Today's Semiconductors Pulse
AMD CEO says AI boom revives focus on CPUs
AMD CEO Lisa Su said the rapid expansion of AI workloads is refocusing attention on central processing units. AMD also announced it will invest more than $10 billion in Taiwan’s ecosystem to accelerate AI infrastructure deployment.
CSA Catapult Issues Annual Report for 2024–25
The UK’s Compound Semiconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult released its 2024‑25 annual report, highlighting a series of strategic milestones. It opened the nation’s first open‑access advanced packaging facility with $3.1 million funding and joined the £5.5 million REACT sustainable electronics centre in Scotland. The Catapult helped customers tap into $891 million of public and private investment, secured $11 million to expand chip manufacturing at Strathclyde, and reported nearly 6,000 jobs created or safeguarded. An independent study credited its R&D projects with more than $750 million of gross value‑added to the UK economy.
Micron Pushes US Lawmakers To Restrict China Sales
Micron is spearheading the MATCH Act, a congressional bill that would tighten U.S. export controls on chipmaking equipment to China. The legislation, cleared by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, targets advanced tools used by Chinese memory producers such as CXMT,...
Cyient Semiconductors’ Power Play: How Kinetic Technologies Fits the Puzzle
Cyient Semiconductors, India’s largest custom silicon provider, has bought a majority stake in California‑based Kinetic Technologies for $85 million, down from the $93 million initially announced. The deal adds over 100 patents and 250 power‑management ASSPs, potentially doubling Cyient’s addressable market to...
![[Y-Insight] Semiconductor Reliability Emerges as Decisive Factor in New Space Era](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/http://www.thelec.net/news/thumbnail/202604/6747_7080_66_v150.jpg)
[Y-Insight] Semiconductor Reliability Emerges as Decisive Factor in New Space Era
Semiconductor reliability is becoming a decisive factor as the space sector moves into a privately driven New Space era, where launch costs have fallen and commercial off‑the‑shelf (COTS) components are increasingly used. Lee Kwan‑hoon of Korea’s KETI warns that space...
Seeing Clearly Even in the Fog
Korean researchers led by Jong‑Soo Lee have created a next‑generation short‑wave infrared (SWIR) image sensor that fuses Ag₂Te quantum dots with an MoS₂ 2D semiconductor. The hybrid architecture leverages photodoping at the material interface to deliver a responsivity of 7.5 × 10⁵ A/W...
Infineon Joins European Quantum Pilot Lines for Quantum Chips
Infineon announced its participation in three of Europe’s six quantum pilot line projects—CHAMP-ION, SUPREME and SPINS—bringing semiconductor manufacturing expertise to the emerging quantum‑chip ecosystem. The pilot lines are designed to bridge the gap between laboratory prototypes and industrial‑scale production, offering...
Intel Lands Tesla as First Major Customer for 14A Chip Technology
Tesla announced it will use Intel’s upcoming 14A manufacturing process for chips produced at its planned Terafab AI‑chip complex in Austin. The deal marks Intel’s first major external customer for the 14A node, a critical step as the company seeks...
Intel OpenVINO 2026.1 Integrates llama.cpp with Wildcat Lake and Arc Pro B70—And Suddenly Makes Intel’s AI Strategy More Tangible
Intel’s OpenVINO 2026.1 toolkit adds a preview backend for llama.cpp and expands model support to include Qwen3 VL, GPT‑OSS 120B, and a WhisperPipeline for Node.js. The release explicitly targets Intel Core Series 3 (codenamed Wildcat Lake) CPUs and the Arc Pro B70 GPU with 32 GB of memory,...
New Chip Can Protect Wireless Biomedical Devices From Quantum Attacks
MIT engineers have unveiled a needle‑tip ASIC that brings post‑quantum cryptography to wireless biomedical implants such as pacemakers and insulin pumps. The chip achieves 20‑60× higher energy efficiency than existing PQC implementations while adding on‑chip random number generation, side‑channel protection...
YieldWerx Expands Taiwan Presence Through Enlight Technology Collaboration
YieldWerx announced a partnership with Taiwan’s Enlight Technology to bring its data‑driven yield analytics directly into the island’s semiconductor ecosystem. The collaboration will integrate design‑to‑test data across advanced packaging, silicon photonics, and heterogeneous integration, leveraging Enlight’s EDA and MES footprint...
AMD and Intel Consumer CPU Prices Surge 10% as AI‑Driven Shortages Grip Market
AMD and Intel have raised consumer CPU prices by about 10% in the past month, reflecting tight supply and soaring AI‑driven demand. The surge, mirrored in server chips, signals a multi‑year pricing cycle that could reshape PC and data‑center cost...
Google Cloud Signs Multi‑Billion Nvidia GB300 Deal with Thinking Machines
Google Cloud announced a multi‑billion‑dollar agreement with Mira Murati’s 14‑month‑old Thinking Machines Lab to power its AI workloads on Nvidia’s GB300 chips. The deal, valued in the single‑digit billions, locks in A4X Max VMs that promise double the speed of...
Nasdaq Hits Record 24,596 as AI and Big‑Tech Earnings Drive Rally
The Nasdaq Composite closed at a fresh all‑time high of 24,596.22, propelled by AI‑centric chip makers and big‑tech earnings. The rally was amplified by President Trump’s extension of the Iran ceasefire, which eased geopolitical tension and revived investor confidence.
Intel-Google Alliance Signals CPU Resurgence in AI Infrastructure Era
Intel has teamed with Google to pair Xeon CPUs with custom infrastructure processing units (IPUs) for AI workloads, emphasizing a balanced, heterogeneous architecture. The collaboration targets latency‑sensitive inference, data pre‑processing, and system management, offloading networking, storage, and security to IPUs....
RoboSense Releases Image-Grade SPAD-SoC Platform as LiDAR Competition Heats Up
Chinese LiDAR leader RoboSense unveiled its Eocene digital architecture and two flagship chips, Phoenix and Peacock, at a Tech Day event ahead of the Beijing Auto Show. The Phoenix chip is the world’s first automotive‑grade monolithic SPAD‑SoC, delivering a 2,160‑beam...
SK Hynix Posts Explosive Growth, Valued at 4x EPS
SK Hynix just reported 2026 Q1 earnings. Revenues up +198% YoY Net income up +405% YoY Net income margins of 77% …and SK Hynix trades at 4x NTM EPS 🤣 These are wild times for memory stocks 😳 NFA. DYOR. *We own SK Hynix...
ASMPT Limited Q1 Profit Jumps 203% as Semiconductor Equipment Demand Surges
ASMPT Limited reported a first‑quarter profit of HK$253.8 million ($32 million), up 203% from a year earlier, while revenue rose 32% to HK$3.97 billion ($508 million). The Tokyo‑based supplier said the surge reflects accelerating demand for semiconductor manufacturing equipment, especially from its SEMI division,...
TSMC's Kevin: GAA Scaling Eliminates Need for Alternative
That's not what Kevin from TSMC said. He said the GAA technology they're developing is showing scaling and robustness to not need it.
Taiwan’s Taiex Gains 1.1% as Asian Markets Show Mixed Performance
Taiwan’s benchmark Taiex index rose 1.1% on Wednesday, outpacing peers as Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.5% on SoftBank’s rally. South Korea’s Kospi, Australia’s ASX and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell, while China’s Shanghai Composite was flat. The split reflects localized drivers...
Intel Corp (INTC) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
Intel reported Q1 2026 revenue of $13.3 billion, a 4% sequential increase, but posted a non‑GAAP loss of $0.46 per share after a $3 billion impairment hit gross margin. The company accelerated cost‑cutting, trimming more than 15% of its workforce and slashing...
SiEngine Technology's Qingdao Subsidiary Completes Construction and Begins Operations, Deepening National Industrial Layout
SiEngine Technology's wholly‑owned Qingdao subsidiary has finished construction and started operations, expanding the company's industrial footprint across China. Backed by Ronghui Group, ABC Capital’s Shandong AIC fund and an increased stake from Jingming Capital, the plant includes an R&D center...
Seeds | EVAS Intelligence Secures 1.5 Billion Yuan Series B Funding
EVAS Intelligence secured a Series B financing of 1.5 billion yuan (about $210 million) led by several Beijing development funds and backed by existing investors. The money will fund mass production of the Epoch RISC‑V AI chips, development of the next flagship processor,...
This Domestic Chip Aims to Be the "Safety Cornerstone" Of the 800V Era
Novosense Microelectronics unveiled the NSI6911F series of isolated gate driver chips on April 21, marking the first fully domestic Chinese product that meets ISO 26262 ASIL D safety certification. Designed for 800 V high‑voltage platforms in new‑energy vehicles, the chip delivers 19 A peak...
China Bought Zero H200 Chips ‘as of Today’, Says Lutnick as He Cites ‘Delicate Balance’ with Xi
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told the Senate that, despite prior approvals, China has bought zero Nvidia H200 AI chips to date. He framed the situation as a "delicate balance" between President Trump’s personal rapport with Xi Jinping and national...
Former Samsung Engineer Gets 7 Years in Prison After Selling Core DRAM Secrets to China’s CXMT for $2 Million
A former Samsung memory engineer received a seven‑year prison term after pleading guilty to selling Samsung's next‑generation DDR5 DRAM design secrets to China’s CXMT for roughly $2 million. The U.S. Department of Justice highlighted the transfer of proprietary schematics and process...
Norway Takes State Control of Fens Rare‑Earth Deposit Planning, Boosting Domestic Neodymium Supply
Norway's central government has taken over planning for the Fens rare‑earth deposit in Telemark after the local municipality requested state intervention. The move targets the continent's largest documented neodymium resource and aims to smooth land‑use conflicts while advancing a domestic...
Only Google Knows TPU Performance; Need Independent Benchmarks
I’m getting a lot of questions on Google TPU performance versus NVIDIA. The reality is that only Google knows for sure. I am looking forward to 3rd party assessments across a wide variety of workloads that touch entire stacks and...
Wolfspeed Appoints Tokyo-Based Regional President for Asia Pacific
Wolfspeed Inc., a leading silicon‑carbide semiconductor maker, announced the appointment of Yasuhisa Harita as regional president for Asia Pacific, effective June 1. Based in Tokyo, Harita will steer commercial strategy across Japan, Korea and the ASEAN nations, targeting revenue growth...
Google’s New TPUs and Agent Platform Offer Expanded AI Solutions
At Google Cloud Next, Google unveiled a new generation of Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) split between training‑focused and inference‑optimized chips, promising lower latency and better performance per watt. It also launched the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, which adds orchestration, security...
Synopsys Partners with TSMC to Power Next-Generation AI Systems with Silicon Proven IP and Certified EDA Flows
Synopsys announced an expanded partnership with TSMC that integrates AI‑driven EDA flows, silicon‑proven IP, and 3DFabric enablement across the company’s 3 nm, 2 nm and A14/A16 process families. The collaboration delivered the first low‑power M‑PHY v6.0 silicon on TSMC N2P, a 64‑G UCIe...
TSMC Unfolds Map for Process, Packaging Tech
TSMC unveiled its next‑generation roadmap, announcing the 1.4‑nm A14 GAA process for AI data‑center chips in 2028, with A13 and A12 derivatives slated for 2029 that shrink die size by roughly 6%. The company also introduced N2U, a 2‑nm derivative...
The End of the Neutral Stack: Choose Your Ecosystem
The automotive industry is abandoning the long‑standing neutral stack model as OEMs begin locking in compute and software platforms early in the vehicle development cycle. Simultaneously, data‑sovereignty regulations are forcing a split between China and non‑China vehicle architectures. Suppliers that...
Google Unveils Two New AI Chips For the 'Agentic Era'
Google unveiled two new Tensor Processing Units—one dedicated to training and another to inference—targeting what it calls the "agentic era" of AI. The training TPU promises 2.8 times the performance of the seventh‑generation Ironwood chip at the same price, while the...
NIST Researchers Develop Photonic Chip Packaging
Researchers at NIST have introduced a new packaging method for photonic integrated circuits that uses hydroxide catalysis bonding, an inorganic glass‑like technique originally developed by NASA. The HCB process creates a molecular‑level bond between optical fibers and chips, allowing the...
Bolt's Zeus Chip Paves Way for Silicon Path Tracing
"Moving from a rasterized pipeline in silicon to path tracing in silicon, at scale, is not an easy thing to do," said Dr. Ian Cutress, chief analyst, More Than Moore. "Bolt Graphics' Zeus test chip is an important first step...
Musk Announces Intel 14A Chip, Raises Major Questions
Musk saying they will use Intel’s 14A process is big news but so many questions…
Silicon Photonics Just Gained a Powerful New Ally, and It Could Reshape Next-Generation Data Links
Silicon photonics gains a new integration method as imec demonstrates micro‑transfer printing of thin‑film lithium niobate (LiNbO₃) and lithium tantalate (LiTaO₃) onto a CMOS‑compatible platform. The team achieved a 320 Gb/s unamplified O‑band link over 2 km using a 100 GHz germanium photodiode...
TSMC Schedules A13 Shrink, A12 for 2029, Launches Photonic
Just in: TSMC revealed the next nodes in its technology roadmap A13 is a 6% shrink of A14 A12 will follow A13 Both scheduled for 2029 Also, Compact Universal Photonic Engine with Co-Packages Optics commencing production this year
Japan's Naphtha Shortage Threatens Global Semiconductor Production
Semi Market, show me you care. "Japan is short on naphtha → Japan can't produce semiconductor materials → This could bring the world's semiconductor fabs to a halt."
JEDEC Previews LPDDR6 Roadmap Expanding LPDDR Into Data Centers and Processing-in-Memory
JEDEC previewed a next‑generation LPDDR6 roadmap that extends the mobile‑focused memory standard into data‑center and accelerated‑computing markets. The update adds a narrower per‑die interface, flexible metadata handling, and targets 512 GB densities per module. JEDEC is also developing a SOCAMM2 module...
SMCI Nears Resolution of Nvidia Chip Smuggling Allegations
$SMCI is getting close to filling the “allegations of smuggling Nvidia AI chips into China” gap https://t.co/wRUyCxU5ij
Silicon Oxide Memory Advances Toward Industrial Use
Did you see this?👇 Silicon Oxide Memory Breakthrough | Lecture 12: From Lab to Industry #science #graphene #pchardware https://t.co/dIvQsIQm8V https://t.co/hZ0KyzJC7S
Microchip and Sunny Smartlead Expand ASA-ML Ecosystem with ADAS Camera Collaboration
Microchip Technology and Sunny Smartlead have partnered to broaden the Automotive SerDes Alliance Motion Link (ASA‑ML) ecosystem. Sunny Smartlead will launch ADAS camera modules that integrate Microchip’s VS700 ASA‑ML serializers, promising faster, simpler, and lower‑cost development for automotive OEMs and...
Aeluma Shares Jump 8% After NASA Awards Quantum Laser Contract
Aeluma Inc. saw its Nasdaq‑listed shares climb 8.09% to $18.02 after NASA announced a non‑dilutive award to advance the company’s integrated quantum‑dot laser platform. The funding targets data‑center communications and advanced sensing, positioning Aeluma at the forefront of next‑gen high‑performance...
Cerebras Systems Files Nasdaq IPO, Marking Major VC‑Backed AI Chip Exit
Cerebras Systems, the wafer‑scale AI chipmaker backed by top venture firms, filed a Form S‑1 on April 17 to list on Nasdaq under the ticker CBRS. The filing comes after a $20 billion OpenAI partnership, $510 million in 2025 revenue and a...
The AI Economy Runs on Helium. The Iran War Just Created a $650 Billion Problem
Moody’s Ratings warns that the Iran‑Israel conflict has disrupted Qatar’s Ras Laffan helium plant, creating a $650 billion supply‑chain risk for the AI economy. Helium, essential for wafer cooling, carrier gas and leak detection in semiconductor fabs, has no industrial substitute. The...
Google Unveils Split TPU Line for Training, Low‑latency Inference
Google this morning officially announced it will make two new TPU versions, splitting between training and inference workloads as inference, particularly low-latency inference becomes a greater customer focus and a month after Nvidia unveiled out its Groq-based product.
AI Chip Startup Blaize and Hardware Developer NeoTensr to Develop Edge Infrastructure for APAC
Blaize and Chinese edge‑hardware firm NeoTensr have signed a contract worth up to $50 million to build AI‑powered edge infrastructure across the APAC region. NeoTensr will integrate Blaize’s Graph Streaming Processor, which can handle more than 200 camera streams per server,...
Market Dynamics and Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) Chipsets
The global LEO satellite 5G Non‑Terrestrial Network (NTN) chipset market is projected to expand from $6.69 billion in 2026 to $23.07 billion by 2030, a compound annual growth rate above 36 %. This acceleration follows the finalization of 3GPP Release 17 and 18 standards...
Google Signs Multi‑billion Deal for Nvidia GB300 AI Chips
Exclusive: Google deepens Thinking Machines Lab ties in a deal valued in 'single-digit billions,' per a source familiar. Includes access to Nvidia’s new GB300 chips + infra services to support model training and deployment. https://t.co/2fywSlR1Kp via @techcrunch