Business, Financial & Legal

For roughly six decades, the semiconductor industry has followed a simple and reliable formula: make transistors smaller, pack more of them onto a chip, and watch performance climb. That formula, commonly known as Moore's Law, is now running into hard physical limits. A research team at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign thinks the next gains will come not from going smaller, but from going vertical.

Led by materials science and engineering professor Qing Cao, the team has developed a method for stacking multiple active layers of silicon circuits directly on top of one another on a single chip, achieving device yields between 98% and 100%. The results were published in Nature.

Building high-performance silicon circuits typically requires temperatures approaching 1,000 degrees Celsius. Once the team installs the first layer of circuitry and metal wiring, they must keep any subsequent layers below 400 degrees to avoid damaging what is already in place. Previous attempts to work around this used alternative materials for the upper layers, but those devices consistently underperformed compared with standard silicon transistors.

The AI boom has driven extraordinary demand for computing power, but it is now creating a constraint that raw performance alone cannot solve. Speaking at a conference in Amsterdam, TSMC Senior Vice President of Business Development Kevin Zhang said energy efficiency has overtaken computing performance as the defining priority for customers across the chip industry.

"The area customers most want improvement in is energy efficiency. This is true across the board, whether you are the edge guy, smartphone, mobile, IoT application, or high-performance AI data center," Zhang told Reuters. The shift marks a major change for the chip industry as the era of simply packing more transistors onto a chip and calling it progress appears to be drawing to a close.

TSMC expects its A14 chips, due around 2028, to deliver more than 20% higher computing performance while cutting power consumption by up to 30% compared to its current N2 technology. Zhang added that while transistor density remains central to TSMC's plans, technologies such as advanced packaging, chip stacking, and photonics are becoming increasingly important in driving efficiency gains beyond what transistor scaling alone can achieve.

Samsung has begun shipping samples of its HBM4E high-bandwidth memory to major global customers, making it the first company to deliver the next-generation AI memory product. The announcement sent Samsung shares surging as much as 6.51% before settling at a 3.67% gain, closing at 310,500 won.

The new 12-layer HBM4E delivers a stable pin speed of 14 Gbps, with performance that scales up to 16 Gbps, representing more than a 20% increase over HBM4. Memory bandwidth reaches up to 3.6 TB/s per stack, which, for context, is roughly equivalent to the combined memory bandwidth of two GeForce RTX 5090 GPUs in a single stack. The 12-layer configuration ships with a 48GB capacity, a more than 30% increase over the previous generation, with 32GB eight-layer and 64GB sixteen-layer variants also in the works, depending on customer requirements.

Beyond raw speed and capacity, Samsung has also made meaningful efficiency gains. Advanced low-power design techniques and an optimized packaging architecture improve energy efficiency by 16% and reduce thermal resistance by more than 14% compared to HBM4, translating into better heat dissipation and longer-term reliability in demanding data center environments.

TSMC employees are reportedly pushing back over rumors that the company may cut employee bonuses, even as the chipmaker continues to post record profits driven by the global AI boom. The company's net profit jumped 58% year over year in the first quarter of 2026, making the timing of any potential bonus reduction particularly tone-deaf from an employee perspective.

The frustration has spilled onto social media, with dedicated Facebook communities for TSMC staff reportedly flooded with angry complaints. Employees are venting about working high-stress, exhausting shifts while the company prioritizes investor returns and capital expansion over workforce compensation. Some are now openly discussing tougher action, with ideas of deploying Samsung-style strike tactics gaining rapid traction across the company's ranks in Taiwan.

The Samsung comparison is not accidental. This week, Samsung Electronics narrowly avoided a catastrophic factory shutdown by signing a last-minute deal with its union, creating a record $26.6 billion performance-based bonus pool. The deal prevented a strike that could have cost Samsung upwards of $66 billion and disrupted global memory chip supply chains. TSMC employees appear to be watching that outcome closely and drawing their own conclusions about what organized pressure can achieve.

Huawei has produced a 122TB SSD using its proprietary chip-packaging technology known as Die-on-Board (DoB), without access to the latest 100-plus-layer 3D NAND from mainstream suppliers. According to BLOCKS&FILES, US restrictions have forced Huawei to rely more heavily on domestic suppliers for its NAND needs.

Once Huawei's existing stockpile of US 3D NAND chips was exhausted, it turned to Chinese-made NAND from suppliers such as YMTC. Rather than accepting the capacity disadvantage of existing TSOP or BGA packaging, Huawei focused on board-level packaging innovation to improve capacity density by enabling tighter NAND integration.

DoB is a wafer-level packaging technology that mounts semiconductor dies directly onto a base PCB. Mainstream SSD suppliers like Samsung with V-NAND, Kioxia and Sandisk with BiCS, and Micron typically use multi-die stacking inside TSOP, BGA, or other packages before mounting them onto a base PCB. DoB enables more flexible die stacking and shorter interconnects, improving both performance and power efficiency compared to traditional packaging approaches, with a 33% improvement in capacity density, though the number of stacked layers remains undisclosed.

Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong has reportedly slipped into Taiwan for a meeting with MediaTek, in an effort to steal the chip designer as a foundry client from TSMC.

The move underscores Samsung's aggressive push to expand its foundry business and challenge TSMC's dominance in the sector. According to a report from WCCF Tech, Lee made the trip to Taiwan, on May 21 with a high-level entourage with the goal of meeting with MediaTek's CEO Cai Lixing.

According to reports, Lee was offering MediaTek incentives, including lucrative memory deals, or priority access to its memory. This is reportedly a common tactic by Samsung to attract new foundry partners, as it was the strategy Samsung used to attract Qualcomm as a foundry client. Furthermore, the conversation between Samsung and MediaTek comes at a time when the relationship between TSMC and MediaTek is fairly strained.

SpaceX has revealed its financials for the first time, showing a $4.9 billion loss in 2025 despite $18.7 billion in revenue. However, that isn't the biggest news here, as the Elon Musk-led company is preparing for an IPO, and its filing shows it could raise as much as $80 billion, and value the company somewhere around $1.75 trillion.

The filing, required ahead of its IPO, marks a major shift for SpaceX, which has long operated under a veil of secrecy, at least when it comes to its financials. Revenue for 2025 rose 33 percent year-over-year, but the company swung from a $791 million profit in 2024 to a staggering $4.9 billion loss.

First-quarter 2026 losses matched the full-year 2025 loss, raising questions about long-term financial sustainability. Capital spending nearly doubled to $20.7 billion, with a large chunk going toward AI development and infrastructure.

Elon Musk has lost his lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman after a jury unanimously ruled he waited too long to file his claim, meaning the statute of limitations prevented a ruling in Musk's favor.

The verdict dismisses Musk's allegations that OpenAI's pivot to for-profit violated its founding mission and committed unjust enrichment. Musk alleged that OpenAI strayed from its original mission of being a non-profit company to a profit-driven model that prioritized commercial success. The trial centered around Musk's 2024 lawsuit, which made the aforementioned accusations.

However, a nine-person jury found that the statute of limitations had expired, with Musk having left the company in 2018. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers agreed, dismissing all claims as "untimely."

Global memory semiconductor giants are undergoing a profound structural shift. According to a report by the Chosun Ilbo citing research from market firm Omdia, Samsung Electronics, Kioxia, and Micron Technology are either shutting down or slashing production on their legacy 2D NAND flash production lines.

Samsung has slightly reduced its NAND Flash wafer production forecast, expecting a decline from 4.9 million wafers in 2025 to 4.68 million in 2026. Similarly, SK Hynix is forecasted to reduce output from 1.9 million wafers in 2025 to 1.7 million in 2026. Meanwhile, 64Gb MLC NAND spot prices have surged more than 300% from end-2025 levels and are currently trading in the $20-$28 range. MLC NAND, which stores 2 bits per cell, offers better data retention and durability than 3-bit TLC and 4-bit QLC designs, yet weak profitability has pushed it to the margins.

The main driver behind the production cuts is profitability. Thanks to the AI boom, high-bandwidth memory and advanced 3D NAND exceeding 300 layers have become the industry's focal points, while low-margin legacy 2D NAND is being rapidly sidelined and deprioritized for capital investment.

World-famous singer Dua Lipa has recently filed a $15 million (£11 million) lawsuit against Samsung for using her likeness to sell TVs without her permission or consent. The complaint was filed on May 8th, 2026, in the US District Court for the Central District of California. The complaint accuses Samsung of copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and misappropriation of Lipa's image and likeness.

According to the lawsuit, Samsung is using an image of Dua Lipa taken at the 2024 Austin City Limits Festival on its TV product boxes. The complaint claims that Ms. Lipa owns the rights to the image, and Samsung's packaging was "designed to improperly capitalize on Ms. Lipa's hard-earned success" for the promotion of their products. Samsung was thus sent multiple "cease and desist" letters from Ms. Lipa's legal team, all of which were ignored according to the lawsuit.

The suit alleges that Samsung was profiting financially by using Dua Lipa's likeness and quotes several social media comments from fans of Ms. Lipa who were apparently convinced to buy a Samsung TV just because of her appearance on the box. According to Ms. Lipa's legal team, Samsung has violated California's right of publicity statute, as well as trademark and copyright infringement claims. The singer is demanding $15 million in damages, as well as punitive damages and legal costs.

eBay's board of directors formally opposes GameStop's $56 billion share buyout proposal and shares major points of concern with the deal.

A bit ago, GameStop made an offer to acquire eBay for $125 per share in a half-cash, half-stock deal worth around $56 billion. On the same day the proposal was announced, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen went live with CNBC in a quizzical interview and was unable to answer exactly where the remaining buyout funds would come from--GameStop may be $15 billion short.

Fast-forwarding to today, and eBay has now rejected GameStop's offer. Paul Pressler, the chairman of eBay's board of directors, tells the GameStop CEO: "We have concluded that your proposal is neither credible nor attractive."

What started as a congratulatory social media post turned into one of the industry's more significant moments this week. Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan posted on X to acknowledge NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang receiving an honorary doctorate in science and technology at Carnegie Mellon University, but also used the moment to publicly confirm that the two companies are still actively developing products together. It is the clearest public signal of forward progress since the partnership was announced, and the market noticed, with Intel's stock ticking up following the post.

To recap, Intel and NVIDIA announced their strategic partnership roughly eight months ago in a deal both companies described as historic. The two companies planned to collaborate across data centers and consumer PCs, with Intel building custom x86 CPUs that NVIDIA would integrate into its AI infrastructure platforms, as well as x86 SoCs featuring integrated NVIDIA RTX GPU chiplets targeting a range of consumer devices. NVIDIA also backed the deal with a $5 billion equity investment in Intel, which has since received regulatory clearance.

Public updates from either side have been relatively sparse since the initial announcement, which is part of why Tan's post generated so much attention. While the actual development work appears to be taking place out of the public eye, the CEOs of both companies have now confirmed that the collaboration is still active.

Sony is teaming up with chip manufacturing giant TSMC to form a joint venture to build a sensor fabrication facility in Japan for next-generation image sensors. The two companies announced a non-binding memorandum of understanding to form a strategic partnership to co-develop and co-manufacture these sensors.

The proposed joint venture would have Sony as the majority and controlling shareholder, leading the project at its newly constructed fabrication facility in Koshi City, Kumamoto Prefecture, while leveraging TSMC's manufacturing expertise to produce sensors with enhanced performance compared to what is available today.

The move comes as part of CEO Hiroki Totoki's plan to shift the company away from its physical assets and toward IP. That strategy has already seen Sony pull out of TV manufacturing, handing TCL a 51% stake of its Bravia division. Beyond manufacturing, the two companies are also eyeing opportunities in physical AI applications, specifically automotive and robotics, where high-performance sensing is becoming increasingly critical.

AMD recently reported very solid Q1 2026 earnings, thanks in large part to the AI boom and rising semiconductor demand. Of the $10.3 billion in revenue for the first quarter of 2026, $5.8 billion was data center revenue driven by sales of AMD EPYC processors and Instinct GPUs. That is a staggering 55.9% of AMD's total revenue in Q1 2026, and 57% higher than its data center revenue in Q1 2025.

In the process, AMD has overtaken Intel in data center revenue and achieved a new milestone. According to a DigiTimes report, this is the first time AMD has generated more revenue from its data center division than Intel in the first quarter of the year. Although AMD had previously surpassed Intel in other quarters (Team Red has been ahead since the third quarter of 2025), this is the first time they have taken the lead in Q1 as well.

AMD generated $4.3 billion from its data center division in Q3 2025, compared with $4.1 billion from Intel. The same trend continued in Q4 2025, with AMD generating $5.4 billion, while Intel managed $4.7 billion. Of course, the Q1 2026 results did not alter this pattern. However, looking at the data compiled by DigiTimes, this might be the start of AMD's long-term dominance that Intel might not be able to shake for some time.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple and Intel have reached a preliminary agreement for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. According to the Journal, talks between the two companies have been ongoing for more than a year, with discussions intensifying in recent months. The current scale of the agreement remains unknown, with no details on which Apple products or chip families would be involved, nor whether production would use Intel's existing 18A process or a future node like 14A.

This follows Bloomberg's recent report that Apple held exploratory discussions with both Intel and Samsung about having them manufacture Apple processor chips in the US. The Journal adds that over the last 12 months, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has repeatedly met with Apple leadership, including outgoing CEO Tim Cook, to revive the relationship with Intel.

Apple currently relies solely on TSMC for its most advanced chips, but supply chain realities are pushing the iPhone maker to look beyond its long-time manufacturing partner. During a recent earnings call, outgoing CEO Tim Cook explicitly cited a lack of advanced chips as a reason for Apple's inability to meet iPhone demand, with the Mac lineup also feeling the impact.

Apple is becoming a victim of its own success with the MacBook Neo. Demand is outstripping the supply of binned A18 Pro chips that power the Neo. As a result, Apple has tapped chipmaker TSMC for a dedicated production run. However, rising silicon and DRAM prices in the past two years may jeopardize the device's aggressive $599 price point.

The MacBook Neo is emerging as a disruptive force in the laptop market, posing a serious threat to budget Windows and Chromebook devices. Contrary to expectations, the Neo brought in more users than any Mac device during launch week. It uses a binned variant of the A18 Pro SoC, which is the same silicon found in the iPhone 16 Pro.

Specifically, Apple is repurposing chips that didn't meet the full six-core GPU specification, instead utilizing them as five-core units for the Neo. This inventory likely dates back to production runs from late 2023 through 2024, aligning with TSMC's N3E node entering volume production in late 2023.

Sony wrapped up its fiscal year 2025 with a broadly solid performance across the company, though a painful write-down tied to its Bungie acquisition cast a long shadow over an otherwise encouraging report. The Japanese tech giant posted roughly $82.8 billion in total sales from continuing operations, a 4% increase year-over-year, while operating income climbed 13% to approximately $9.6 billion. The company's operating margin ticked up a percentage point to 11.6%.

Within its Games and Network Services segment, revenue totaled approximately ¥4.69 trillion, essentially flat year over year, while operating income rose 12% to a new all-time high. Sony noted that, had it not been for the Bungie-related charges, operating profit growth would have been closer to 45%.

Those charges were substantial. Sony recorded a total of ¥120.1 billion in impairment losses against Bungie's assets across the full fiscal year, including ¥31.5 billion in the second quarter tied to Destiny 2's continued slide, and a significantly larger ¥88.6 billion hit in Q4. At current exchange rates, that's roughly $766 million wiped from the value of a studio Sony acquired for $3.6 billion back in 2022.

Apple has reportedly entered preliminary talks with Intel and Samsung as it explores a possible secondary source for its next-gen chips. Adding to the mix, hardware enthusiast Kepler suggests Apple's future A21 SoC might be the prime candidate for such a partnership, potentially breaking Apple's total reliance on TSMC.

Since the A10's debut, Apple has maintained a nearly decade-long relationship with TSMC. This partnership gave Apple exclusive priority access to TSMC's advanced node technologies, including 7nm, 5nm, 4nm, and 3nm processes.

However, the generative AI gold rush has placed significant strain on the Taiwanese giant. The demand for AI hardware has reached a point that, despite hitting its 3nm production goals, the foundry is now scrambling to add even more capacity just to keep up with the market. TSMC projects the ongoing shortages will last beyond 2027.

Elon Musk has settled a years-long legal battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for $1.5 million over his delayed disclosure of a major stake in Twitter.

The agreement, reached without Musk admitting fault, marks the end of a contentious dispute that began in 2022 when the SEC alleged he waited 11 days to reveal his purchase of a 5% stake in the company. The regulator claimed the delay was intentional and that Musk would not have had to pay approximately $150 million in potential shareholder losses.

The settlement, approved by a court, resolves one of Musk's most high-profile legal entanglements. The SEC argued that Musk used "gamesmanship" to stall its investigation, while Musk previously accused then-SEC chair Gary Gensler of "harassment." This case is the largest of its kind in SEC history, with the fine reflecting the severity of the alleged violations, according to a Reuters report.

The demand for DRAM and NAND from AI has expanded exponentially, and the memory supply crunch we're currently facing is unlikely to ease anytime soon. At least that's what Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of memory and storage maker Micron, believes, and in his view, the demand isn't going away and will only get stronger.

In an interview with CNBC, Mehrotra described the current phase of AI-driven demand as just the "first innings," suggesting that we are still early in the cycle. As AI companies scale up compute, faster and higher-density memory will become essential to keep up with growing workloads.

He added that as inference and token demand rise, so will the need for both higher-capacity and higher-performance memory. AI GPUs rely heavily on HBM, while AI CPUs use DRAM, and both are currently in short supply. Mehrotra emphasized that the issue goes beyond pricing, as memory production cannot be ramped up quickly enough to meet demand.