Intel to co-develop and manufacture Fortinet’s next-gen firewall ASIC on Intel 4 — node gets its first named external customer
 Intel to co-develop and manufacture Fortinet’s next-gen firewall ASIC on Intel 4 — node gets its first named external customer

SP6 will draw on what the companies described as Intel’s expertise in disaggregated semiconductor design and advanced packaging.

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TSMC eyes price hikes of up to 25% on chip production services in 2027, report claims — plans to raise baseline prices by 5% to 10% on advanced nodes
 TSMC eyes price hikes of up to 25% on chip production services in 2027, report claims — plans to raise baseline prices by 5% to 10% on advanced nodes

TSMC reportedly intends to increase prices of wafers it processes citing demand, rising costs, and increased investments in new capacity.

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SMIC’s third-gen 7nm node shows smaller metal pitch than Intel 18A, higher transistor density than TSMC N6 without EUV — analysis of N+3 shows significant advancement for Chinese semi manufacturing
 SMIC’s third-gen 7nm node shows smaller metal pitch than Intel 18A, higher transistor density than TSMC N6 without EUV — analysis of N+3 shows significant advancement for Chinese semi manufacturing

SMIC’s N+3 process technology can achieve transistor density comparable to TSMC’s N6 without using EUV lithography, but it fails to deliver performance or efficiency of modern production nodes.

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A Chinese AI lab just built a giant data centre with no Nvidia inside
 A Chinese AI lab just built a giant data centre with no Nvidia inside

For a year, one question has hung over China’s fast-improving AI models: what are they actually running on? Z.AI has just given part of the answer. It has built a huge data centre that uses only Chinese-made chips. The company, formerly known as Zhipu,…

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Google is building a chip with Gemini baked into the silicon
 Google is building a chip with Gemini baked into the silicon

Most AI chips are general-purpose. You load a model onto them, and they run it. Google is reportedly trying something stranger: a chip that is the model, with Gemini’s blueprint etched into the hardware itself. The project, informally called “Frozen v2…

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The firm that wires AI data centres is chasing Hong Kong’s biggest IPO since Alibaba.
 The firm that wires AI data centres is chasing Hong Kong’s biggest IPO since Alibaba.

One of the quiet winners of the AI boom is about to test the public markets. Zhongji Innolight, a Chinese maker of high-speed optical transceivers, has started gauging demand for a Hong Kong listing worth as much as $8bn. The Shenzhen-listed company wo…

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A British AI lab signed up Nvidia, Meta and Samsung to invent materials that don’t exist yet
 A British AI lab signed up Nvidia, Meta and Samsung to invent materials that don’t exist yet

A two-year-old British AI lab wants to build the search engine for materials that do not exist yet. On Monday it gathered an unusual crowd to help. Cambridge-based CuspAI launched the AI Materials Foundry, a coalition of more than 45 companies and rese…

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ASML’s planned Low-NA EUV machine price hikes reportedly frustrate TSMC — lithography machine maker comes knocking to make bank on TSMC’s profitable fabs, potentially costing the Taiwanese chipmaker billions
 ASML’s planned Low-NA EUV machine price hikes reportedly frustrate TSMC — lithography machine maker comes knocking to make bank on TSMC’s profitable fabs, potentially costing the Taiwanese chipmaker billions

ASML says that the increased productivity of its Low-NA EUV tools gives it an option to increase the prices of these scanners in the future. The move may have a drastic effect on TSMC’s future expansion plans, as the foundry made a big bet on existing lithography systems.

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TSMC confirms significant yield and performance improvements in A14 update — strong interest from AI/HPC and smartphone customers
 TSMC confirms significant yield and performance improvements in A14 update — strong interest from AI/HPC and smartphone customers

TSMC’s A14 process technology progresses faster than N2 at this stage of development as developers of both client and AI/HPC plan to use it.

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ASML looks to increase prices of its Low-NA EUV tools beyond existing productivity-based model — company wants to capture the value of all the advantages its tools offer, not just wafer throughput improvements
 ASML looks to increase prices of its Low-NA EUV tools beyond existing productivity-based model — company wants to capture the value of all the advantages its tools offer, not just wafer throughput improvements

ASML’s comments point to intentions to increase prices, though the company is expected to maintain its value-based approach to price setting. Yet, TSMC is reportedly unhappy about the potential plan.

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