swung from a $262 million loss in 2024 to an $888 million profit in 2025, posting a 439 percent year‑on‑year earnings improvement. Revenue grew only 1 percent to $6.79 billion, highlighting higher‑margin contracts and cost efficiencies as the profit drivers. The fourth‑quarter profit of...
IIAs 2026 | Sensirion’s Expansion in Debrecen, Hungary
Swiss sensor specialist Sensirion expanded its Debrecen, Hungary facility, earning the top award for Europe’s most impactful small operational project. The plant, originally opened in 2021, added capacity through a 2023‑24 expansion and is projected to create 200 jobs by...
Nvidia Chips Generate $8‑10 Economic Ripple per Dollar
"When I look out over the next two, three years, a ripple effect for every dollar spent on $NVDA chips, there's an $8-10 multiplier across software and infrastructure" 🎙️ @DivesTech joins Dan on the latest Okay, Computer. https://t.co/kyBad40Wln
Is a 96% Lower-Power NAND Coming?
Samsung researchers demonstrated a ferroelectric transistor that can cut NAND flash power consumption by up to 96%, integrating it into planar and 3‑D NAND strings. The approach replaces the traditional polysilicon channel or charge‑trap layer with a hafnium‑based ferroelectric oxide,...
Insty Connect Launches The New Insty Drum and Mini Drum Antennas, A Starlink Mini Compatible Mount, And A Hot-Standby Cellular...
Insty Connect has unveiled two new omnidirectional rooftop antennas—the high‑performance Drum and the compact Mini Drum—alongside a versatile X Mount that also fits a Starlink Mini. The company introduced a Hot‑Standby cellular plan that costs $10 per month plus $4...
TE Connectivity Snap-On Markers From AutomationDirect
AutomationDirect announced it now stocks TE Connectivity Snap‑on markers, a C‑profile wire labeling solution that can be applied to already‑terminated conductors. Each marker is pre‑printed with a single character and comes on an applicator that prevents over‑expansion. The tags fit wire...
Virtuix Expands Omni One VR Sales to Europe After IPO
Virtuix, the maker of full‑body VR treadmill systems, announced that its Omni One hardware will now be sold across Europe following its recent initial public offering. European customers in Germany, the United Kingdom, France and other EU nations can place...
Nitro Concepts Immersion Metahaptics Kit; Totally Not The ButtKicker 2.0
The episode dives into Nitro Concepts' Immersion Metahaptics Kit, a high‑end haptic seat system that uses USB‑controlled actuators to simulate gear shifts, engine rumble, ABS, wheelslip, and road feel for racing simulators. Reviewers from TweakTown found the tactile feedback surprisingly...
Attabotics Technology Revives as Part of LaFayette Systems
Attabotics, the robotic cube‑storage specialist, is restarting operations after its September 2025 acquisition by LaFayette Systems. The privately held LaFayette group will provide a stable financial base and engineering expertise, allowing Attabotics to retain its Calgary engineering, business, and manufacturing...
Cangaroo Open-Source CAN Bus Analyzer Supports SocketCAN and CAN-FD on Linux
Cangaroo is an open‑source CAN bus analyzer built for Linux, offering native integration with the SocketCAN stack and support for CAN‑FD. The desktop application captures, decodes, and visualizes traffic in real time, leveraging DBC databases and providing trace, graph, and...
DeepComputing Unveils RVA23-Compliant Mainboard III for Linux on Framework 13
DeepComputing announced the DC‑ROMA RISC‑V Mainboard III, an RVA23‑profile board designed for the Framework Laptop 13. The board uses the new SpacemiT K3 8‑core SoC, delivering up to 2.5 GHz and a 60 TOPS AI engine, and expands memory to 32 GB LPDDR5 with M.2 and...
IBM Refreshes FlashSystem Lineup with Faster 5600, 7600, and 9600 Arrays
IBM has refreshed its FlashSystem all‑flash portfolio, introducing the 5600, 7600 and 9600 arrays to replace the 5300, 7300 and 9500 models. The new 9600 delivers up to 6.3 million IOPS, 3.3 PB raw capacity and a compact 2‑RU chassis, while the...
Beats Powerbeats Fit Review: Apple’s Compact Workout Earbuds Revamped
Apple’s Beats Powerbeats Fit, the refreshed successor to the 2022 Beats Fit Pro, launch at £199.95, offering a slimmer, silicone‑wing design that sits inside the concha for a more discreet, comfortable fit, especially with glasses. The earbuds deliver six hours of playback...
Walmart Struggles to Keep Its Onn Streaming Boxes in Stock as Customers Abandon Amazon Fire TV in Droves
Customers are abandoning Amazon Fire TV after the retailer began blocking apps, prompting a surge in demand for alternative streaming platforms. Walmart’s low‑cost Onn 4K streaming boxes—Onn 4K, 4K Plus, and 4K Pro—have all gone out of stock both online...
Apple AirPods and Malicious Compliance
Apple’s AirPods illustrate the company’s lock‑in strategy, coupling premium performance with hardware exclusivity that blocks competitors. The European Union’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) prompted Apple to delay the Live Translation feature in the EU, citing concerns over third‑party access to...
NFC Forum Publishes Its Latest Technology Roadmap
The NFC Forum released its 2026 technology roadmap, outlining six priority initiatives to evolve NFC standards. Key focus areas include boosting data rates up to eight times, launching a comprehensive security profile, and enhancing wireless power specifications. The roadmap also...
Neoclouds Capture Growing AI Workload Traffic, Backblaze Says
Backblaze’s Q4 2025 network report reveals a sharp rise in AI‑driven traffic to GPU‑centric neocloud providers, peaking in October before settling at a higher baseline. The surge was concentrated in US‑East data centers, highlighting latency‑sensitive AI data movement. Analysts from McKinsey...
E-TERRY: A Lightweight Weeding Robot for Mechanical In-Row Weed Control
German startup E‑TERRY has launched a lightweight, fully electric field robot for mechanical in‑row weed control in vegetables and specialty crops. Its patented ultra‑flexible chassis adapts to any row spacing, while an AI‑based phenotyping system identifies crops with over 95%...
AI's GPU Problem Is Actually a Data Delivery Problem
Enterprises are spending billions on GPU clusters for AI, yet many GPUs sit idle because the data delivery layer between object storage and compute cannot keep pace. F5 argues that the real bottleneck is not the GPUs but the lack...
7.5 Metres Wide Autonomous Implement Carrier From Cyclair
French ag‑tech startup Cyclair unveiled its hybrid autonomous implement carrier line at GOFAR’s field day, showcasing the 2‑metre Rover GS prototype and announcing the larger 7.5‑metre Rover GW slated for commercial release in late 2026. The Rover GW will weed up to 5.4 metres...
Bitsensing Brings ADAS Kit to the Commercial Vehicle Sector
Radar solutions provider bitsensing has introduced an advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) kit tailored for commercial vehicles. The kit fuses radar and camera sensors to generate a suite of safety warnings, including blind‑spot information, surround‑view monitoring, rear and forward collision...
Ugreen FineTrack Duo Review – Bluetooth Tracker Compatible with Apple Find My and Google Find Hub
The Ugreen FineTrack Duo is a Bluetooth tracker that works with both Apple’s Find My network and Google’s Find Hub, targeting mixed‑device households. It features a USB‑C rechargeable battery promising up to 12 months of life and an 80 dB speaker for audible...