Siemens EDA outlined how artificial intelligence (AI) can reduce semiconductor design time by as much as tenfold, highlighting multi-agent AI as a key technology for addressing the growing complexity of chip development.

Ankur Gupta, Senior Vice President of IC Products at Siemens Digital Industries Software's Electronic Design Automation (EDA) business, presented the company's AI-native design strategy during a media briefing held at Lotte Hotel World in Seoul on Aug. 11.

"Last month, we integrated a broad range of agentic AI capabilities into our EDA platform, including multi-agent workflows, self-verification and long-duration autonomous execution," Gupta said.

Multi-agent AI enables multiple AI agents to divide and coordinate semiconductor design tasks. After engineers specify design parameters such as manufacturing process, voltage and temperature conditions, the agents automatically perform verification, debugging and design modifications. Siemens introduced its AI-powered EDA system, Fuse, in 2025.

According to the company, multi-agent AI can accelerate transistor characterization workloads by up to ten times while reducing token costs by roughly 90%.

"Engineers at large companies are restricting or even suspending the use of large language models because token budgets have become unsustainably high," Gupta said. "The EDA industry recognizes this as a critical challenge and is developing technologies that deliver much higher token efficiency."

Siemens is also collaborating with Nvidia to develop AI-enabled EDA tools. Earlier this year, the two companies announced a strategic AI partnership aimed at integrating AI throughout the semiconductor design flow—from register-transfer level (RTL) design through verification. Under the collaboration, Nvidia's AI infrastructure and Nemotron models will be incorporated into Siemens' EDA software.

Gupta said modern semiconductor designs are reaching unprecedented levels of complexity.

"Today's chips contain more than 200 billion transistors and exceed thermal densities of 100 watts per square centimeter," he said. "Conventional design approaches can no longer keep pace with the speed of the market."

He added that even modest improvements in chip efficiency can have a substantial impact.

"A 5% reduction in power consumption translates into significant energy savings at the system level, making it an important factor in building a more sustainable industry," he said.

Other leading EDA vendors, including Synopsys and Cadence Design Systems, are also incorporating AI capabilities into their design platforms.

Gupta said Siemens differentiates itself through its focus on design verification, emphasizing that the company provides a comprehensive integrity platform.

"In semiconductor design, a single minor error can result in design failure or lower manufacturing yields," he said. "Because such failures can cost hundreds of millions of dollars, building software that customers can trust is the industry's highest priority."

Siemens also said AI can significantly reduce verification time, one of the most time-consuming stages of semiconductor development. According to the company, its EDA tools can accelerate automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) simulation by up to five times for certain workloads. ATPG simulation is used to validate test patterns in virtual environments before they are applied to detect manufacturing defects in semiconductor devices.

South Korean semiconductor company Fadu announced on Aug. 10 that it is recruiting junior-level engineers, ranging from new graduates to professionals with up to eight years of experience.

The company will accept applications through Aug. 23 as part of an effort to secure top talent and strengthen its future technology competitiveness.

Applicants will undergo a coding test later this month, followed by interviews in September. Successful candidates are expected to join the company in November and work at Fadu's headquarters in Seoul's Gangnam district.

The recruitment program is expected to hire more than a dozen employees. Eligible candidates include bachelor's degree graduates as well as engineers with up to eight years of experience in hardware or embedded software development.

Open positions include firmware development, firmware verification and test engineering roles.

The selected employees will analyze customer requirements for Fadu's enterprise solid-state drive (eSSD) products and help incorporate those requirements into product development. Responsibilities will also include analyzing eSSD test results, identifying root causes of issues and proposing improvements.

Iron Device said on Aug. 10 that cumulative sales of its SMA1305 smart power amplifier for Samsung Electronics mobile devices and tablets have exceeded 100 million units, reaching the milestone four years after shipments began.

The company began supplying the SMA1305 in January 2022. According to its latest tally, cumulative shipments surpassed 100 million units as of March this year, equivalent to an average of approximately 25 million units supplied annually.

On average, two SMA1305 chips are installed in each mobile device, while tablets typically use four units per device.

"The achievement demonstrates that our technology is being recognized in the global market," said Lee Young-taek, a director at Iron Device. "We also have high expectations for sales of follow-up products."

The SMA1305 is a mixed-signal semiconductor used in smartphones and tablets. The chip amplifies audio signals to drive speakers and incorporates Iron Device's proprietary speaker protection algorithm, which the company says improves performance and reliability compared with competing products. The device also integrates low-noise, low-power design and audio signal processing technologies to maximize system efficiency.

Iron Device develops chips that combine analog, digital and power technologies on a single device. The company has recently expanded into the on-device AI market, targeting applications in smart glasses and humanoid robots.

"Audio products are evolving beyond simple sound input and output devices into AI sensors capable of understanding their surroundings," the company said. "We define audio as a core interface for interacting with the real world and are developing technologies accordingly."

LX Semicon has begun supplying automotive semiconductors to Hyundai Motor and Kia, marking the first major achievement from a new business initiative launched four years ago to diversify beyond display driver ICs (DDIs).

The company said on Aug. 10 that it has been supplying its automotive microcontroller unit (MCU), code-named LX61101, to Hyundai Motor and Kia vehicles since July. The chip has already been installed in vehicles produced from July, and the scope of adoption is expected to expand. Specific vehicle models and shipment volumes were not disclosed due to non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with customers.

The LX61101 is a motor-control-focused MCU based on a 40 MHz Arm Cortex-M3 core. It is optimized for motor control in automotive body electronics systems. When installed in vehicle doors, the chip monitors and controls motor speed, position and rotation direction in real time. For example, if an obstacle is detected while an automatic door is closing, the system can reverse operation and reopen the door.

LX Semicon said South Korean companies were involved across the entire process, including foundry manufacturing and back-end supply chain management (SCM).

The company has been developing automotive MCUs as a future growth engine since 2022. In 2023, it participated in Hyundai Motor and Kia's supplier selection process for new business projects. Following three years of development and testing, LX Semicon has now entered mass production of the LX61101.

The chip also meets key automotive semiconductor standards, including the AEC-Q100 reliability qualification standard and ISO 26262 functional safety requirements.

Telechips returned to profitability in the second quarter of 2026, driven by increased sales of in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) chips.

The company said on Aug. 6 that second-quarter revenue rose 33.6% year over year to 59.2 billion won. Operating profit came in at 3.18 billion won. Operating margin improved to 5.4% from negative 8.0% a year earlier.

Growth was primarily driven by the automotive IVI chip business. Increased shipments of products supplied to existing customers supported the company's earnings improvement during the quarter.

Revenue recognition from a system-on-chip (SoC) development contract worth approximately 77.2 billion won, signed in October 2025, also contributed to results. The contract began contributing revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025 and has supported the company's top-line recovery since then. However, the impact was smaller than in the first quarter. A Telechips representative said revenue recognized from the contract exceeded 10 billion won in the first quarter, while the amount recorded in the second quarter was lower.

Net loss narrowed 27.3% from a year earlier to approximately 4.1 billion won. The company said the loss was affected by a decline in the valuation of its stake in Chips&Media, in which Telechips held a 7.25% stake as of the first quarter. Chips&Media's share price fell 31.4% over the 12-month period, declining from around 16,900 won at the end of June 2025 to 11,600 won at the close on June 30, 2026.

"We will continue to improve profitability in the second half by expanding our existing customer base and increasing mass production for new projects," a Telechips representative said.

DB HiTek announced on Aug. 6 that it has transferred semiconductor process equipment to MoaFab, South Korea's national integrated nano-fab platform, as part of efforts to strengthen the country's semiconductor research and development infrastructure.

The company held a semiconductor equipment transfer ceremony at its Sangwoo Campus in Eumseong, North Chungcheong Province, together with the Ministry of Science and ICT and MoaFab. The initiative is aimed at supporting microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) research and development.

MEMS refers to technologies used to manufacture miniature precision mechanical devices at the micro- and nanoscale.

Under the agreement, DB HiTek is donating a total of three pieces of equipment, including one high-temperature thermal processing system and two etching systems.

The equipment will be used by the National NanoFab Center and the Nano Convergence Technology Center for research and development activities as well as prototype production.

In March, DB HiTek signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Science and ICT, Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and other organizations to strengthen the competitiveness of MoaFab.

MoaFab is a national nano-fabrication support platform established by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Nano Infrastructure Council. The platform integrates and manages nano-fabrication equipment and facilities across South Korea to support nanotechnology research, education and prototype development.

FADU plans to begin supplying samples of its seventh-generation solid-state drive (SSD) controller in 2028, according to a technology roadmap unveiled at FMS 2026.

Nam Yi-hyun, Chief Executive Officer of FADU, disclosed the plan on Aug. 4 during the Future of Memory and Storage (FMS) 2026 conference in Santa Clara, California.

The company did not provide detailed specifications for the seventh-generation controller. However, FADU previously stated in December that it aims to improve SSD performance by more than tenfold compared with the previous generation.

Its long-term target is to achieve random read performance of 100 million input/output operations per second (IOPS) for 512-byte workloads.

At FMS 2026, FADU operated an exhibition booth featuring demonstrations of its sixth-generation SSD controller.

The Gen6 controller, which was recently completed, is scheduled to begin shipments in the second half of this year.

According to the company, the new controller delivers more than twice the performance of its fifth-generation predecessor while helping reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) for data center operators.

FADU is also pursuing a strategy of supplying SSD controllers directly to server customers rather than relying exclusively on memory manufacturers as intermediaries.

The company is seeking to expand its roster of hyperscale customers as part of that effort.

Meta is among FADU's existing hyperscale customers, and the company aims to secure additional large-scale cloud and data center operators as demand for high-performance storage infrastructure continues to grow.

FuriosaAI will supply its neural processing units (NPUs) for a large-scale AI data center project in Sweden, marking a significant expansion of the company's presence in the European AI infrastructure market.

The company announced on Aug. 5 that it is participating in an AI data center development project in Stockholm alongside US AI infrastructure company I/ONX and data center operator Velox.

The facility is planned to reach a total capacity of 15 megawatts and is expected to deploy more than 8,800 units of FuriosaAI's Renegade NPU.

The project will begin with the launch of a 2-megawatt facility early next year, followed by an additional 8 megawatts later in the year. Capacity will eventually expand to 15 megawatts.

FuriosaAI plans to initially supply approximately 1,800 Renegade processors before increasing shipments as the project scales.

The company will provide both Renegade hardware and its accompanying software stack. I/ONX will be responsible for system integration and AI platform services, while Velox will oversee data center development and operations.

According to FuriosaAI, Renegade will operate alongside graphics processing units (GPUs) within the facility. GPUs will be used for AI model training and selected compute workloads, while Renegade processors will handle inference tasks.

The company said the hybrid architecture is designed to improve both performance and power efficiency.

FuriosaAI expects the project to serve as a foundation for expanding AI inference services across Europe.

The company recently established its European subsidiary in Lisbon, Portugal. Through the new operation, FuriosaAI aims to expand its presence in the region's sovereign AI and AI infrastructure markets by promoting its inference-focused computing platform.

Haechitech will begin supplying temperature sensor integrated circuits (ICs) for enterprise solid-state drives (eSSDs) to a major South Korean memory manufacturer this year, marking its entry into a market previously served exclusively by Texas Instruments (TI).

Speaking at the company's initial public offering (IPO) event in Seoul on Aug. 5, CEO Choi Sung-min said Haechitech had secured a supply position for temperature sensor ICs that had previously been supplied solely by TI to the memory company.

"Haechitech's products will be applied to newly launched eSSD products," Choi said.

He added that Haechitech's sensor performance exceeded that of TI's competing products. According to Choi, TI's temperature sensing accuracy is rated at ±0.4°C, while Haechitech's solution achieves ±0.2°C.

Temperature sensor ICs monitor thermal conditions inside eSSDs. Accurate temperature management is critical because heat control directly affects performance, reliability and operating costs in enterprise storage systems.

Despite the design win, Haechitech does not expect temperature sensor ICs to become a major revenue contributor in the near term.

"We significantly lowered pricing to enter as a new supplier," Choi said. "The business is more about expanding our customer portfolio and securing new accounts."

The company expects geomagnetic sensor ICs to remain its primary business.

Choi said revenue from geomagnetic sensors will continue to exceed that of temperature sensor ICs as demand for mid-range and entry-level smartphones grows.

According to the company's securities filing, Haechitech projects temperature sensor IC revenue of approximately 7.9 billion won in 2028, compared with about 24.9 billion won for geomagnetic sensor products.

Geomagnetic sensor ICs detect the Earth's magnetic field and are commonly used in smartphones as electronic compasses. In 2025, geomagnetic sensor sales totaled approximately 9 billion won, accounting for 63.7% of the company's total revenue of roughly 14.1 billion won.

Key customers include Samsung Electronics, OPPO and Vivo. Manufacturing is outsourced to SK keyfoundry.

Haechitech was established in 2017 after being spun off from Magnachip Semiconductor's sensor business division. The company acquired product rights for OPPO and Vivo-related sensor products at the time of the separation.

After generating revenue of 3.9 billion won in 2022, Haechitech recorded an average annual revenue growth rate of 53%, supported by early supply relationships with major electronics companies.

The company plans to list on the KOSDAQ market through the technology-special listing track on Aug. 25.

Haechitech will offer 1 million shares, representing approximately 18.13% of its total outstanding shares after listing. The indicative IPO price range has been set at 23,000 won to 28,000 won per share, with the final offering price scheduled to be determined by Aug. 7. DB Securities is serving as the lead underwriter.

The company forecasts revenue of 23.1 billion won in 2026, rising to 37.3 billion won in 2027 and 54.2 billion won in 2028. It expects to return to annual operating profitability in 2027, with projected operating profit of approximately 4.3 billion won.

DB HiTek reported second-quarter consolidated revenue of 414.5 billion won on Aug. 5, up 23% from a year earlier. Operating profit rose 43% to 105.2 billion won, while operating margin improved by 3 percentage points to 25%.

The results exceeded market expectations. Analysts had forecast revenue of 391.1 billion won and operating profit of 88.6 billion won.

DB HiTek said demand increased for higher-value semiconductor products, particularly automotive and industrial power semiconductors. The company also cited growing demand from AI data centers and robotics applications.

DB GlobalChip, a subsidiary of DB HiTek, contributed to earnings growth by beginning shipments of mobile display driver ICs (DDIs) during the second quarter.

Foundry factory utilization approached 100% during the quarter, reflecting strong customer demand and tight production capacity.

DB HiTek also noted that consolidated revenue could decline going forward following a decision by subsidiary DB World to suspend operations in its ferroalloy business. However, the company said the move is expected to improve profitability, debt ratios and cash flow.

DB World announced on May 29 that it would suspend operations in its ferroalloy division through Sept. 30, citing a prolonged downturn in the steel industry and continued accumulated losses.

The ferroalloy business accounted for 18.7% of DB HiTek's consolidated revenue in 2025. The value of the suspended operations was approximately 40 billion won.

AMD reported a 50% year-over-year jump in second-quarter revenue, delivering an earnings beat that exceeded market expectations. The company said it expects growth to continue through the second half of the year as demand across key markets expands.

AMD said on Aug. 4 that it generated revenue of $11.54 billion in the second quarter of 2026. Earnings per share (EPS) came in at $1.66, while gross margin increased by 2 percentage points from a year earlier to 56%.

Analysts surveyed by LSEG had expected revenue of $11.28 billion and EPS of $1.62.

The data center segment, which includes server central processing units (CPUs), generated the highest revenue. Data center revenue reached $6.7 billion, up 107% from a year earlier, driven by strong sales of CPUs and graphics processing units (GPUs).

Revenue from consumer products also increased. Combined client and gaming revenue rose 6% year over year to $3.8 billion in the second quarter. Mobile processor revenue climbed 23% to $3.1 billion during the same period. Gaming revenue, however, fell 31% to $779 million due to lower sales of semi-custom products.

Industrial products also posted gains. Embedded segment revenue reached $977 million, up 19% from a year earlier. AMD said demand remained strong in networking, aerospace, emulation and telecommunications applications, marking the segment's fastest growth rate in three years.

For the third quarter, AMD provided revenue guidance with a midpoint of $13 billion, representing a 41% increase from the same period last year. The forecast exceeds Wall Street expectations of $12.52 billion.

The outlook is largely driven by growth in the server market. AMD projects that the data center AI accelerator market will expand at a compound annual growth rate of more than 45% through 2030, reaching $1.4 trillion. Within that market, server CPUs are expected to grow at more than 50% annually and reach $220 billion by 2030.

The company expects to benefit from rising shipments of products such as its recently unveiled Helios AI infrastructure platform and MI450-series GPUs.

AMD also forecasts server CPU demand to increase by more than 80% in the second half of this year and by more than 70% next year compared with the corresponding prior-year periods. As a result, the company expects data center revenue in 2027 to more than double from the previous year.

Its semiconductor design business is also improving. AMD said it has secured more than $18 billion in new orders. The company expects gaming revenue to remain under pressure with double-digit declines, while growth in consumer products is likely to remain modest.

AMD also emphasized continued strength in memory demand. The company said its Helios platform incorporates more than 50% more High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) than competing products.

"Large AI models benefit from larger memory capacity because it can reduce total cost of ownership," AMD Chair and Chief Executive Officer Lisa Su said.

She added that many customers have been satisfied with the performance gains provided by larger memory configurations, while noting that the company would make adjustments if additional memory proves less beneficial for mid-sized AI models.

IMAGIS said Chief Executive Officer Lee Dong-seop, who was appointed in March, has resigned after serving for just four months.

The company disclosed on July 31 that its board approved the resignation at a meeting held the same day. Lee stepped down before completing his term, which was scheduled to run through March 2029. The company did not disclose the reason for his departure.

Chairman Kim Jung-chul will return as chief executive. Born in 1964, Kim has led IMAGIS since the 2000s and is currently the company's largest shareholder with an 18.43% stake.

In March, IMAGIS appointed Lee, a former SK hynix executive, as CEO. At the time, the company said it planned to expand into physical AI and robotics-based solutions, adding that the appointment was intended to drive revenue growth and strengthen management accountability.

Since then, the company has secured a major new order. On June 8, IMAGIS announced an automotive semiconductor supply contract worth approximately 5.8 billion won. The deal was equivalent to 43.71% of the company's revenue of about 13.2 billion won in the previous year and marked a significant win as the company seeks to recover from three consecutive years of losses since 2023.

IMAGIS has projected revenue of 21.0 billion won for 2026, which would represent its highest annual sales since 2017.

The leadership change comes as the company works to capitalize on growing opportunities in automotive semiconductors and next-generation AI-related applications.

Samsung Electronics' next-generation gallium nitride (GaN) power semiconductor foundry project has encountered a setback during trial production, raising concerns that commercial production may be delayed beyond this year. The issue emerged after some test chips reportedly failed to operate under extended high-temperature conditions.

According to multiple industry sources on July 31, Samsung has established a dedicated 8-inch GaN semiconductor foundry line at its Giheung campus in Yongin with monthly capacity of approximately 1,300 to 1,500 wafers. The company recently conducted trial production of chips designed by fabless semiconductor companies. During testing, some of the chips reportedly stopped functioning after being exposed to temperatures of 100 to 200 degrees Celsius for roughly 1,000 hours.

GaN semiconductors are commonly used in high-voltage applications of up to 1,200 volts and in environments exceeding 200 degrees Celsius. Their ability to operate reliably under high-temperature conditions has made them increasingly attractive for electric vehicles, robotics and data center applications. Industry sources said the reported reliability issues could limit the usability of chips manufactured using the current process.

Samsung is said to be investigating the root cause of the problem. Industry sources identified the wafer manufacturing process as a leading area of focus. According to those sources, process modifications introduced to achieve targeted device performance may have contributed to the reliability issue.

GaN devices are typically fabricated on epitaxial wafers, in which a GaN layer is grown on a silicon (Si) wafer through an epitaxy process. If the quality or structure of the GaN layer is not fully optimized, defects can become more pronounced under high-temperature and high-voltage operating conditions. Samsung manufactures its own epitaxial wafers using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) equipment.

A person familiar with the matter said Samsung may have focused on achieving the target threshold voltage of 2 to 3 volts for power semiconductors while overlooking potential effects on device longevity. GaN semiconductors generally require a threshold voltage of around 2 volts. If the threshold voltage is too low, the device may respond to very small currents and become more susceptible to operational errors.

Samsung reorganized its LED business in 2023 and established the Compound Semiconductor Solutions (CSS) division to focus on GaN semiconductors. The division originally planned to launch a dedicated GaN foundry line in 2025. However, weaker-than-expected conditions in the power semiconductor market prompted Samsung to postpone the schedule to the end of 2026.

Industry sources now believe the latest reliability issue could push the timeline back by several additional months. One Samsung GaN foundry customer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Samsung had already entered the market later than competitors because the company prioritized major businesses such as memory semiconductors. Companies including Infineon Technologies, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Innoscience have already been shipping GaN semiconductors commercially for one to two years.

Some fabless semiconductor companies are reportedly evaluating alternative foundry partners until Samsung resolves the issue. Potential alternatives include GlobalFoundries, Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation and X-FAB. Unlike silicon semiconductors, where mask costs are typically high enough to encourage production at a single foundry, compound semiconductor mask costs are relatively lower, making it less burdensome to work with multiple manufacturing partners.

A Samsung Electronics representative said the company is still in the pre-production stage and is working through normal development challenges.

"It is part of the process of addressing trial-and-error issues before mass production," the representative said. "It is too early to determine whether these findings constitute a defect."

Intel posted results that beat market expectations on surging demand from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. With its third-quarter outlook also exceeding expectations, the company's shares jumped about 9% in after-hours trading.

Intel said in second-quarter results released on July 23 local time that revenue rose 25% from a year earlier to $16.1 billion, well above the market forecast of $14.4 billion. Adjusted earnings per share came to $0.42, double the market forecast of $0.21.

Demand for server central processing units (CPUs) led Intel's second-quarter performance. Revenue from its data center and AI business was about $6.26 billion, above the market estimate of $5.37 billion. Intel said earlier this year that CPU orders had exceeded its production capacity.

Revenue from the notebook and desktop PC business was about $8.88 billion, against a market estimate of $7.89 billion. Intel said the share of low-cost PC chips was reduced while the share of high-specification chips expanded, and that although unit sales declined, the average selling price (ASP) rose.

The foundry business, long a sore point for the company, posted revenue of $5.77 billion, above the market estimate of $5.55 billion. It is still in the red, however, with a loss of about $2.089 billion.

Internal transactions in the second quarter came to about $5.5 billion. Internal transactions refer to dealings between business units within the company. They are counted as revenue for each business unit but are deducted when calculating consolidated revenue to prevent double counting.

The third-quarter outlook also exceeded market expectations. Intel guided for third-quarter revenue of $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion and adjusted earnings per share of 38 cents. The average revenue estimate among analysts compiled by LSEG was $15.1 billion, with adjusted earnings per share of 27 cents.

Intel has also secured long-term supply contracts that promise recurring revenue. Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner told Reuters that the company has signed three- to five-year contracts with customers covering server CPUs and XPUs. Some contracts include both volume and pricing, and can be renegotiated depending on market conditions.

Intel is also raising capital expenditures to match growing demand. "We have raised this year's capital spending outlook to $20 billion from $18 billion," Zinsner said. "We expect next year's investment to increase meaningfully as well."

"AI is driving an unprecedented level of demand for computing," Intel Chief Executive Officer Lip-Bu Tan said. "We can drive sustained growth in areas such as CPUs, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), advanced packaging and foundry." He added, "The second-quarter results mark the highest revenue growth rate in the past 15 years," saying that "fast execution, accountable management and a customer-focused strategy made it possible."

SK Hynix is discussing a plan to jointly operate Intel’s semiconductor fabrication facility in Ohio rather than acquire it, according to a media report.

U.S. news outlet Semafor reported on July 22 that Intel is seeking a partner to operate its semiconductor fab in Ohio. Citing people familiar with the matter, the report said SK Hynix is discussing a joint operating arrangement instead of an acquisition. It added that the two companies have not begun formal negotiations and that discussions remain at an early stage.

The possibility of a joint operation has emerged as Intel’s Ohio fab project continues to face delays. Intel broke ground on the Ohio facility in 2022 with a planned investment of 28 billion dollars. The site spans about 1.2 million pyeong and is large enough to accommodate a total of eight semiconductor fabs. The site is comparable in scale to the Yongin semiconductor cluster being developed by SK Hynix in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, which covers about 1.26 million pyeong.

Intel had originally planned to open the Ohio fab in 2025 but postponed completion to 2030 last year. The company was facing financial difficulties at the time and also carried out large-scale restructuring of its foundry business. An Intel spokesperson said, “Our commitment to the Ohio fab remains unchanged,” adding that the company continues to invest in accelerating construction of the site.

A shortage of memory semiconductor supply is also strengthening the rationale for potential cooperation between SK Hynix and Intel. SK Hynix is expanding memory production capacity by building additional semiconductor fabs in Yongin, Cheongju, and Indiana, but believes further capacity will still be needed. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won also said at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) Jeju Forum on July 15 that the company needs to build additional semiconductor plants, including in the United States, and is currently searching for suitable locations.

Building a new fab requires significant time from site selection through mass production. Utilizing a site where construction has already progressed could allow production capacity to be secured more quickly. The Ohio fab is reported to have completed part of its foundational construction.

SK Hynix did not deny the possibility of a joint operation. Asked whether the company had discussed jointly operating the Ohio fab with Intel, an SK Hynix spokesperson said, “We cannot confirm that.”

Nvidia has begun shipping its next-generation Vera Rubin AI platform to customers, marking the commercial rollout of the company's latest rack-scale computing architecture for AI factories.

The company announced on July 21 that Vera Rubin has entered volume production and is already running in customer data centers. Nvidia had previously announced Vera Rubin's entry into mass production on June 1. Customers include Google, Microsoft, Oracle and CoreWeave.

Vera Rubin is a rack-scale AI infrastructure platform that tightly integrates 36 Nvidia Vera CPUs, 72 Rubin GPUs, NVLink 6 interconnects and storage into a single system. The compute tray eliminates internal cables, fans and hoses, reducing assembly time from several hours to about one minute.

The Vera CPU is Nvidia's first server processor designed in-house specifically for AI infrastructure. It features 88 custom Olympus CPU cores and is designed to deliver up to 1.8x the performance of conventional x86 processors while providing three times greater inter-core bandwidth and 40% lower memory latency.

Nvidia said Vera Rubin significantly reduces both power consumption and AI inference costs compared with the previous generation. Benchmark testing on CoreWeave's cloud platform showed the system delivers 10 times more AI throughput per megawatt than Grace Blackwell NVL72, substantially lowering the cost per generated token. The company said tokens per megawatt has become a key metric for AI infrastructure because it measures how much AI work can be performed within a fixed power budget.

The platform also supports liquid cooling with coolant inlet temperatures of up to 45 degrees Celsius, enabling chiller-free dry cooling in suitable environments. Nvidia said the design can save millions of gallons of water annually per megawatt of deployed computing capacity.

AMD will begin supplying its Helios AI systems to Microsoft in the second half of this year, the company announced on July 20.

Microsoft will deploy Helios in its Azure cloud platform to support customer AI models and inference workloads. The rollout expands the partnership between the two companies following Microsoft's adoption of AMD's MI300X graphics processing units (GPUs) in 2023.

Microsoft will also introduce two new virtual machine (VM) series, Azure HDv2 and Azure HXv2. The companies jointly designed the HDv2 VM platform, which is optimized for agentic AI workloads, while the HXv2 series targets electronic design automation (EDA) applications.

Beyond Microsoft, AMD has secured Meta, OpenAI, and Oracle as Helios customers.

Meta announced in February that it plans to deploy AMD GPUs across 6 gigawatts (GW) of AI infrastructure and is expected to utilize approximately 1GW of Helios capacity this year. OpenAI and Oracle also plan to deploy Helios beginning this year.

Helios is AMD's rack-scale AI system that integrates GPUs, central processing units (CPUs), networking equipment and cooling infrastructure into a single platform. AMD first unveiled plans earlier this year to launch the system in the second half of 2026.

Each Helios rack is equipped with 72 AMD Instinct MI455X GPUs and 18 sixth-generation EPYC "Venice" CPUs. Built on an open rack architecture, the platform is compatible with third-party GPUs and CPUs.

The system also incorporates AMD's Pensando data processing unit (DPU). AMD strengthened its networking portfolio through the acquisition of Pensando Systems in 2022.

The MI455X is AMD's first GPU to feature HBM4 (High Bandwidth Memory 4). In March, AMD signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with Samsung Electronics to use Samsung's HBM4 memory in the MI455X.

Samsung's HBM4 delivers data transfer speeds of up to 13 Gbps and memory bandwidth of 3.3 TB/s.

AMD on July 20 announced the launch of the Ryzen 7 7700X3D, a new processor designed to enhance gaming performance using the company's proprietary 3D V-Cache technology. The processor is priced at $329.

The Ryzen 7 7700X3D is an enhanced version of the Ryzen 7 7700X aimed at the high-end PC market. Its primary distinction from the existing model is the addition of AMD's 3D V-Cache technology. According to the company's internal testing, the new processor delivers up to 9% higher gaming performance than the Ryzen 7 7700X. It is compatible with AMD's AM5 platform.

3D V-Cache is a packaging technology that vertically stacks additional cache memory on top of the processor cores. In this configuration, the stacked cache die sits between the cores and the cooler, which limits heat dissipation — a key reason AMD caps clock speeds on first-generation 3D V-Cache chips such as the 7700X3D. AMD currently employs 3D V-Cache technology across its Ryzen and EPYC processor families.

The Ryzen 7 7700X3D supports DDR5 memory with capacities of up to 128GB. It features a total cache capacity of 104MB, a 120W thermal design power (TDP), and a maximum boost clock of 4.5GHz. The processor is equipped with eight cores and 16 threads and is designed to operate at temperatures of up to 89 degrees Celsius.