AI Silicon
AI chips, GPUs, accelerators, and the silicon powering the AI era.
Microsoft Plans Upgraded Custom AI Chips for 2027
Microsoft is preparing to release a new generation of its Azure Maia custom AI accelerator to multi-gigawatt deployments beginning in 2027, positioning its in-house silicon as the primary inference platform for the company’s products and services. Microsoft already has the Maia 200 available in Azure and has just announced the third generation of the custom […]
Andy Patrizio · Oct 14, 2026 · 2 min
OpenAI and Synopsys Partner to Develop AI Model for Chip Design
OpenAI and Synopsys announced a multi-year strategic partnership to develop GPT-Synopsys, a specialized artificial intelligence model designed to automate and optimize semiconductor design workflows. The agreement combines OpenAI’s advanced AI models with Synopsys’ electronic design automation (EDA) software and semiconductor engineering expertise. OpenAI will license Synopsys’ EDA tools to develop the specialized model, with the […]
Andy Patrizio · Oct 13, 2026 · 2 min
SpaceX Seeking $40 Billion Debt Package to Fund Massive NVIDIA AI Chips Purchase: Report
SpaceX is in discussions with major financial institutions and asset managers to buy $40 billion in financing to purchase artificial intelligence (AI) processors from NVIDIA Corp., underscoring extraordinary capital demands of the ongoing AI infrastructure boom. Elon Musk’s aerospace manufacturer is seeking approximately $10 billion in bank loans alongside $30 billion in investment-grade debt, according […]
Jon Swartz · Oct 7, 2026 · 2 min
Huawei-Qualcomm Patent Deal Extends Chip Rivals’ Ties Across AI and 5G
Huawei and Qualcomm have signed a multi-year patent licensing agreement spanning 5G, AI, computing and networking, creating a new intellectual property link between two major players in the global semiconductor and communications markets. The agreement gives each company access to patents held by the other and includes Qualcomm’s purchase of selected Huawei U.S. patents. Those […]
James Maguire · Oct 6, 2026 · 2 min
Despite Differences, U.S. and China Maintain RISC-V Cooperation
U.S. and Chinese companies are not letting increased tensions between Washington and Beijing stop them from working together on RISC-V, the open instruction-set architecture that is emerging as an alternative to proprietary CPU architectures such as Arm and x86. MIPS, the U.S. processor intellectual-property company acquired by GlobalFoundries last year, has a particularly close relationship […]
Andy Patrizio · Oct 6, 2026 · 2 min
Quantum Phononic Links Could Help Scale Chips to Higher Qubit Levels
Researchers have developed a quantum chip architecture that uses vibrations called phonons to connect qubits across long distances, potentially addressing a key obstacle to building large-scale quantum computers. The technology, Quantum Phononic Links (QPLs), is designed to allow qubits that are physically separated to exchange quantum information. The researchers say the approach can support connections […]
James Maguire · Oct 6, 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
Broadcom to Finance Up to $42 Billion of Anthropic TPU Buildout
Broadcom has agreed to provide up to $42 billion in financing to Anthropic to help fund the AI company’s massive expansion of computing infrastructure, deepening a relationship that puts Broadcom at the center of Anthropic’s custom AI accelerator strategy. The financing is tied to Anthropic’s agreement to lease $125.2 billion worth of tensor processing unit […]
Andy Patrizio · Oct 5, 2026 · 2 min
Amazon Explores $8 Billion Deal to Offload NVIDIA AI Chips: Report
Amazon.com Inc. is seeking to offload about $8 billion worth of advanced NVIDIA artificial intelligence (AI) chips to outside investors to strengthen its balance sheet and fund its aggressive AI expansion, according to a Financial Times report. Under the proposed arrangement, Amazon held talks with investors in recent weeks to gauge interest in transferring thousands […]
Jon Swartz · Oct 2, 2026 · 2 min
China Challenges US Chip Restrictions as Alibaba Unveils Ambitious AI Roadmap
China’s push to develop its own AI chips has gained momentum with announcements from Alibaba and Huawei, strengthening President Xi Jinping’s position as he meets with President Donald Trump for a multi-day state visit to Washington. The new technology releases demonstrate China’s determination to reduce its reliance on U.S. semiconductor technology, and to overcome U.S. […]
James Maguire · Sep 24, 2026 · 2 min
Qualcomm Snapdragon Summit 2026 Features New Hardware, Software
Qualcomm used the opening day of its Snapdragon Summit to outline a broad strategy for everything from smartphone chips to the next phase of artificial intelligence, with agentic AI emerging as the central theme of the company’s latest platforms. The highlight of the opening day was the introduction of two flagship smartphone processors: the Snapdragon […]
Andy Patrizio · Sep 24, 2026 · 2 min
Germany and Netherlands Invest €40 Million to Accelerate AI Chip Design
Germany and the Netherlands have launched a €40 million initiative to develop AI-powered semiconductor design technology, seeking to strengthen Europe’s chip industry and reduce its reliance on U.S. technology. The new joint initiative brings together Germany’s Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation (SPRIND) and the Netherlands’ National Agency for Disruptive Innovation (NADI). The agencies will fund […]
James Maguire · Sep 23, 2026 · 2 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
Alibaba Unveils China’s ‘Most Powerful’ AI Chip Ahead of U.S.-China Summit
Alibaba Group introduced its most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chip to date on Tuesday, as well as ambitious plans to train a massive next-generation AI model. The blitz reflects China’s accelerating push toward technological self-reliance, coming just days ahead of a closely watched summit between Chinese and U.S. leaders. Speaking at Alibaba Cloud’s annual flagship […]
Jon Swartz · Sep 22, 2026 · 3 min
TSMC Moves Ahead With Plans for Sub-1.4nm Manufacturing
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has given the green light to an expansion of its manufacturing facilities, clearing the way for production technologies beyond its upcoming 1.4-nanometer manufacturing process. This comes just as a research note from investment firm Piper Sandler says Intel’s 14A process, also 1.4nm, is currently being evaluated by Amazon, Apple, AMD, […]
Andy Patrizio · Sep 21, 2026 · 1 min
Samsung Backs Dutch AI Chip Startup With $231 Million Funding
Samsung Electronics is backing Dutch semiconductor startup Euclyd with a more than €200 million ($231 million) round of Series A to help the company develop a new type of processor architecture designed to make artificial intelligence inference more energy-efficient. Samsung was joined in leading the funding round by Somerset Capital Partners, EQT’s Scaleup Europe Fund […]
Andy Patrizio · Sep 18, 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
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
Apple’s M5 Ultra Processor Outpaces AMD Threadripper
Early benchmark results of Apple’s upcoming M5 Ultra processor for workstations show an impressive appearance in the Geekbench 7 database, with the 36-core chip outperforming AMD’s 96-core Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9995WX in both single- and multi-core testing. The results were found by Wccftech, which stated the results are notable because the M5 Ultra has fewer […]
Andy Patrizio · Sep 17, 2026 · 1 min
SK hynix in Exploratory Talks With Intel for First U.S. Chip Manufacturing Presence: Report
South Korean memory chipmaker SK hynix is in preliminary talks with Intel Corp. that could result in the company manufacturing semiconductors in the United States for the first time. According to Reuters, citing sources familiar with the discussions, the companies are exploring multiple structures for potential partnership. One scenario involves SK hynix leasing space at […]
Jon Swartz · Sep 16, 2026 · 3 min