What’s at stake:
As conventional CMOS technology hits fundamental limits, researchers are proposing new modeling tools to optimize next-generation materials. The result could be novel low-power devices needed for emerging applications.
By Bolaji Ojo & Junko Yoshida
What’s at stake?
TSMC is thriving, but the world’s largest chip foundry faces unique challenges that cannot be resolved by simply perfecting its leading-edge technologies, building more fabs or moving closer to its customers.
China and its intentions toward Taiwan were the dragon in the room during Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s (TSMC) third-quarter financial report on Thursday (Oct. 13).
Read More »TSMC Blooms But Tech Cold War Looms
By Gary Hilson
What’s at stake:
Despite billions of dollars announced for onshore facilities, it will take domestic suppliers years to navigate workforce development, equipment acquisition and offshore dependencies.
[Editor’s note: This story was upated on Oct. 13]
As the E.U. rolls out semiconductor subsidies, intense speculation has focused on whether or not Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) will build a fab in Europe.
During the Q3 financial result call Thursday, C. C. Wei, Chief Executive Officer of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., acknowledged for the first time, it is “in preliminary evaluation” for a fab in Europe.
Read More »TSMC Contemplates a European Fab
What’s at stake:
Details of Mobileye’s anticipated IPO have emerged. We don’t know the date, the number of shares or the price range. Given that Intel has seen the IPO’s potential value drop from $50 billion to around $30 billion, the question is: What’s Intel’s big hurry for Mobileye to go public? The answer is simple: Odds of Mobileye’s valuation increasing any time soon are slim.
Investors and automotive industry observers are asking what’s behind Mobileye’s IPO? And why now?
Read More »7 Reasons Why Mobileye Must Go Public—Now
What’s at stake:
Backed by various kinds of state aid, the SiC industry is booming. Key SiC device suppliers are regularly announcing production expansions plans. Can SiC device suppliers acquire enough wafers to meet market demand, or will they continue sourcing substrates from competitors?
By David Benjamin
“To photograph is to hold one’s breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality. It’s at that precise moment that mastering an image becomes a great physical and intellectual joy.” —Henri Cartier-Bresson
Read More »Attack of the Feature Creep
What’s at stake:
Most machine learning models developed for corporate applications never make it to production. Greater engineering discipline and standards are needed to catch failures earlier in the development process.
By Bolaji Ojo
What’s at stake:
A less chaotic future is desired for Arm, which has bounced from one controversy to another following its 2016 acquisition by SoftBank Group and subsequent failed efforts to unload the business via an outright sale or IPO.
By Peter Clarke
What’s at stake:
With plenty of VC funding on offer in recent years to bankroll an AI gambit, entrepreneurial engineers have been only too happy to accept the cash and assume the risk. But where are the returns?
There are too many artificial intelligence and machine learning startups. The going is getting tougher. Consolidation and acquisitions are bound to follow.
Just how rocky the AI market has become is illustrated by early mover and well-funded startup Graphcore Ltd., which announced layoffs last week. The announcement follows similar cuts at Mythic AI made earlier in the summer. If these established AI pioneers are axing jobs, what are the prospects for the legion of smaller AI wannabees?
We’ve seen about a decade of development of hardware implementations for neural network acceleration and the resulting AI algorithms. There are now probably more than 100 hardware-oriented startups still active and trying to cash in on the biggest revolution in computation since the adoption of the von Neumann architecture in the 1950s.
The accompanying roster of AI startups, organized by founding year, lists 90 entrants. All are fabless, using foundries to manufacture chips, and many are incorporating AI architectures in FPGAs or looking to license designs as intellectual property. Usually in such domains, the software- and services-oriented startups dwarf the hardware cohort by a factor of 10 or 20 to 1.
Read More »AI Hardware Startups Ready for Pruning
