Topic: #semiconductors
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Micron breaks ground on $9.3B AI memory plant in Japan
Micron Technology broke ground on a $9.3 billion to $9.6 billion semiconductor facility expansion in Hiroshima, Japan on July 4, targeting high-bandwidth memory production for AI data centers with first shipments expected by summer 2028.
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Taiwan, South Korea, Japan control global semiconductor supply—crypto depends on it
Northeast Asia's dominance in semiconductor manufacturing—from Taiwan's advanced chip foundries to South Korea's memory production—underpins the entire crypto mining and validator ecosystem. Supply constraints in the region ripple directly into mining economics and hardware costs.
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Tech Profit-Taking Hits Nasdaq, Semiconductors; Meta Surges on AI Cloud Service
US equity markets declined on July 1 as investors trimmed technology positions, with the Nasdaq falling 0.66% and semiconductors hit hardest. Meta Platforms bucked the trend, surging 9% after announcing plans to monetize excess AI computing capacity through a new cloud service.
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Taiwan raids Super Micro Computer in Nvidia chip smuggling probe
Taiwanese prosecutors searched Super Micro Computer's Taiwan offices and residences of six individuals on June 29 as part of an expanding investigation into alleged illegal exports of Nvidia AI chips to China, following US federal charges unsealed in March.
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Soitec partners with ZenSemi to scale power chips for AI and EVs
French semiconductor materials company Soitec has partnered with Chinese specialty foundry ZenSemi to ramp production of BCD-on-SOI substrates for power management chips targeting AI datacenters, electric vehicles, and industrial systems.
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South Korea's $518B AI chip push widens crypto's capital deficit
Samsung and SK Hynix are accelerating a $518 billion chip-plant buildout by a decade to meet AI memory demand, signaling that the AI capital cycle continues to draw investment away from crypto.
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Apple lobbies Trump for CXMT DRAM waiver amid chip supply crunch
Apple is seeking U.S. government approval to procure memory chips from ChangXin Memory Technologies, a Chinese manufacturer on the Pentagon's military list, as commodity DRAM prices surge and AI-driven demand strains supply chains globally.
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STMicroelectronics launches ST54M with post-quantum crypto accelerator
STMicroelectronics unveiled the ST54M on June 24, a mobile chip with dedicated hardware for post-quantum cryptography that defends against harvest-now-decrypt-later attacks. The company has begun shipping samples and expects certifications by July 2026.
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China achieves mass production of ultra-pure silicon-28 for quantum computing
China's state nuclear agency announced the first independent mass production of silicon-28 with 99.99% isotopic purity, reducing quantum computing's reliance on Western suppliers and escalating the US-China tech rivalry.
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Kingboard Laminates surges 500% on AI hardware demand boom
Kingboard Laminates, a Hong Kong chipboard maker, rallied over 500% as investors bet on its role supplying AI infrastructure. The company's 2025 profit jumped 85% amid surging demand for specialty materials.
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TSMC's $250B US investment shields Taiwan's chip dominance from geopolitical risk
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing is funneling $250 billion into US chip production under a January 2026 trade deal while keeping its most advanced 2nm nodes at home, strengthening deterrence against military disruption and deepening Taiwan's economic ties with Washington.
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Broadcom extends order visibility to 2028 on record AI demand
Broadcom CEO Hock Tan announced during Q2 fiscal 2026 earnings that order visibility now extends to 2028, driven by $30 billion in AI bookings and record quarterly revenue of $22.2 billion.
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Huawei unveils chip tech to close TSMC gap, bypass US export controls
Huawei announced proprietary chip technologies aimed at achieving 1.4-nanometer transistor density by 2031, potentially shrinking a five-year technology gap with TSMC to three years and challenging the effectiveness of US semiconductor export restrictions.
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Qualcomm lands ByteDance AI chip deal for data centers
Qualcomm reached a deal to supply ByteDance with custom AI chips for data centers, marking a significant win in the company's push into AI infrastructure and challenging Nvidia's dominance.