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Sam Altman’s Rain AI: A New Contender in the High-Stakes AI Chip Race 💡👇 OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is leading a $150 million funding round for Rain AI, a semiconductor startup aiming to rival Nvidia’s dominance in the AI chip market. This investment, valuing Rain AI at $600 million, follows a $25 million seed round in 2022 where Altman was a major investor. Rain AI claims its chips offer 85% greater energy efficiency than NVIDIA’s, a key advantage in the increasingly energy-intensive AI sector. The company recently hired former Apple executive Jean-Didier Allegrucci to head hardware engineering.   This move comes at a time when Nvidia’s relationship with Elon Musk is strengthening. Musk’s xAI is reportedly planning to purchase 100,000 Nvidia #processors for its #AI projects, a deal potentially worth billions. While Nvidia is expected to continue supplying #chips to OpenAI, speculation suggests Altman is concerned about the growing closeness between Nvidia and Musk. This strategic investment in Rain AI is seen as a countermove, aiming to diversify OpenAI’s supply chain and potentially reduce its reliance on Nvidia. The funding round is expected to close next month. #samaltman #elonmusk #xAI

Quantum-Si Expands Collaboration with SkyWater Technology to Develop New Chip Production Process Critical for Groundbreaking New #Proteomics Platform .🎉👇 November 20, 2024 – Quantum-Si Incorporated (Nasdaq: QSI) (“Quantum-Si,” or “QSI”), The Protein Sequencing Company™ and SkyWater Technology (NASDAQ: SKYT), the trusted technology realization partner, announced today they will jointly expand their relationship to support the development of Proteus, Quantum-Si’s next-generation platform designed to transform proteomic research. The expanded collaboration will develop the consumable for Proteus that will enable simultaneous large factor, protein sequencing with unparalleled accuracy.   Quantum-Si and SkyWater began partnering in 2021 on the first-generation Platinum® platform and announced transition to support production in the second quarter of 2024. SkyWater will continue to supply the consumables for the Platinum Pro product as the two companies expand their engagement to support commercialization of Proteus.   This cutting-edge solution is set to redefine proteomics with unprecedented output per sample, application flexibility and automation. By combining Quantum-Si’s expertise in biotechnology with SkyWater’s Technology as a Service (TaaS) manufacturing capabilities, the collaboration is poised to drive significant advancements in protein sequencing and to the field of proteomics. Tara Luther Lauri Julian #semiconductors https://lnkd.in/dsNn3Ed5

CAST Adds New SafeSPI #Controller to its Functional Safety IP Core Product Line Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey — November 19, 2024—Semiconductor intellectual property provider CAST, in collaboration with Silesia Devices, today announced a new IP core that implements the Serial Peripheral Interface for Automotive Safety (SafeSPI), an emerging open standard that adds Functional Safety and interoperability features to the de-facto Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) industry standard.   Why SafeSPI?   Conventional SPI is a four-wire interface for synchronous communication that has been extremely popular, especially for linking sensors with processors in automotive systems. However, there has been no formal industry standard for SPI, and integrating multiple devices into a complex system gets complicated when different developers employ custom SPI variations. Moreover, conventional SPI does not provide for Functional Safety design practices, which is of paramount importance for automotive systems. Artemis Couroupaki

TSMC Suspends Advanced Chip Production for Chinese Customers [November 11, 2024] – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s leading contract chipmaker, announced today it is suspending production of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips for Chinese customers, effective Monday. This action follows a U.S. Department of Commerce directive to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese companies, pending an investigation into potential violations of export controls.   The suspension impacts chips manufactured using 7-nanometer and smaller process nodes. These advanced chips are frequently used in AI applications, a sector already subject to stringent U.S. export restrictions. TSMC confirmed its commitment to full compliance with all applicable rules and regulations, including export controls. The company has notified affected Chinese customers of the production halt. The investigation aims to determine if any companies have circumvented existing trade restrictions by diverting chips to sanctioned entities like Huawei. The U.S. government’s actions reflect concerns about the potential use of advanced AI capabilities in China for purposes such as bioweapons development and large-scale cyberattacks.

Flex Logix Technologies, Inc. Acquired By Analog Devices 🎉🚀 Breaking News: Flex Logix Technologies, Inc. has been acquired by Analog Devices. The 10-year-old eFPGA company’s technical assets, including its InferX AI IP, and its entire technical team will transfer to existing customer ADI. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dQ7rGy6T

Flex Logix Technologies, Inc. Acquired By Analog Devices 🎉🚀 Breaking News: Flex Logix Technologies, Inc. has been acquired by Analog Devices. The 10-year-old eFPGA company’s technical assets, including its InferX AI IP, and its entire technical team will transfer to existing customer ADI. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dQ7rGy6T

Chips&Media, Inc. Leverages AnySilicon.com Platform to Expand Global Market Reach for #Video and #Image Processing IP 🎉🚀 Global video IP leader Chips&Media has partnered with AnySilicon, the leading platform for IP cores and ASIC service providers. This collaboration will provide Chips&Media with significant marketing exposure, enabling them to effectively showcase their comprehensive range of video codec IP and image-specific NPU IP to a broader audience. AnySilicon's marketing services will help Chips&Media reach a wider global customer base, generate qualified leads, and ultimately accelerate market penetration.   Chips&Media's selection of AnySilicon underscores the platform's effectiveness in connecting innovative IP providers with companies seeking leading-edge semiconductor building blocks. This partnership highlights AnySilicon's continued commitment to supporting the growth and success of IP providers within the semiconductor industry. Read more: https://lnkd.in/d9GNguvv

Tessolve to acquire Dream Chip Technologies GmbH🎉👇 Tessolve, a Hero Electronix venture and a leader in semiconductor engineering, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Dream Chip Technologies, a semiconductor chip design firm headquartered in Germany, for around ₹400 Crore (EUR 42.5 million).   This acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approvals, will bolster Tessolve’s presence in the global semiconductor sector, particularly in the chip/ASIC design domain.   The acquisition of Dream Chip Technologies positions Tessolve among a group of global design firms equipped to deliver comprehensive solutions for complex, advanced semiconductor chips. By integrating Dream Chip’s capabilities, Tessolve aims to strengthen its expertise in System on Chip (SoC) design, expanding into critical sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), automotive, data centres, and industrial applications. More: https://lnkd.in/dbCxu_Jj

Jolt Capital buys and invests in Dolphin Design’s carved-out mixed-signal IP activities 🎉👇 Grenoble (France), 5 November 2024 – Jolt Capital, a private equity firm specializing in European growth #deeptech, announces today having purchased the power management and signal processing IP activities of Dolphin Design (the « IP activities »), a leader in mixed-signal semiconductor IP through Dolphin Semiconductor, a newly created company, and to commit to already invest €26M in Dolphin Semiconductor. Laurent Monge, former President at Metrologic Group, is appointed CEO of Dolphin Semiconductor.   Dolphin Design has long been at the forefront of delivering cutting-edge mixed-signal IP, known for its unrivaled energy efficiency, robustness and performance. Dolphin Design’s business encompassed both fabless design and licensing of digital and analog IPs on one hand, custom #ASICs on the other. The IP activities acquired by Dolphin Semiconductor (power management and audio IP) represented about 60% of Dolphin Design’s revenue and patents portfolio. More: https://lnkd.in/eBbbH-pV #Acquisition #France #semiconductor #semiconductors

TSMC Faces Record Energy Prices 💡👇 [November 5, 2024] – Taiwan’s ambitious energy transition is creating significant challenges for its industries, particularly the semiconductor sector. Recent sharp increases in electricity prices and growing risks of power outages are impacting major companies, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s largest chipmaker.   TSMC’s Chief Financial Officer, Wendell Huang, recently revealed that the company anticipates paying the highest electricity prices in Taiwan next year, exceeding costs in all other regions where it operates. This marks a significant shift from a past competitive advantage of some of the world’s cheapest power. More: https://lnkd.in/etMgirDW