Chip Industry Week in Review


China's Xiaomi debuted an in-house-designed 10-core mobile SoC built on a 3nm process. The company did not identify the foundry. It also announced plans to invest 50 billion yuan (~$7B) over the next decade to develop high-end smartphone chips, as part of a 200 billion yuan (~$28B) core technology investment over the next five years. Kearney and SEMI released a report assessing the state of ... » read more

Conversing With Your Dishwasher


What does "Error 22" mean on your smart appliance? Today, most people have to look it up on the internet, but that's about to change. John Weil, vice president and general manager for Synaptics IoT and Edge AI Processor business unit, talks about how AI can be inexpensively and efficiently utilized by mapping directly to a database using a natural language interface. Unlike today, that informat... » read more

Chip Industry Week in Review


Check out the Inside Chips podcast for our behind-the-scenes analysis of changes at Intel Foundry. Intel rolled out its updated process technology roadmap this week, along with early process design kit (PDK) for its 14A gate-all-around process technology. That node will utilize high-NA EUV, and include direct contact power delivery, the second generation of its backside power delivery techno... » read more

AI Native: What Does It Mean For Embedded Processing?


Artificial intelligence (AI) continues transforming how users interact with technology. AI-powered chatbots like ChatGPT, along with advancements in data analytics and mobile technology, have contributed to high expectations among tech users. Consumers want and expect faster, more personalized, and smarter experiences — whether they're controlling a smart home device or speaking to a chatbot ... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


[Podcast version is here.] TSMC said it will produce 30% of its leading-edge chips in Arizona when all six of its fabs are operational, a total investment of $165 billion, Axios reported. In its latest SEC filing, the foundry said it continues to add capacity in Taiwan, Arizona, Japan, and Germany. The Trump administration launched a Section 232 investigation into semiconductors and relat... » read more

AI For The Edge: Why Open-Weight Models Matter


The rapid advancements in AI have brought powerful large language models (LLMs) to the forefront. However, most high-performing models are massive, compute-heavy, and require cloud-based inference, making them impractical for edge computing. The recent release of DeepSeek-R1 is an early, but unlikely to be the only, example of how open-weight AI models, combined with efficient distillation t... » read more

Auto Sector Leads The Way In IC Security


Concerns about chip and system security are beginning to bear fruit in some markets, driven by the overlap in safety and security in automotive applications and the growing value of algorithms and complex systems in others. But how and when that security is implemented is still all over the map, and so is its effectiveness. The reasons are as nuanced as the designs themselves, which makes it... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


ASML and imec signed a five-year strategic partnership to advance semiconductor innovation and sustainable technology. The collaboration will leverage ASML’s full product portfolio, including high-NA EUV, DUV immersion, and advanced metrology tools, within imec’s pilot line for sub-2nm R&D. Supported by EU and national funding, it will also drive research in silicon photonics, memory, a... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


The Malaysian government signed a deal with Arm to kickstart a chip design ecosystem. Until now, Malaysia has focused on packaging and test. Adding chip design represents a major change in focus. The country will pay SoftBank $250 million over 10 years for Arm’s chip design IP and train 10,000 engineers. Global chip sales reached $56 billion in January, up nearly 18% from the same period i... » read more

Three Key Reasons That The Future Of Smart Home Devices Is Embedded Contextual AI


Artificial intelligence has become a transformative force, reshaping how consumers interact with technology. Consumer-level AI tools like ChatGPT have set new benchmarks for smart home devices, raising expectations for seamless functionality, natural language interactions, and personalized user experiences. As consumers demand smarter, more intuitive devices, embedded engineers and system engin... » read more

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