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.
Planet Labs Tests AI-Powered Object Detection On Satellite
Planet Labs successfully demonstrated artificial intelligence running directly on a satellite in orbit, using an NVIDIA Jetson Orin module to detect airplanes in an image of an airport captured at 500 km altitude. The onboard model processed the photo moments after capture, eliminating the need to downlink raw data for ground‑based analysis. This edge‑AI approach cuts latency from hours to seconds, enabling near‑real‑time insight into events such as disasters or infrastructure changes. The test showcases the next phase of Planet’s Global Monitoring Service, dubbed "Planetary Intelligence at scale."
ASUS Skips New Boards for Arrow Lake Refresh, Focuses on Next-Gen
ASUS confirmed it will not release new motherboards for Intel's upcoming Core Ultra 200S Plus refresh, opting to rely on the existing Intel 800 series boards built on the FCLGA1851 socket. The refresh offers only incremental performance gains, so manufacturers see little incentive...
Intel Serpent Lake Processors to Integrate NVIDIA RTX GPUs in 2028
Intel is planning a new processor family codenamed Serpent Lake, slated for a 2028 launch, that will integrate NVIDIA RTX graphics directly into the CPU package. The chips will combine Copper Shark performance cores with Golden Eagle efficiency cores, continuing...
Asian Tech Stocks Surge as U.S.-Iran Cease Fire Ease Hormuz Disruption Worries
Asian technology and semiconductor stocks rallied sharply after the United States and Iran agreed to a conditional two‑week cease‑fire that reopened the Strait of Hormuz. The de‑escalation eased fears over helium shortages, a critical input for chip manufacturing, prompting double‑digit...
Broadcom's Stock Jumps 6% After Chipmaker Expands Google, Anthropic Deals
Broadcom's stock jumped more than 6% on Tuesday, its second‑best trading day of the year. The rally followed announcements that the chipmaker will produce next‑generation AI chips for Google and has expanded its agreement with Anthropic, granting the startup access...
RIBER Delivers Strong Earnings Growth in 2025
RIBER reported 2025 results with revenue of €40.3 million (≈ $44.3 million), a 2 % decline year‑on‑year, while net income surged 27 % to €5.2 million (≈ $5.7 million). Gross margin rose to €15.6 million (≈ $17.2 million), reflecting a stronger product mix and pricing power. The company highlighted the commercial...
First Quantum Diamond Microscopy System Lands in US for Advanced Chip Failure Analysis
QuantumDiamonds GmbH has installed its QD m.1 quantum‑diamond microscopy system at Eurofins EAG Laboratories in Sunnyvale, marking the first North‑American deployment of a commercial QDM tool. The QD m.1 uses nitrogen‑vacancy centers in synthetic diamond to produce three‑dimensional, micrometer‑scale magnetic current maps of...
AMD Medusa Point Leaked: 10 Cores, 32 MB L3 Cache, and First Geekbench Results for a Zen 6 APU
AMD’s engineering sample of the rumored Medusa Point APU surfaced on Geekbench, revealing a 10‑core, 20‑thread Zen 6 design with 32 MB of L3 cache. The sample runs at a 2.40 GHz base clock and peaked near 2.01 GHz, scoring 1,210 single‑core and 7,323...
Broadcom Secures Google’s Commitment Through 2031, and Anthropic Invests in the Next Generation of TPUs
Broadcom announced a multi‑year agreement with Google to develop and supply future generations of custom Tensor Processing Units and the networking components for AI racks through 2031. In parallel, Anthropic secured access to roughly 3.5 GW of Google‑based TPU capacity starting...
Microchip Hybrid MCU Targeted at Automotive, E-Mobility HMI Applications
Microchip Technology introduced the SAM9X75D5M, an AEC‑Q100 Grade 2‑qualified System‑in‑Package that combines an Arm926EJ‑S processor with 512 Mbit DDR2 SDRAM. The hybrid MCU targets automotive and e‑mobility human‑machine interfaces, supporting up to 10‑inch XGA displays via MIPI DSI, LVDS or parallel RGB....
Onvo L90 to Adopt Nio's In-House Developed Shenji Smart Driving Chip, Report Says
Nio’s sub‑brand Onvo will launch the 2026 L90 electric SUV on April 21, featuring the company’s in‑house Shenji smart‑driving chip for the first time. The chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process, delivers up to 1,000 TOPS and is said to match the...
Park Systems Cements Leadership in Nanometrology with New Global HQ
Park Systems Corp. has inaugurated a 27,000 m² global headquarters in Gwacheon, South Korea, featuring a 35‑system industrial cleanroom for semiconductor and advanced‑packaging metrology. The campus houses research and demonstration labs that let customers conduct live measurements on AFM, spectroscopic ellipsometry,...
G50 Corp Validates Golconda Gallium Metallurgy as Potential US Critical Mineral Supply Source
G50 Corp announced that metallurgical testing on its Golconda project in Arizona successfully concentrated gallium up to 70% and silver up to 97% using low‑cost screening and flotation methods. The same processes yielded a gold‑silver concentrate grading as high as...
Inside Taiwan’s Semiconductor Supremacy
Taiwan now supplies about 92% of the world’s most advanced logic chips (5 nm and below), cementing its role as the linchpin of the global tech supply chain. TSMC, the island’s pure‑play foundry, posted a 62.3% gross margin in Q4 2025 and...
Google Pixel Watch 5 Leaks Hint at Tensor Chip, Sapphire Glass, and 4,000‑Nit Display
Insider reports indicate Google may launch the Pixel Watch 5 later this year with an in‑house Tensor processor, a sapphire crystal front and a display brightness boost to 4,000 nits. The smartwatch is expected to retain a $349 starting price...
Supermicro’s $4 Trillion Nvidia Tie Under Threat After $2.5 B China Smuggling Arrest
Supermicro’s latest earnings call underscored a $4 trillion partnership with Nvidia that fuels 71% of its revenue, while a federal indictment accusing co‑founder Yih‑Shyan Liaw of smuggling $2.5 billion in Nvidia‑powered servers to China threatens the relationship. Investors are watching closely as...
Fireworks AI CEO Warns AI Infrastructure Can’t Keep Pace with 15 Trillion Daily Tokens
Fireworks AI, a $4 billion startup, now processes 15 trillion AI tokens a day and its CEO Lin Qiao says the surge is saturating the entire technology stack. The warning spotlights bottlenecks in GPUs, semiconductors and power grids that could curb growth...
New V2 UALink Specification Aims to Catch up to NVLink
The UALink Consortium released version 2.0 of its open‑source interconnect specification, adding a 200 Gbps data link, separate physical‑layer spec, In‑Network Compute, manageability tools and a chiplet integration model. The new common spec is designed to accelerate adoption of UALink in...
Bull of the Day: Lam Research (LRCX)
Lam Research (LRCX) dominates etch and deposition equipment, holding a near‑duopoly in two critical semiconductor manufacturing segments. The company is poised to benefit from AI‑driven demand, with earnings projected to rise 26.6% this year and 27% next year, while sales...
Top Ten (Less 5) Companies Granted Patents Last Year
In 2025, U.S. patent offices granted a record 323,272 patents, with Samsung Electronics topping the list at 7,054 approvals. TSMC followed with 4,194 patents, Qualcomm with 3,749, Huawei with 3,952, and Samsung Display secured 2,859. Asian firms dominated the landscape,...
Rigetti Announces General Availability of 108-Qubit System
Rigetti Computing has made its 108‑qubit Cepheus‑1‑108Q system generally available through its Quantum Cloud Services platform and Amazon Braket. The modular chiplet‑based architecture stitches together twelve 9‑qubit chiplets, delivering a median two‑qubit gate fidelity of 99.1% with ~60 ns gate times...
Apple Faces 'Massive Dilemma' With Success of the MacBook Neo
Apple’s low‑cost MacBook Neo is selling faster than its supply of binned A18 Pro chips, which have a GPU core disabled to hit the 5‑core configuration. The shortage could exhaust the five‑to‑six‑million unit run before the next‑generation A19 Pro‑based model...
Aehr Test Systems Q3 FY2026: The Burn-In Proxy for Silicon Photonics HVM
Aehr Test Systems reported Q3 FY2026 revenue of $10.3 million, a 44% year‑over‑year decline, while bookings surged to $37.2 million, yielding a book‑to‑bill ratio above 3.5x. The company disclosed that at least two silicon photonics customers are now ordering wafer‑level burn‑in (WLBI)...
JEDEC Announces May Forums on Next-Gen Memory for AI, Server, Cloud, and Mobile Computing
JEDEC will host two back‑to‑back forums on May 12‑13, 2026 in San Jose, focusing on next‑generation memory for mobile, edge, server, cloud and AI workloads. The events feature keynotes from industry giants such as AMD, Intel, Google, Microsoft, Samsung and...
Intel Joins Musk’s Terafab as AI Compute Race Expands to Space
Intel announced its participation in Elon Musk’s Terafab initiative, a joint effort with Tesla, SpaceX and xAI to build massive AI chip capacity. The project targets producing one terawatt of compute per year, leveraging Intel’s design, fabrication and advanced packaging...
UALink Consortium Publishes 4 Specifications Defining In-Network Compute, Chiplets, Manageability and 200G Performance
The UALink Consortium ratified four new specifications, including UALink Common Specification 2.0 with In‑Network Compute, a 200 Gbps data‑link and physical‑layer spec, a Manageability spec, and a Chiplet spec. These updates enable tighter compute‑communication integration, higher bandwidth, centralized control and chiplet‑level...
Google Controls the Most AI Computing Power, Driven by Its Custom TPUs
Google now controls about 25% of all AI compute sold since 2022, with roughly 75% of that capacity delivered by its custom‑designed Tensor Processing Units (TPUs). This makes Google the single largest owner of AI‑focused hardware, while other hyperscalers continue...
Intel Gets Trapped in Elon’s Reality Distortion Field as It Joins in Megafab Delusions
Intel announced it is joining Elon Musk’s ambitious Terafab project, a proposed megafab intended to produce enough chips to power orbital data‑center AI and future Tesla hardware. The company says it will help "refactor silicon fab technology," but offered no...
APEC 2026: Menlo Micro Brings MEMS-Based Power Switching on the Strength of Navy Program Milestone
Menlo Micro showcased its Ideal Switch MEMS power‑switching technology at APEC 2026, highlighting a Navy‑backed milestone that completed Task 4 of the U.S. Navy’s 10 MW Advanced Circuit Breaker Development Program. The demonstration featured a 1,000 V, 500 A panel delivering 0.5 MW, built...
Intel Joins Elon Musk’s Fab Project
Intel announced on April 7 that it will serve as the manufacturing and packaging partner for Elon Musk’s Terafab project, a $20‑$25 billion semiconductor fab planned for Austin, Texas. The partnership positions Intel to help deliver 1 terawatt of compute power annually...
Construction of $20bn Terafab Project in Austin, Texas Advances as Intel Comes on Board
Intel announced its participation in Elon Musk’s $20 billion Terafab semiconductor plant in Austin, Texas. The joint venture, involving Tesla, SpaceX and now Intel, targets a 1 TW/year compute output to supply AI, robotics and space data‑center chips. Musk envisions a nine‑month...
Self‑Optimizing AI Loop Cuts Cost, Boosts Speed
Awesome. 680% speed improvement. 97% cost reduction. As the hardware/software loop condenses, intelligence is folding back on the physical substrate of its own existence, optimizing the lithography that prints the transistors that run the models that optimize the lithography. We're seeing...
The Evolving Role of Silicon in Power Electronics
Silicon power devices are not on the brink of extinction; iDEAL Semiconductor’s SuperQ RESURF MOSFET architecture demonstrates renewed vigor. By expanding the conduction area and trimming on‑resistance, the new silicon MOSFET rivals wide‑bandgap rivals while preserving silicon’s manufacturing and supply‑chain...
Trim ASML Position Amid Stretched Valuation Despite Strong Demand
Macro: robust EUV demand supports ASML. Key: €100m buyback, Q4 rev beat, large SK hynix order. Risk: stretched valuation despite 113% YTD gain. Insight: trim position to lock gains. — Viktor Kopylov, PhD, CFA More insights: t.me/si14Kopylov
Memory Dominance Determines AI Compute Winners for Years
If the winners and losers in AI compute come down to who gets the most memory in the most ridiculous memory-constrained market we have ever seen.... For the next 3-4 years.... Predicting those winners is pretty easy.
Uber Is the Latest to Be Won over by Amazon’s AI Chips
Uber is expanding its Amazon Web Services contract, adding more Graviton ARM‑based servers and launching a trial of AWS's Trainium3 AI chip. The shift moves additional ride‑sharing workloads from Uber's own data centers and from earlier Oracle and Google agreements...
AMD Likens CUDA Battle to Mountain Climb, Doubts RT Rollout
.@AMD being humble, says taking on @NVIDIA’s CUDA is like climbing a mountain… 👇🏽 Then again, why will AMD RT this? 🤔 @dvellante @furrier @Srasgon @dfloyer @Scobleizer @om @karaswisher
AXTI Set for Q2 GaAs Wafer Price Surge
very positive for $AXTI - Tomorrows Digitimes China is reporting Gallium arsenide epitaxial wafers are poised for a Q2 price surge amid large demand. AXTI owns Tongmei Xtal Technology Co., Ltd in China https://t.co/lZIckgtRlu
Intel Accelerates Fab Expansion with $500 Million CHIPS Act Funding
Intel has revived its dormant Fab 9 and neighboring Fab 11X, injecting $500 million in CHIPS Act funding to accelerate advanced chip‑packaging capacity. The move is aimed at securing high‑margin AI‑related contracts with hyperscalers and positioning the United States as a more resilient...
Samsung Projects $38B Q1 Profit, Eightfold Surge on AI Chip Boom
Samsung Electronics said its first‑quarter operating profit will hit roughly 57.2 trillion won ($37.9 billion), an eight‑fold rise from a year earlier, as AI‑driven demand lifts memory‑chip prices. The forecast far exceeds consensus and propels the South Korean giant’s shares toward a...
Anthropic’s Claude Hits $30 B Revenue Run Rate, Secures Broadcom Deal
Anthropic PBC said its Claude platform now generates a revenue run rate above $30 billion, up from $9 billion at the end of 2025, and announced strategic collaborations with Broadcom and Google. The surge is driven by more than 1,000 enterprise customers...
Memory and Storage Converge Into a Single Layer
New report on @DiligenceStack. Companion to the memory deep dive as co-optomization is a memory and storage story. Storage Wars: When Memory and Storage Collapse Into One Layer https://t.co/ozDZpHYNi3
JPM Predicts AVGO Valuation Exceeds $120B Post‑earnings
After $AVGO earnings, I said ~120B was the likely number for 27. Now, looks like higher is likely. This from JPM. https://t.co/OvxZg1VUWr
Intel Joins Elon Musk's Terafab Chip Factory Project
Intel announced a partnership with Elon Musk’s companies—SpaceX, Tesla and xAI—to co‑develop the Terafab semiconductor factory. The joint effort targets a 1 terawatt‑year compute output to feed AI, robotics and autonomous‑vehicle workloads. Intel’s stock jumped 4.2% to $52.91, approaching a $54.60...
Intel Partners with Musk on Terafab AI Chips
Intel joins Musk's Terafab AI chip project to power humanoid, data center goals “One facility would power cars and humanoid robots, while the other would be designed for AI data centers in space, Musk had said.” https://t.co/tCGZgjWZ72 @intel https://t.co/M5L1Q6Njr6
Ubuntu 26.04 Provides More Performance For AMD Ryzen AI Max "Strix Halo"
Ubuntu 26.04 brings significant performance gains to AMD’s Ryzen AI Max+ 395 “Strix Halo” APUs compared with the prior Ubuntu 25.04 release. The new distribution runs the Linux 7.0 kernel and GCC 15.2, delivering double‑digit CPU speedups and noticeable Radeon 8060S GPU improvements on the same Framework...
Interface Issues Appear in Advanced Packages, Not Originate There
In advanced packages, the interface is where problems show up, but rarely where they begin. https://t.co/Tefs3KJnTc #semiconductor #advancedpackaging #semiconductortest #interface
Broadcom Signs Expanded Deals with Google and Anthropic, Giving the AI Startup Access to 3.5 Gigawatts of Compute Capacity
Broadcom will manufacture future generations of Google’s AI chips and has expanded its agreement with Anthropic, granting the startup access to roughly 3.5 gigawatts of Google Tensor Processing Unit compute, up from 1 GW. Anthropic disclosed annualized revenue now exceeds $30 billion,...
Intel QAT Driver With Linux 7.1 Adding Zstd Offload Support
Intel’s QuickAssist (QAT) driver for the Linux 7.1 kernel now supports Zstandard (Zstd) offloading across Gen 4, Gen 5, and Gen 6 accelerators. Gen 4/5 offload compression only for buffers 8 KB‑512 KB, while Gen 6 offloads both compression and decompression with no size ceiling but falls...
Nanopower Moves nPZero IC Into Volume Production for Ultra-Low-Power IoT
Nanopower Semiconductor announced that its nPZero power‑saving IC has entered volume production, moving from evaluation kits to large‑scale deployment. The chip targets battery‑powered and energy‑harvesting IoT devices by handling sensor polling independently of the host MCU. By using user‑defined thresholds,...