AI & Energy: Bending The Curve


By Pushkar P. Apte and Melissa Grupen-Shemansky Artificial intelligence (AI) is scaling at a pace that is reshaping semiconductor roadmaps, data center design, and long-term infrastructure strategy. AI promises many economic and social benefits, but the growth comes with an escalating demand for power, and energy has emerged as a major challenge. The AI & energy challenge AI training c... » read more

The Thermal And Power Realities Of The AI Era


The rapid growth of AI has created a surge in the global energy consumption at a rate never seen before. Today, data centers account for approximately 415 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity globally. To put this into perspective, the annual energy consumption of the United Kingdom in 2023 measured at 309 TWh. The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects data centers’ energy consumption wil... » read more

Aligning The Semiconductor Value Chain In A Virtuous AI Cycle At SEMICON Korea 2026


By Samer Bahou and Jaegwan Shim As the global semiconductor industry enters a decisive new phase shaped by artificial intelligence, SEMICON Korea 2026 convened the ecosystem from February 11–13 in Seoul, bringing together the companies, technologies, and talent required to sustain momentum on both sides of the AI equation: using AI to transform semiconductor operations, and advancing sem... » read more

Leading At Light Speed: What Makes Photonics Leadership Different


By Jan-Bart Smits and David Harap Every time a transistor switches, it generates heat. Pack enough transistors together and you hit a wall: the chip melts before it computes. This thermal ceiling is why Splunk notes that "as physical and economic limitations are reached, the pace predicted by Moore's Law is slowing." Light solves this problem. Photons carry information without generating ... » read more

Ripple Effects: Why Water Risk Is The Next Major Business Challenge For The Semiconductor Industry


The semiconductor industry is the bedrock of modern technology, enabling everything from AI and cloud computing to electric vehicles. Yet, this critical sector is also one of the most resource-intensive globally, with a substantial dependency on water. A single fabrication plant can demand up to 10 million gallons of water daily, comparable to the consumption of a city with 300,000 residents.... » read more

Advanced Packaging: Driving Innovation, Performance, And New System Capabilities


Advanced packaging is no longer operating behind the scenes. The technology of advanced packaging is helping to sustain the speed of the semiconductor industry’s improvement in power and performance, even as the Moore’s Law roadmap for wafer-level scaling comes under strain. At the Advanced Packaging Conference during SEMICON Europa 2025 in Munich, global experts examined the growth tr... » read more

Navigating Geopolitical Shifts And AI-Driven Growth: Insights From The SEMICON West 2025 Market Symposium


By Clark Tseng and Nishita Rao The 2025 SEMICON West Market Symposium brought together leading analysts and strategists to decode the powerful forces shaping the global semiconductor market. Building on last year’s focus on fabless growth and workforce initiatives, this year’s sessions centered on the rising influence of geopolitics, trade policy, and AI-driven investment. Experts from... » read more

New Standardized Semiconductor Cybersecurity Assessment (SSCA) Strengthens Security And Collaboration Across Global Supply Chain


The SEMI Semiconductor Manufacturing Cybersecurity Consortium (SMCC) Work Group 3 (Supply Chain Cybersecurity) just released a major work product that will have a significant and lasting positive impact on the industry: the “Standardized Semiconductor Cyber Assessment (SSCA)” questionnaire. Creating a common security assessment process for device makers, equipment suppliers, software s... » read more

Collaboration Is Key To Growing Semiconductor Industry


John Kibarian, CEO and co-founder of PDF Solutions and a member of the ESD Alliance (ESDA) Governing Council, will deliver a keynote during the CEO Summit at SEMICON West in October titled “Revolutionizing Semiconductor Collaboration: The Emergence of AI-Driven Industry Platforms.” He recently shared with me a summary of what his talk will cover and his perspective on why collabora... » read more

From Latency To Reaction: Simulating The Next Wafer Demand Inflection


The semiconductor industry faces an unprecedented paradox: AI demand is booming, fab investments are rising, yet wafer shipments remain stubbornly flat. What's driving this disconnect, and when will it break? As of mid-2025, the global silicon wafer market appears calm on the surface, but underlying structural tensions are quietly mounting. The demand for AI semiconductors remains resilient,... » read more

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