Unionized workers of Samsung Electronics have voted in favor of a strike after failing to reach a deal on wage hikes with management, according to industry sources. Wage negotiations between management and labor broke down in February after rounds of talks over this year's wage increase.

The US has added four Chinese companies to an export blacklist for buying US-origin goods to support China's military modernization efforts, the Department of Commerce said in a statement published Thursday.

Huawei Technologies and a secretive chipmaking partner in China have filed patents for a low-tech but potentially effective way to make advanced semiconductors, raising the prospect that China could improve chip production techniques despite US efforts to halt its progress.

China has introduced guidelines to phase out US microprocessors from Intel and AMD from government personal computers and servers.

TSMC is set to win more than $5 billion in federal grants to support a chipmaking project in Arizona, according to people familiar with the matter, in what would mark a major milestone in President Joe Biden's effort to revitalize American semiconductor manufacturing.

China is in the process of raising more than US$27 billion for its largest chip fund to date, accelerating the development of cutting-edge technologies to counter a US campaign to thwart its rise.

Semiconductor firms such as TSMC are at risk of water shortages as processing technology advances, S&P Global Ratings said in a report.

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology said the graphene semiconductor they have developed is compatible with standard microelectronic processing methods, a fundamental requirement for any viable alternative to silicon.

With Vision Pro out the door and the recent cancellation of work on a car, it's becoming crystal clear that Apple is shifting huge resources into its forthcoming introduction of something like generative AI (genAI).

North Korean hackers have broken into South Korean chip equipment makers, according to South Korea's spy agency.

European Union leaders recently opened several initiatives to promote the development of RISC-V-based chips-in response to anxiety over member countries' reliance on foreign companies for semiconductors. The recent global chip shortage, which has disrupted supply chains and highlighted the importance of chip sovereignty, exacerbated that concern.

US chipmakers Intel and Micron are likely to win the largest share of the US$52 billion in CHIPS Act awards this year, analysts told EE Times. With the US 2024 presidential election approaching, the awards will help President Joe Biden show that he's creating jobs and returning semiconductor manufacturing to the nation following a long history of offshoring, the analysts said.

Japan's efforts to rebuild its semiconductor industry are getting a shot in the arm as more and more Taiwanese chip companies expand here - not only to support a new TSMC plant but also excited about the Japanese sector's prospects.

Samsung Electronics sold its entire remaining stake in ASML Holding in the December quarter as part of its push to expand into new areas of chipmaking.

Graphcore has struggled to gain a foothold in the market for AI chips despite huge spending on artificial intelligence. It has also been hit by the closure of its business in China amid US controls on selling AI technology.

The Biden administration is considering restrictions on imports of Chinese "smart cars" and related components that would go beyond tariffs to address growing US concerns about data security, according to people familiar with the matter.

Kioxia and Western Digital's joint venture manufacturing facilities in Yokkaichi and Kitakami have been approved for up to JPY150 billion (US$1 billion) in government subsidies.

Although economic factors are the main reason for tech layoffs, many companies are citing the race for artificial intelligence as a factor, as they are shifting resources to focus on AI talent.

Soaring appetite for Huawei's artificial intelligence (AI) chips coupled with manufacturing constraints has forced the Chinese tech giant to prioritise AI and slow production for its premium Mate 60 phones, people familiar with the matter said.

The most pressing question for Canada's semiconductor industry isn't whether it can scale up its chipmaking capabilities but how to go about doing so.

Facebook owner Meta Platforms opens new tab plans to deploy into its data centers this year a new version of a custom chip aimed at supporting its artificial intelligence (AI) push, according to an internal company document seen by Reuters on Thursday.

Teradyne, a supplier of semiconductor testing equipment, pulled manufacturing worth about $1 billion out of China last year, a Teradyne spokesperson said on Monday, after US export regulations led to supply chain disruptions.

Chipmaking startup Cerebras Systems is weighing an initial public offering as soon as this year, according to people familiar with the matter.

Western Digital on Thursday posted December quarter sales that edged Wall Street estimates, and provided better-than-expected guidance for the March quarter-but the disk-drive and flash memory chip company's shares nonetheless were falling in late trading.

Industry predictions suggest Samsung Electronics will significantly expand its HBM production capabilities with substantial equipment investment. This intensifies the industry leadership competition with SK Hynix, which is entering mass production of its fifth-generation HBM3E product in the first half of this year.

Intel's fab near Magdeburg, Germany, will not only be the most advanced semiconductor production facility in Europe, but, according to CEO Pat Gelsinger, the most advanced fab in the world when it comes online. The fab will process wafers using post-18A process technologies and will be used to make products both for Intel as well as its Intel Foundry Services customers.

China's chip imports suffered their steepest drop on record last year, hamstrung by prolonged economic uncertainties and US export controls.

South Korea unveiled plans by leading firms such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to spend more than US$470 billion establishing the world's largest chipmaking cluster, joining a global race to safeguard domestic supply.

Nvidia may not be able to sell its top-specced GPUs in China, but across the border in India, datacenter operators are buying up tens of thousands of accelerators to bolster their AI capabilities.

Chinese military bodies, state-run artificial intelligence research institutes and universities have over the past year purchased small batches of Nvidia semiconductors banned by the US from export to China, a Reuters review of tender documents show.

The topic of quantum computing occupied an entire day at the recent PUZZLE X conference in Barcelona-with visionaries such as Nobel laureate Sir Roger Penrose, Bob Coecke (Quantinuum), Brian Subirana (Harvard and MIT), and Marta Estarellas (Qilimanjaro) served up as speakers.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited the country's foremost developer of memory chips, in the latest show of government support for US-sanctioned Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) as the two powers clash over technology.

The crises that have brought supply chains to their breaking point have highlighted an urgent need for change. This will result in a far more robust and balanced framework for global trade and manufacturing.

It's getting harder-both technically and financially-to make semiconductor chips smaller. The fight for chip tech supremacy has begun to migrate into a new area: how to package chips together to achieve better performance.

A 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck central Japan on Monday afternoon, collapsing buildings, causing fires and triggering tsunami alerts as far away as eastern Russia, prompting orders for residents to evacuate affected coastal areas of Japan.

Micron Technology has settled a high-profile intellectual property theft lawsuit with a key, state-backed Chinese rival amid the US company's efforts to mend ties with Beijing.

Tesla is recalling more than 120,000 of its vehicles because unlocked doors may open during a crash, increasing the risk of injury, according to safety regulators.

Asked by analysts on Ambarella's most recent earnings call whether the company had changed its automotive strategy, Ambarella CEO Fermi Wang said the firm had increased its focus on the Chinese market.

China's Yangtze Memory Technology is readying its next-generation 3D NAND memory architecture - Xtacking 4.0 - despite severe sanctions against the company, according to a document seen by Tom's Hardware. The company has no plans to increase the number of layers with the two Xtacking 4.0 devices currently in development, but the family may get broader over time.

Apple has been interested in graphene for thermal management for some time, filing patents related to its exploration of the material for heat dissipation in portable devices.