Senate passage of semiconductor manufacturing subsidies as part of broader technology innovation legislation finesses fundamental differences on how to revive technology supply chains—the impetus behind the evolving CHIPS Act.
Read More »Senate Passes CHIPS Act, Final House Vote Looms
What’s at stake?
The automotive industry is scrambling to secure wafers for chips to plug into their vehicles. Volkswagen, hoping to game the system, has partnered with ST and TSMC. The automaker’s turn toward collegiality, however, must be backstopped by real commitments. And although the policy of one chip designer, one product, one foundry sounds clean and efficient, it could trigger unintended consequences.
What’s at stake?
Ousting Herbert Diess might win a popularity contest inside the Volkswagen Group, but it hardly fixes the German carmaker’s structural problems. Stakes are high for new CEO Oliver Blume, who must simultaneously restore VW’s software excellence, battle a conservative corporate culture, and reverse significant sales losses in China.
By Gary Hilson
What’s at stake?
Optane is the only phase-change memory currently available, giving Intel another first-mover advantage. Whether Optane is able to challenge traditional DRAM and NAND technologies in data center and other enterprise applications remains to be seen.
By Bolaji Ojo
What’s at stake?
TSMC is in peak performance mode fueled by advanced technologies, a strong cash position and deep, long-term relationships. Its results do not reflect how the rest of the industry will fare as competitors work to catch up.
What’s at stake?
California DMV collision reports filed by autonomous–vehicle companies over the past 18 months reveal a curious pattern: Almost invariably, the blame for a crash is assigned to the human driver of the other car, casting the driverless vehicle the victim. Is this because human drivers are deemed to be organically erratic and irresponsible? Or, perhaps, are AVs driving too cautiously? A close reading of the data suggests a third possibility — that AVs are programmed to avoid blame rather than avoid accidents.
By Bolaji Ojo
What’s at stake
With silicon photonics promising to vastly accelerate data access and transmission, companies all along the supply chain are jumping in with both feet. Collaborations among rivals are critical at this early stage as companies work to steer the nascent market toward their take on the technology. It’s too early to tell which of these uneasy alliances will prevail, but a look at the partnerships may yield some clues.
What’s at stake?
The need for speed and bandwidth is driving advances in silicon photonics. An ecosystem is coalescing around the light-based interconnects, with startups emerging to push the technology as established players like Intel scale transceivers and related photonic components. Leveraging current chip design and fabrication processes will be key to unleashing an anticipated Cambrian explosion of photonics-driven applications.
