Semiconductors

TSMC has flipped the switch on its performance-tuned N3P process, bringing the 3-nm node into volume production after Q4 2024 pilot runs. Next up is the higher-voltage, speed-focused N3X variant, now slated to sample by Q3–Q4 2025. “N3P started production late last year, in 2024,” Kevin Zhang, TSMC’s deputy COO, told Tom’s Hardware at the…

Uncertainty surrounding U.S. tariff policy impacted R&D sectors this week, even as the broader market showed gains. The R&D World Index (RDWI) for the week ending April 11, 2025, closed at 3,585.25, up 2.25% (or 78.98 basis points). Performance among the 25 RDWI member companies was mixed, with twelve gaining value. Leading the pack was…

President Trump’s recent tariff actions exempted key consumer electronics like smartphones and computers, and thus have shielded average consumers. Yet R&D groups that are planning on investing in GPUs for local inference face a potential cost shock, as graphics card imports are now subject to steep duties—reaching up to 145% if assembled in China. While…

Industry analysts from McKinsey to Omdia largely converge on a timeline for initial quantum advantage emerging in the next few years. While the era when quantum computers can routinely tackle large-scale challenges in fields like drug discovery and materials science might still be years away, IBM’s Quantum CTO, Oliver Dial, Ph.D., predicts the threshold of…

Picture this: A GPU-accelerated CT X-ray inspection machine peering into circuit boards at 0.2 µm/pix resolution, paired with a virtual human assistant that explains, tweaks, and optimizes the process in plain language. That’s precisely what industrial automation giant OMRON showcased at NVIDIA’s GTC 2025 last week. At the heart of the demo was OMRON’s VT-X…

Thermo Fisher Scientific has unveiled the Vulcan Automated Lab, a fully integrated system designed to streamline transmission electron microscopy (TEM) workflows and enhance semiconductor process control. The industry is under increasing pressure to deliver atomic-scale precision at high volumes amid global demand for advanced chips. The Vulcan system integrates robotic sample handling, artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced…

There’s a new sheriff in town at Intel, and his name is Lip-Bu Tan, a seasoned semiconductor veteran stepping into the CEO role. He will be charged with steering the beleaguered chipmaker back toward a more sustainable financial future. Tan, the former CEO of Cadence Design Systems and founder of venture capital firm Walden International,…

Major investments, policy debates, and sustainability efforts are reshaping the semiconductor industry. TSMC’s $100 billion U.S. expansion carries geopolitical significance, while Broadcom’s strong earnings highlight AI’s growing role. Siemens is investing $285 million in U.S. manufacturing, adding to its long-term growth. Meanwhile, the CHIPS Act faces scrutiny, with Trump calling for its repeal. The Semiconductor…

President Donald Trump’s recent push to repeal the CHIPS and Science Act, signed into law in August 2022, has raised concerns about the future of U.S. semiconductor manufacturing. The act allocates $39 billion in subsidies and up to $75 billion in government-backed loans to strengthen domestic chip production. Proponents credit the measure with prompting high-profile…

For decades, probing the electrical activity of living cells has been like listening to a symphony recorded with bulky, imprecise microphones — relying on invasive electrodes and sometimes disruptive dyes. Now, engineers at the University of California, San Diego, have unveiled a potentially life-changing invention: atom-thick semiconductors that can “hear” these faint cellular signals using…

Apple has committed to spend over $500 billion in the U.S. by 2029, equalling the total that OpenAI and partners announced last month as part of the Stargate Project. From an R&D perspective, one core takeaway is how much of this cash will fuel cutting-edge work. For instance, Apple is specifically aiming to invest in…

Brain signals in, mechanical responses out—traditionally, that’s been the limit of many brain computer interfaces (BCIs). But in a sense, this BCI doesn’t just listen; it talks back. In a study published in Nature Electronics, a research team in China reported a two-way setup that not only efficiently decodes a user’s intentions  but also sends tailored…

Editor’s Note (February 19, 2025): Apple has officially announced the iPhone 16e as the “affordable” member of the iPhone 16 family, rather than an “iPhone SE 4.” Before its official reveal, Apple’s newest “budget” phone was widely expected to launch under the name “iPhone SE 4.” Multiple industry reports suggested that Apple would debut its…

Researchers Jerry Tang and Alex Huth at UT Austin have developed an AI tool that decodes brain activity into continuous text, even for those who struggle with language comprehension. Unlike previous methods that needed many hours of training and worked only for specific individuals, the technique can be adapted to new users in about an…

Intel’s potential split into design and fab fiefdoms under Broadcom and TSMC echoes a notable trend shaking conglomerates—think Honeywell’s fresh February 2025 plan to fracture into three, General Electric’s 2021 trilogy of aerospace, healthcare, and energy, or even semiconductor stalwarts like NXP shedding its Standard Products unit in 2016 to sharpen its chipmaking edge. For…

Arteris has announced FlexGen, a smart Network-on-Chip (NoC) IP tool that, according to internal case studies, slashes design iterations by up to 10x based on internal case studies based on customer designs. The company attributes the acceleration to automating key NoC design phases: topology generation, for example, drops from 20 hours to 4 (a 5x…

Here’s the scoop: AI is still on fire, despite bubble talk, and OpenAI’s rumored $40B capital raise—driving its valuation up to $340B—could be one of the biggest bets yet. But this isn’t happening in a vacuum. Competition from China’s DeepSeek, fresh AI model launches by Alibaba, and rumored next-gen offerings from Google and others mean…

Artificial intelligence is everywhere—yet AI patents aren’t exploding the way you might expect. Could it be that innovators are keeping their best secrets out of the USPTO’s public view? “When we look at AI patents, we see machine learning going down, likely because AI is absorbing it. It’s not necessarily that there’s less AI activity;…

Welcome to our weekly briefing on R&D headlines that are shaping technology, healthcare, and industry. In this edition, we explore NVIDIA’s global expansion plans (plus a sharp rebuttal to new U.S. AI policy), Google’s ambitious Gemini user goals, a big-ticket pharma acquisition, tighter U.S. chip controls, and more. Keep reading for the latest developments and…

Who is leading in terms of U.S. patents? Asia. While U.S. patent grants rebounded by 4% in 2024 after a four-year decline, the real story is who’s driving innovation: Samsung Electronics maintained its crown for the third straight year with 6,377 patents, TSMC claimed second place with 3,989 patents, according to IFI Claims’ roundup of…

In this week’s R&D Market Pulse, the $29.1 billion Constellation-Calpine mega-merger promises to reshape U.S. energy, the Commerce Department awards a third CHIPS for America facility to Arizona State University, and new AI export restrictions put China on notice. Meanwhile, Elon Musk’s xAI rolls out a consumer app, BlackRock withdraws from a major climate initiative,…

Recent advancements in the semiconductor and automotive sectors indicate a growing reliance on advanced technologies to meet the evolving needs of software-defined vehicles (SDVs). Honda Motor Co. and Renesas Electronics Corporation, an embedded semiconductor provider, have announced a partnership at CES 2025 to develop high-performance System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions for future vehicles. Meanwhile, chiplet technology is…

Sandia National Laboratories has partnered with leading research institutions to tackle a potential energy crisis driven by the increasing energy demands of artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced technologies. Jeffrey Nelson, a principal investigator at Sandia, highlighted the issue’s urgency: “Computing alone is projected to consume a significant portion of the total planetary energy production…

Over the past couple of years, the world’s most powerful supercomputers have experienced a sizable leap in performance. The combined processing power of the computers on the TOP500 list surged from 5.24 exaflops in June 2023 to 11.72 exaflops in November 2024, representing a 123.7% increase. Meanwhile, the anticipated Colossus supercomputer from Elon Musk’s xAI—if…

Stretchable, wearable gadgets took a significant stride in 2024, thanks to a flurry of breakthroughs that could make soft, body-conformable electronics and power sources a reality. Researchers worldwide have unveiled improvements in flexible, high-precision sensors and displays, while engineers in China revealed a self-healing, stretchable lithium-ion battery that could power next-generation wearables. Meanwhile, LG Display…