AI Infrastructure
Google Introduces Open Coral NPU Standard for Low-Power
Google Research has completed the 32-bit processor architecture for its open-source Coral neural processing unit (NPU) platform, released a version 1.0 compiler foundation and announced new commercial silicon from Synaptics. Coral is targeted at energy-efficient AI in wearables, industrial sensors and robotics. The platform is intended to address fragmentation in the edge AI market, where […]
Andy Patrizio · Oct 21, 2026 · 2 min
China Launches 100,000-Card AI Supercluster Built with Domestic Technology
Chinese supercomputer manufacturer Sugon Information Industry has launched a massive AI supercluster powered by more than 100,000 domestically developed computing cards, a major advance in China’s effort to build its own high-performance computing infrastructure. The system, called Sugon 8000 or Dawning 8000, is operating in Zhengzhou, Henan province. The supercluster is a major step up […]
James Maguire · Oct 19, 2026 · 2 min
Intel Positions Xeon and New GPU as Foundational Agentic AI Infrastructure
Intel has announced a broad push to optimize its data center infrastructure for agentic AI, pairing new Xeon-based rack designs with its GPU D-series and a software strategy intended to tie CPUs, GPUs, and open models into a single deployment path. The announcements came at the Open Compute Project (OCP) Global Summit. The company’s main […]
Andy Patrizio · Oct 16, 2026 · 2 min
TI Debuts Nanosecond Power Telemetry at OCP to Cut AI Data Center Downtime
TI debuts nanosecond telemetry ADC, 800V hot-swap controller, and BAW oscillator at OCP, targeting AI data center downtime.
Brendan Burke · Oct 14, 2026 · 6 min
Arm AGI CPU Posts 2x the Agentic Work Per Rack of AMD’s EPYC 9755 at OCP 2026
Arm agentic CPU benchmarks at OCP 2026 claim 2x the work per rack of AMD’s EPYC 9755. Futurum weighs the methodology and the competitive stakes.
Brendan Burke · Oct 13, 2026 · 10 min
NVIDIA Unbundles the AI Factory and Turns Openness Into Its Strong Suit
NVIDIA opens Vera Rubin rack designs to OCP, ships the Vera CPU for agentic AI, lands Meta on Spectrum-6, and defines USFP 400G optics with Cisco.
Brendan Burke · Oct 13, 2026 · 7 min
AMD Helion Makes the CPU Rack a First-Class Citizen of the AI Data Center
AMD Helion Makes agentic AI infrastructure a first-class citizen in data centers with CPU-only and GPU-accelerated rack configurations.
Brendan Burke · Oct 13, 2026 · 6 min
Global Semiconductor Sales Top $1 Trillion as AI Drives Record Growth
Global semiconductor sales have exceeded $1 trillion in the first eight months of 2026, reaching a historic milestone as demand for AI infrastructure fuels extraordinary growth across the chip sector. Worldwide semiconductor sales totaled $159.7 billion in August, up 144.3% from $65.4 billion in August 2025, according to figures released October 5 by the Semiconductor […]
James Maguire · Oct 12, 2026 · 2 min
Quantum Chip Breakthrough Improves Energy Forecasting
An Australian quantum computing project has demonstrated that quantum-enhanced processing could improve the accuracy of household energy forecasts, which could give utilities a new tool for managing increasingly complex power grids. Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC), a government-funded startup, and French electrical giant Schneider Electric have reported an average 20% improvement in next-day household energy forecasting […]
Andy Patrizio · Oct 8, 2026 · 2 min
NTT Pushes Optical Interconnects as the Answer to Power and Bandwidth Limits
Imagine NVIDIA GPUs no longer needing a heat sink or cooling. Your smartphone never gets hot no matter how long you play a video game, and its battery lasts for days. It’s a distant promise, but it is inching toward reality. Japan’s NTT is pursuing a fundamentally different approach to the power and bandwidth constraints […]
Andy Patrizio · Oct 8, 2026 · 2 min
AMD’s Venice Server CPU Demand Reportedly Extends Into 2028
AMD’s next-generation EPYC Venice server processors are reportedly seeing such strong demand that much of the company’s expected 2027 production has already been sold, with industry channel checks suggesting AMD is now taking orders extending into 2028. The reports come as server CPUs take on a changing role in AI systems. While GPUs and dedicated […]
Andy Patrizio · Oct 5, 2026 · 2 min
WiCi Targets Local AI With Wireless GPU Architecture
A startup called WiCi Technology is taking a different approach to client-side AI computing. Instead of putting a high-end GPU inside every PC or edge device, the company wants to make GPUs accessible wirelessly across a local network. WiCi is preparing to launch WiCi One, a dedicated wireless GPU system that combines standard PC hardware […]
Andy Patrizio · Oct 2, 2026 · 3 min
Huawei Targets AI Inference Bottlenecks With Memory Storage Accelerator
Huawei has introduced a new storage architecture aimed at addressing the rapidly expanding amount of key-value (KV) cache data generated by long-context and multi-turn workloads, which has emerged as a major bottleneck in large-scale AI inference. The OceanStor M900 Context Memory Storage, unveiled at HUAWEI CONNECT 2026 in Shanghai, is designed to provide hyperscale AI […]
Andy Patrizio · Sep 30, 2026 · 2 min
Project Suncatcher Prepares to Launch TPUs. Is Google Ahead in the Orbital AI Race?
Google launches Project Suncatcher on October 1, sending Trillium TPUs into orbit to test whether solar-powered space data centers can reach cost parity.
Brendan Burke · Sep 25, 2026 · 6 min
DARPA Backs Project Aiming for 100x Lower Energy Use
A Georgia Tech-led research team with funding from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is developing a new approach to computer logic that could dramatically reduce the amount of energy required to process information. The project explores whether nanoscale mechanical strain can be used alongside electrical signals to perform computing operations. The researchers […]
Andy Patrizio · Sep 22, 2026 · 2 min
GlobalFoundries, Marvell Expand Partnership to Boost Optical Connectivity
GlobalFoundries and Marvell Technology are expanding their longstanding manufacturing partnership to increase production capacity for high-speed optical processors. The agreement announced by the two companies will increase production capacity for GlobalFoundries’ silicon-germanium (SiGe) technology at its facility in Burlington, Vermont. The additional capacity is intended to support Marvell’s growing requirements for optical networking products used […]
Andy Patrizio · Sep 22, 2026 · 2 min
NVIDIA Shares Rise as CEO Jensen Huang Confirms Chip Sales Will Double by 2027
NVIDIA Corp. CEO Jensen Huang confirmed Thursday that the semiconductor giant expects chip sales to roughly double in 2027 from 2026. Speaking at a technology conference in Scotland, Huang reiterated the aggressive growth trajectory previously outlined to investors during the company’s August earnings call, where management characterized its 70% fiscal 2028 revenue projections as a […]
Jon Swartz · Sep 18, 2026 · 2 min
U.S. Chip Industry Faces 157,000-Worker Shortage as AI Fabs Expand
The U.S. semiconductor industry’s massive manufacturing expansion is running into a fundamental problem: finding enough skilled workers to operate the new factories. The industry could face a shortage of up to 157,000 workers by 2030, according to research from McKinsey and the SEMI Foundation. Just 3% of U.S. engineering graduates who take engineering jobs enter […]
James Maguire · Sep 18, 2026 · 2 min
Chinese Researchers Claim 100-Fold Increase in Next-Generation Memory Endurance
Even though memory has no moving parts, it is prone to wear and eventually erosion. The electrical current flowing through the chips eventually causes failure and brings the entire system down. In the case of flash memory, which is also built on DRAM memory technology, that means data loss. But now Chinese researchers have developed […]
Andy Patrizio · Sep 18, 2026 · 2 min
Huawei Speeds AI Chip Roadmap as It Pushes to Challenge NVIDIA
Huawei Technologies is accelerating its AI chip development, moving the launch of its Ascend 960DT processor to the first quarter of 2027 as it works to reduce China’s dependence on NVIDIA hardware. The Ascend 960DT had been scheduled for later in 2027. Huawei also plans to release the Ascend 960PR in the third quarter of […]
James Maguire · Sep 17, 2026 · 3 min