Chip Industry Week In Review


By Jesse Allen, Gregory Haley, and Liz Allan. The Japanese government approved $3.9 billion in funding for chipmaker Rapidus to expand its foundry business, of which 10% will be invested in advanced packaging. This is in addition to the previously announced $2.18 billion in funding. In a meeting next week, the U.S. and Japan are expected to cooperate on increasing semiconductor development a... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


By Jesse Allen, Karen Heyman, and Liz Allan AMD took the covers off new AI accelerators for training and inferencing of large language model and high-performance computing workloads. In its announcement, AMD focused heavily on performance leadership in the commercial AI processor space through a combination of architectural changes, better software efficiency, along with some improvements in... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


The U.S. Department of Defense updated the directive that governs the development and fielding of autonomous and semi-autonomous weapon systems. The revisions include an expanded focus on artificial intelligence, and reference to recently-established organizations like the DoD’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office. NIST released a new guidance document aimed at helping organi... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Tools and IP Renesas released a family of configurable clock generators with an internal crystal oscillator for PCIe and networking applications in high-end computing, wired infrastructure and data center equipment. “Timing needs can vary greatly between different applications and equipment, and often change during a product design cycle,” said Zaher Baidas, Vice President of the Timing Pr... » read more

Progress In Quantum Computing


A recent wave of quantum computing investment has given rise to claims of a quantum computing bubble, based on overly optimistic technological claims in a field area that experts say has yet to demonstrate any real utility. But executives on the industry’s front lines say quantum computing is indeed a commercially viable technology, albeit one that is at least several years away from overcomi... » read more

Week In Review: Auto, Security, Pervasive Computing


Automotive and mobility U.S. President Joe Biden announced the approval of $900 million in funding for a nationwide network of electrical vehicle charging stations in 35 states. The money is part of a multi-year, $7.5 billion plan to create 500,000 charging stations along federal highways. Industry executives told Reuters that remote human supervisors may be a permanent fixture of highly au... » read more

Toward Democratized IC Design And Customized Computing


Integrated circuit (IC) design is often considered a “black art,” restricted to only those with advanced degrees or years of training in electrical engineering. Given that the semiconductor industry is struggling to expand its workforce, IC design must be rendered more accessible. The benefit of customized computing General-purpose computers are widely used, but their performance improv... » read more

Ways To Address The Materials Crunch


Stellar growth over the last two years and the seemingly insatiable demand for chips, at least through 2025, is sparking massive investment by chip firms — as much as $500B over the next five years. But without significant boosts in raw materials, parts for tools, and silicon to fuel facilities, such numbers are unlikely to be met. Materials are the Achilles heel to the rapidly expanding c... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Onshoring and the supply chain Efforts to patch up supply chain weaknesses by moving more manufacturing onshore in the United States and Europe are generating a lot of buzz. Morris Chang, TMSC's founder, described those moves as "a very expensive exercise in futility," during an interview with the Brookings Institution and Center for Strategic and International Studies, adding that it is like... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Deals AMD plans to purchase cloud startup Pensando for about US $1.9 billion. In a presentation at the SEMI ISS conference this week, AMD CTO Mark Papermaster described Pensando's technology as a "highly programmable packet-processing engine that allows you to speed up systems designed for the data center." Intel, Micron, Analog Devices and MITRE Engenuity formed an alliance to accelerate c... » read more

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