S. Korea goes All In on AI; new Dresden power fab; Intel expansion; GM secures memory supply; AI power management funding; mature-node foundry capacity; 300mm fab equipment; McKinsey’s map of strategic IC supply; security threats; AI burnout.
South Korea unveiled a sweeping AI and semiconductor investment drive, planning three mega projects that tie semiconductors, physical AI/robotics, and AI data centers into a single industrial plan, with government support for regional chip clusters, packaging capacity, power, water, sites, and workforce development. Among the new investments:
Samsung will spend $260B on new semiconductor fabs in Gwangju and $36B for HBM fabs in Cheonan and Onyang, plus more buildouts for smartphone displays, next-gen batteries and a Sejong substrate line.
SK hynix outlined a broader AI-memory expansion plan that ties together new front-end, NAND, and advanced-packaging capacity. The company plans to invest ~$714B over the mid- to long-term, including ~$386B for its Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, $64B, for Cheongju, and $260B for a new semiconductor cluster in the southwestern region, where it expects to build two memory fabs.
In a big win for Europe,Infineon opened its $5.7B Smart Power Fab in Dresden, with the plant’s completion coming several months ahead of schedule. The plant is the world’s largest factory for intelligent power semiconductors and analog/mixed-signal technologies and will add 1,000 new jobs to the Silicon Saxony cluster.
Fig.1: Infineon’s new Smart Power Fab in Dresden
In the U.S.:
IntelFoundry broke ground on the expansion of its mask operations facility at the Bowers Campus in Santa Clara, California.
Micron and GM entered into a strategic customer agreement aimed at strengthening semiconductor and automotive supply chains in the U.S. and ensuring consistent memory and storage access for GM vehicles.
Air Liquide will spend over $170M to build two new high-purity gas production units in Indiana to support SK hynix.
FormFactor was awarded a $24M grant from the Texas IC fund for its new probe card site.
To beat the memory crunch, Applewants to buy memory chips from China’s CXMT, which is blacklisted by the US government, reports FT.
Funding
Reed Semiconductor raised $100M for its AI infrastructure power management solutions.
Etched raised $800M for its AI chips with low-voltage inference for high-throughput workloads and cluster-scale memory for low latency workloads.
Stathera raised $55M to scale its GEN2 silicon timing into mass production.
Oxmiq Labs raised $35M for its licensable GPU architecture. The startup is positioning its modular chiplet and software stack as an alternative path for semiconductor companies and AI infrastructure builders that want custom AI compute without building a full GPU program from scratch.
Research
U. of Florida researchers published survey results on challenges, priorities, and standardization needs in advanced packaging and heterogeneous integration, with hybrid bonding at the top of the most challenging.
TU Eindhoven researchers demonstrated Mega, a 22nm FD-SOI spiking-neural-network accelerator for edge vision that achieves 0.375 pJ/SOP, a reported 4× improvement over prior SNN accelerator designs.
MIT/FUTUR-IC reported progress on electronic-photonic integration, including optical coupler devices intended to make it easier and less expensive to connect photonic chips with electronic microchips inside a package. MIT frames the work as an “optical bump” analog to solder bumps, with the goal of supporting higher-bandwidth, lower-energy data movement for co-packaged optics and future microsystems using existing foundry and packaging infrastructure.
Reports
AI-related demand is tightening mature-node foundry capacity, pushing up prices for 8-inch and 12-inch processes and likely extending increases into 2027, according to TrendForce. The firm said average utilization across the top 10 foundries’ 8-inch fabs recovered to 88% in 2026, and foundry prices rose 5% to 15% between the first and second quarters.
Worldwide 300mm fab equipment investment for memory will exceed $50B for the first time in 2026, rising 29%, followed by another 11% increase in 2027, says SEMI. The forecast is being driven by AI-related demand for HBM, DDR5, and data storage, with DRAM equipment spending expected to reach $37B in 2026 and 3D NAND spending projected at $14B.
AI/cloud
Nvidia introduced a new business model that opens up compute access to AI startups and other players, enabling AI clouds to buy Nvidia infrastructure for AI-native, enterprise, and ISV customers with a revenue-sharing and credit-support.
Microsoft launched a Microsoft Frontier Company to support enterprise AI transformation, with a $2.5B investment and 6,000 industry and engineering experts to co-design, co-innovate, deploy and continuously improve AI systems at scale.
Meta will develop a cloud business to sell excess compute capacity, reports Bloomberg.
China’s ai released an open-source AI model, GLM-5.2, that closes the performance gap on US frontier models, per Counterpoint.
CoreWeave launched an AI research and iteration agent, ARIA, with autonomous research capabilities and collaborative intelligence.
Infineon completed its acquisition of ams OSRAM’s non-optical analog/mixed-signal sensor portfolio, adding position, capacitive, temperature, medical imaging, and sensor-interface products.
Rebellions acquired SqueezeBits, an AI inference specialist.
SiTimecompleted its previously announced acquisition of Renesas’ timing business.
Nexchip Semiconductorfiled details for its Hong Kong H-share offering for R&D and manufacturing build-out for its 22nm production line.
Keysight and Win Semiconductors released a joint MMIC design workflow that connects on-chip multi-domain simulation, 3D layout with verification, and off-chip MMIC evaluation board design, into a single environment, enabling GaN MMIC design houses to achieve first pass tapeout success. The workflow is targeted at 5G base stations, Wi-Fi access points, satellite payloads, and defense radar systems.
Toshiba launched an 80V N-channel power MOSFET fabricated using its latest generation process, U-MOS11-H, targeting switched-mode power supplies for industrial equipment used in AI data centers and communications base stations.
GigaDevice launched its new GD24CL series I²C EEPROM of non-volatile memory with up to 4 million program/erase cycles, integrated hardware-level error correction code (ECC) functionality, and an operating temperature range from -40°C to 125°C.
Wave Photonics said all PDKs developed or managed through its PDK Management Platform are now compatible with Synopsys‘ OptoCompiler, giving photonic IC designers access to PDKs across multiple materials and wavelengths, from blue to telecom bands.
Research
KAIST-led researchers demonstrated a monolithic 3D-integrated, all-solid ion-gated carbon nanotube transistor that can tune ionic conductance for multi-timescale reservoir computing, pointing to more compact neuromorphic hardware for temporal data processing.
A Princeton team reported a method for making large-area 2D semiconductors photo-programmable with chromic molecular layers, allowing light to modify the material’s electronic properties after fabrication. The research opened a path toward reconfigurable semiconductor devices.
An MIT team modeled how the AI data-center buildout could affect the grid, finding that flexibility matters more than raw electricity use.
NIST, U. of Colorado, Cornell, and other researchers achieved “impossible” low-loss, tunable dielectric, with potential for components used in wireless communications, radar systems, satellites and other devices that rely on controlling microwave signals with precision.
The Trump administration said it could add 600 new CISA staffers after extensive budget cuts at the agency early last year.
The U.S. lifted its export controls on Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models. The reversal comes after the company added increased security measures to the models.
Data Fusion: As AI systems grow more powerful and pervasive, they are transforming data into increasingly precise maps of people’s lives. By fusing data from various sources, attackers can construct highly detailed digital twins of individuals and their environments, making it easier to attack specific targets.
Fraunhofer’sAISEC and IOSB joined Germany’s Semiconductor-X project as cybersecurity partners, developing security roadmaps, gateway specifications, and governance concepts for secure data exchange across semiconductor manufacturing supply chains.
Swiss semiconductor developer SEALSQ announced plans to expand its business into automotive cybersecurity, positioning itself as a supplier of post-quantum automotive chips.
Ferrari and BMW both introduced new vehicle models built with aluminum wiring amid an ongoing spike in copper prices.
Israeli automotive security firm PlaxidityX (aka Argus), will shut down, 9 years after it was acquired for $450M in 2017.
Siemens announced an expansion of its partnership with yacht racing team Luna Rossa, supporting the sailing team with systems engineering, structural optimization, product design and traceability within an integrated digital engineering environment. Motorsports engineering firm ORECA Group selected Siemens’ Simcenter software to support advanced CFD and composite structural optimization for its high-performance racing vehicle development programs.
EVs
McKinsey identified platform research and development time as a key determiner of EV brand success as consumer interest in electric driving grows.
Leading Indian EV maker Tata Motorsdebuted the Sierra EV, a new electric SUV with QWD.
The EV revolution relies on battery innovation, while AI data centers need a range of new energy solutions to play nicely with the grid. Both sectors are taking notes.
The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association came out in support of EU leaders’ proposed Industrial Accelerator Act, which would provide benefits to European carmakers and set timelines for EV battery production.
Autonomous, drones, connectivity
Waymo and Uberquietly ended their collaboration in Phoenix, putting an end to robotaxi service in the city.
The UK government will invest $5B in military drone technology, including investment in the recently opened Uncrewed Systems Centre, Europe’s largest drone testing facility. This commitment is the largest investment in drone development in the country’s history.
Yervant Zorian, chief architect and fellow at Synopsys, explains why a hierarchical approach is now essential for testing memory, what can go wrong while testing different memories tied to different types of processors, and why massive multi-physics simulations and digital twins are needed for everything from smartphones to robots.
Quantum
The U.S. NSA and the DEVCOM launched a QuantumEAGLe Initiative, focusing on five areas of the U.S. quantum industry: industry engagement, commercial roadmaps, supply chain advancement, algorithmic applications, and foundational research.
Microsoft is accelerating the timeline for its Quantum Safe Program with the goal of transitioning all products and services to PQC by 2029. The move follows French and American government orders setting deadlines for PQC compliance for critical infrastructure operators in 2030.
QC funding
Quantum Global Techwon a Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund grant of $3M for its new Austin services facility.
D-Wavewon a $1.5M grant from the U.S. government to support its role in the ERASE (Erasure Qubits and Dynamic Circuits for Quantum Advantage) project, focused on foundational technologies for fault-tolerant quantum computing.
ETH Zurich researchers used a single ion to detect electromagnetic fields above a surface and to create a 3D map of them, with potential to improve chips for quantum computers and quantum sensors.
Workforce, Education
Micron announced a $250M investment to increase long-term savings opportunities for children and families through the U.S.’s new 530A accounts, with employee matching benefits.
Business Oregon released a statewide semiconductor ecosystem assessment warning that Oregon’s long-established semiconductor cluster remains strong but is increasingly vulnerable as other states compete more aggressively for fab, supplier, and advanced-packaging investments.
Bloomberg reports that AI is increasing burnout across Silicon Valley, with some working 16-hour days, sleeping at the office, and running multiple AI agents around the clock as faster development cycles raise expectations rather than ease workloads.
Vietnam and Germany plan to expand cooperation on semiconductors and high-tech workforce development.
Syracuse U. and Cornell are offering a free course this fall for researchers working on semiconductors or advanced materials. Apply by August 26.
The U. of Washington opened applications for its July 28-August 1 Nanofabrication Summer Camp that will give students hands-on semiconductor fabrication lab training, lectures, and exposure to nanofabrication technologies. Application deadline is July 17.
InP and SiPho join CMOS as critical technologies. Lasers, CPO and OCS will be everywhere (indium phosphide, silicon photonics, co-packaged optics, optical circuit switch).
Reducing variation in manufacturing, monitoring behavior over time, and targeting specific workloads can have a big impact on power, performance, and area/cost.
With SRAM failing to scale in recent process nodes, the industry must assess its impact on all forms of computing. There are no easy solutions on the horizon.
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