Some Chinese AI chip companies are now designing less powerful processors to retain access to TSMC production in the face of US sanctions, four people with knowledge of the matter said.

Samsung Electronics' latest high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips have yet to pass Nvidia's, opens new tab tests for use in the US firm's AI processors due to heat and power consumption problems, three people briefed on the issues said.

SK hynix's foundry subsidiary, SK keyfoundry, is set to produce power semiconductors for Tesla electric vehicles starting the second half of this year.

Esperanto Technologies, a provider of high-performance, energy-efficient AI and HPC solutions built on the RISC-V instruction set, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Rapidus. The partnership's initial goal is to help future semiconductor designers produce more energy-efficient solutions.

India is known for its semiconductor design expertise, which has been successfully nurtured since the 1980s. However, manufacturing capability and capacity has been limited despite having built a fab as far back as 1983 in the form of Semiconductor Complex Limited (SCL), established by M.J. Zarabi, considered one of the pioneers of the current chip industry in India.

China has launched an anti-dumping probe into imports of a widely used plastic from the US, EU, Taiwan and Japan.

SoftBank Group subsidiary Arm will foray into the development of artificial intelligence chips, seeking to launch the first products next year.

Huawei's latest high-end phone features more Chinese suppliers, including a new flash memory storage chip and an improved chip processor, a teardown analysis showed, pointing to the progress China is making towards technology self-sufficiency.

China passed a law on Friday strengthening its trade defence capabilities as the United States and the European Union take aim at Beijing over excess industrial capacity.

The next generation of Arm's Ethos micro-NPU, Ethos-U85, is designed to support transformer operations, bringing generative AI models to IoT devices.

Three months ago, some investors thought the company might be able to drive perhaps $10 billion in full-year revenue for its MI300 AI accelerator line, but management ended up giving a target of more than $3.5 billion. Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon wrote last week that "until recently," expectations seemed to be creeping back up near $6 billion, but now investors are worried about possible customer order pushouts.

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.