US Lawmakers Seek to Block China’s DUV Lithography Access
Bipartisan U.S. lawmakers introduced the MATCH Act to block Chinese chipmakers from acquiring deep‑ultraviolet (DUV) immersion lithography systems, related parts, and servicing. The bill coordinates export controls with allies, targeting firms such as SMIC, CXMT, Huawei, Hua Hong and YMTC, and imposes a 150‑day deadline for alignment. It also extends restrictions to foreign‑made equipment that incorporates U.S. technology if allies lag behind. The legislation marks a shift from case‑by‑case bans to a broader, system‑wide lock on China’s semiconductor supply chain.
Intel Secures Google Cloud and AI Infrastructure Deal
Intel and Google have sealed a multi‑year deal to power Google Cloud’s next‑generation AI and general‑purpose workloads with Intel’s upcoming Xeon CPUs and co‑designed infrastructure processing units (IPUs). The partnership extends Google’s deployment of Xeon‑based C4 and N4 instances while...
Tech Bills of the Week: Boosting Export Controls; AI-Focused Workforce Development; and More
Congress introduced a suite of technology‑focused bills aimed at tightening export controls, modernizing workforce training, and bolstering critical research. The MATCH Act would align U.S. and allied semiconductor export rules to block adversaries, while a bipartisan measure extends the statute...
South Korea Moves to Curb the Meteoritic Rise of DRAM and PC Hardware Prices
South Korea is rolling out policies to soften the surge in DRAM and PC hardware prices driven by the AI boom. The government aims to expand recycling programs that will refurbish roughly 22,000 computers in 2025 for distribution to vulnerable...
5 IT Funding Deals to Watch: April 6 – 10, 2026
Nvidia deployed $2 billion into Marvell and took a seat on SiFive’s cap table, cementing its strategy to own every layer of the AI hardware stack. SiFive closed a $400 million Series G, valuing the RISC‑V chip designer at $3.65 billion and accelerating data‑center...
AI Chip Export Drive Stalls Inside Commerce Department
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is struggling to keep pace with President Trump’s push to expand U.S. AI‑chip exports. Turnover has hit roughly 20% of rulemaking and licensing staff, and tighter, hands‑on license reviews have stretched...
AI Chips Could Get Faster with 30-Nanometer Embedded Memory that Cuts Data Shuttling
Researchers at the Institute of Science Tokyo have demonstrated a 30‑nanometer logic‑embedded memory stack using aluminum scandium nitride (AlScN) and ultra‑thin platinum electrodes. By heat‑treating the lower electrode, they preserved crystal alignment, allowing the memory to retain high performance even...
Intel Foundry Achieves Breakthrough with World’s Thinnest GaN Chiplet Technology
Intel Foundry unveiled the world’s thinnest gallium‑nitride (GaN) chiplet, featuring a 19 µm silicon base harvested from a 300 mm GaN‑on‑silicon wafer. The chiplet integrates GaN power transistors with silicon digital logic on a single die, eliminating the need for separate companion...
Google Just Tapped Intel for a Massive AI Infrastructure Play
Intel announced an expanded partnership with Google to embed its latest Xeon 6 CPUs into the search and cloud giant’s data‑center infrastructure. The deal aims to balance general‑purpose processors with AI accelerators, improving efficiency for large‑scale inference workloads. Intel is simultaneously...
ST Launches GaN Gate Drivers with Smart Protection
STMicroelectronics has unveiled two high‑speed half‑bridge gate drivers, the STDRIVEG212 and STDRIVEG612, aimed at enhanced‑mode GaN HEMTs for motion‑control and power‑conversion markets. The drivers support up to 220 V and 600 V on the high side, respectively, and integrate linear regulators, a...
Where $1bn Is Entry-Level
ADD Partners’ Rupesh Chatwani is urging UK integrated‑circuit startups to aim for billion‑dollar IPOs rather than modest $100 million exits. He argues that semiconductor ventures now require roughly $30 million of seed funding, and only a handful need to achieve $1 bn valuations...
The Case for GaN HEMTs in Class-D Audio
Class‑D audio amplifiers are overtaking linear topologies as efficiency demands rise across consumer, professional, and automotive markets. While silicon MOSFETs have traditionally handled the high‑speed switching, their parasitic capacitances and body‑diode recovery limit performance at higher frequencies. Gallium‑nitride (GaN) high‑electron‑mobility...
This New Chip Could Slash Data Center Energy Waste
Engineers at UC San Diego have unveiled a hybrid DC‑DC converter that blends a piezoelectric resonator with conventional capacitors, achieving 96.2% efficiency when stepping 48 V down to 4.8 V—levels typical for data‑center GPUs. The prototype delivers roughly four times the output...
TSMC Posts 35% Jump in Q1 Revenue
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported first‑quarter revenue of $35.6 billion, a 35% year‑over‑year rise and roughly $36 billion when converted from 1.13 trillion New Taiwan dollars. March alone saw a 45.2% YoY jump to about $13.3 billion in NTD terms. The surge was driven...
South Korean Chipmaker Partners with SKT, Arm for Sovereign AI
South Korean chipmaker Rebellions has teamed with SK Telecom and UK‑based Arm to build next‑generation AI inference systems that pair Arm’s newly designed data‑center CPU with Rebellions’ energy‑efficient AI chips. The joint solution will be tested in SK Telecom’s AI...
AI Chips Are A Looming Battlefield In U.S.-China Trade. What Investors Should Know.
The United States and China are intensifying a battle over AI‑chip supremacy as trade talks loom, with both sides racing to secure advanced semiconductor capacity. Washington is tightening export controls on Dutch‑maker ASML’s lithography tools, while China pushes 7 nm production...
Snap and Qualcomm Expand Strategic Collaboration to Advance Intelligent Computing Experiences on Specs
Snap subsidiary Specs Inc. announced a multi‑year strategic agreement with Qualcomm Technologies to power the upcoming Specs AR glasses with Snapdragon XR system‑on‑a‑chip solutions. The partnership will integrate on‑device AI, high‑performance graphics and multi‑user capabilities, creating a scalable platform for...
SKT Develops Its Own AI Inference Tech
SK Telecom has teamed with UK chip designer Arm and Korean AI‑chip startup Rebellions to build AI inference server solutions that pair Arm’s newly announced AGI‑class CPU with Rebellions’ RebelCard accelerator. The joint offering targets inference workloads, promising higher performance...
SKT Forges Alliance with Arm and Rebellions to Develop AI Servers for Data Centers
SK Telecom (SKT) has signed a strategic MoU with chip designer Arm and AI‑accelerator startup Rebellions to build AI inference servers for next‑generation data centers. The collaboration will fuse Arm’s new AGI CPU with Rebellions’ RebelCard accelerator, targeting higher power‑efficiency...
TSMC Tops Q1 Sales Target On Strong AI Chip Demand
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) reported first‑quarter 2026 sales that topped analyst expectations, propelled by surging demand for artificial‑intelligence (AI) chips. The company’s revenue beat forecasts for both March and the full quarter, prompting a modest rise in its stock...
Memory Crunch Hammers Down Smartphone Shipments
A severe DRAM and NAND memory crunch, driven by AI data‑center construction, has squeezed the smartphone supply chain, pushing component prices up about 90% QoQ in Q1 2024. Apple emerged as the sole market‑share leader, posting a 21% share and...
Silex, Edge Impulse Team on Edge AI Development
Silex Technology and Edge Impulse have teamed up to integrate Edge Impulse’s end‑to‑end AI development platform with Silex’s EP‑200Q system‑on‑module, which runs on Qualcomm’s Dragonwing QCS6490 processor. The joint solution bundles a Wi‑Fi 7 driver and AI acceleration to simplify the...
Chip Industry Week In Review
Intel announced three major moves: joining Elon Musk’s Terafab AI‑robotics fab targeting 1 TW of compute, expanding its multi‑year AI and cloud partnership with Google to include custom IPUs, and showcasing the world’s thinnest GaN chiplet from its foundry. Broadcom will...
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...
Cirrus Logic (CRUS) Valuation Check As Apple Recognition And Face ID Win Reshape Growth Outlook
Cirrus Logic (CRUS) re‑entered investor focus after Apple officially named it a supplier for the next generation of Face ID chips. The stock surged, posting a 19% gain in the past month and a 31% rise over the last 90 days,...
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...
Low-RDS(on) MOSFETs in Automotive Power Systems
STMicroelectronics has launched a new series of low‑RDS(on) MOSFETs built on its Smart STripFET F8 platform, beginning with the STL059N4S8AG – a 40 V, 420 A N‑channel device featuring a 0.59 mΩ on‑resistance and housed in a compact PowerFLAT 5×6 package. The technology reduces conduction...
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...
Riber Delivers Strong Earnings Growth in 2025
Riber posted 2025 full‑year results showing a modest 2% dip in revenue to €40.3 million (about $44 million) but a 27% jump in net income to €5.2 million ($5.7 million). The company’s operating margin improved to 13% of sales, aided by a favorable product...
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...
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...
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...
Compute Domains & Multi-Node NVLink in Kubernetes: Scaling GPU Workloads
NVIDIA’s ComputeDomains add a Kubernetes‑native layer that dynamically creates and tears down multi‑node NVLink communication groups for GPU workloads. By extending the Dynamic Resource Allocation driver, the feature makes cross‑node bandwidth a schedulable resource rather than a static configuration. This...
Photovoltaic Driver Streamlines EV Power Designs
Vishay introduced the VODA1275, a photovoltaic MOSFET driver designed for high‑voltage automotive applications. It offers a 20 V open‑circuit output, 20 µA short‑circuit current, and an 80 µs turn‑on time—about three times faster than rival parts. The AEC‑Q102‑qualified device targets EV pre‑charge circuits,...
RISC-V SoC Supports Voice-Enabled IoT Devices
Espressif Systems began sampling its new ESP32‑S31, a dual‑core RISC‑V SoC that bundles Wi‑Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, Thread, Zigbee and Ethernet. Running at 320 MHz, the chip delivers 6.86 CoreMark/MHz, a 128‑bit SIMD path, 512 KB SRAM and up to 8‑bit DDR PSRAM for edge...
Coherent Advances Silicon Carbide Thick Epitaxy Capabilities for High-Voltage AI Datacenter and Industrial Power Applications Up to 10kV
Coherent Corp announced new thick silicon‑carbide (SiC) epitaxy platforms on 150 mm and 200 mm wafers that support power devices up to 10 kV, with demonstrated capability beyond that threshold. The technology targets high‑efficiency, high‑power‑density converters for AI‑intensive datacenters and industrial electrification such...
SiFive Announces $400M Series G Round
SiFive announced a $400 million Series G financing that lifts its valuation to $3.65 billion. The round was led by Atreides Management and attracted marquee backers such as NVIDIA, Apollo Global Management, Point72 Turion and T. Rowe Price. SiFive says the capital will speed development...
Infineon Talks Powering AI and Infrastructure
Infineon highlighted its strategy to power AI across the electrical grid and data‑center cores, emphasizing power electronics as a critical enabler for automotive, industrial and consumer applications. The company showcased its silicon‑carbide (SiC) and gallium‑nitride (GaN) product portfolio, along with...
At APEC 2026, AOS Showcases Its Expanding Portfolio with Advanced Controllers, Power Stages, and Protection Solutions
At APEC 2026, AOS unveiled a suite of new power‑management ICs aimed at AI‑centric workloads. The lineup includes the 16‑phase AOZ73216QI GPU controller, Intel‑compatible CPU controllers supporting up to nine phases, and compact Smart Power Stages for high‑performance compute. AOS...
Hypertec Becomes Key Partner for Nvidia in Canada
Hypertec Group’s Ciara division has been named Nvidia’s first original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partner in Canada, granting the Montreal‑based firm early access to GPU silicon, engineering support, and joint marketing. The partnership elevates Hypertec’s visibility and credibility, allowing it to...
Group‐III Nitride‐Based Wide‐Spectrum Multifunctional Synapses for Encrypted Light Communication and Image Recognition
Researchers have engineered InGaN core‑shell nanorod synapses that combine wide‑spectrum photodetection with stable photo‑electric memory. The devices achieve a peak responsivity of 31.47 A/W and sub‑250 µs response times under 810 nm illumination, while delivering tunable synaptic plasticity at 365 nm UV light. By...
WEKA Claims Nvidia CMX Support Plays to Its Strengths
Nvidia’s GTC 2026 announcement introduced the CMX KV‑cache extension for RDMA‑connected SSDs, prompting industry speculation that it could erode WEKA’s advantage with local SSDs in GPU servers. WEKA counters that its NeuralMesh client and server software already supports Nvidia Grace...
Siemens Accelerates AI Chip Verification to Trillion‑cycle Scale with NVIDIA Technology
Siemens and NVIDIA announced that Siemens’ Veloce proFPGA CS hardware‑assisted verification platform can capture tens of trillions of pre‑silicon design cycles in just a few days. The breakthrough combines Siemens’ scalable FPGA‑based architecture with NVIDIA’s performance‑optimized chip designs, dramatically accelerating AI/ML system‑on‑chip...
Intel: In-House Fabrication and Market Challenges
Intel continues to manufacture its chips in‑house, a rare model among major semiconductor firms, while facing mounting competition from fabless rivals like TSMC, AMD, and Samsung. The loss of Apple as a customer in 2020 and a delayed Ohio megafab,...