AI Hardware & Infrastructure

Xylem raised its 2026 profit forecast after beating Q2 estimates, citing surging demand for water-treatment equipment from AI data centers. Shares rose over 2%.

A sharp sell-off in AI stocks hit South Korea's market, with Samsung and SK Hynix dropping over 10% on fears of Chinese competition and unsustainable spending.

Core Scientific has signed a landmark deal to supply AMD with up to 2.5 gigawatts of data center capacity for AI systems, accelerating its shift from crypto mining to AI infrastructure.

Nasdaq futures fell sharply on Tuesday as AI chip stocks tumbled, driven by concerns over corporate spending and rising Chinese competition, ahead of earnings from Amazon, Meta, Apple, and Microsoft.

Nvidia is in advanced talks to provide $250 billion in financing guarantees for OpenAI's colossal Ohio data center, a move that would reshape AI infrastructure ownership and lock in chip demand.

Samsung Electronics and Broadcom have signed a landmark $200 billion semiconductor partnership, combining custom AI chip design with advanced manufacturing to challenge TSMC's foundry dominance.

Pakistan inaugurates Sky47, its first AI-ready Tier III/IV data center, marking a step toward digital sovereignty with an 8.5MW initial capacity and plans for national rollout.

Intel's stock jumped 6% after strong forecasts showed AI demand is driving its long-awaited recovery, with data center CPU orders surging and foundry ambitions gaining ground.

CXMT’s ejection of Huawei-linked engineers from its cleanrooms exposes a power shift in China’s semiconductor industry, where memory makers now dictate terms amid an AI boom.

AMD is set to launch its Helios server rack and Venice CPU in San Francisco, backed by a massive Anthropic deal and a multiyear OpenAI pact, as it challenges Nvidia’s AI dominance.

A sharp divergence in European semiconductor stocks reveals how AI photonics demand is reshaping the sector, with Soitec surging while STMicro and Besi stumble on cyclical headwinds and elevated expectations.

The Guardian invites UK residents living near AI data centres to share their experiences and concerns. This initiative aims to document local impacts like noise, pollution, and the heat island effect, informing the broader debate on data centre expansion.

Global air conditioning is on track to add 1,400 TWh of electricity demand by 2035, dwarfing the 700 TWh expected from AI data centers. Unlike AI's 24/7 power needs, cooling peaks align with cheap solar, offering a cleaner path for developing nations.

British semiconductor wafer maker IQE has upgraded its annual sales growth projection, buoyed by robust demand for its compound semiconductor products used in AI infrastructure and data centres. The upgrade reflects the expanding AI supply chain beyond GPU makers.

South Korea's plan to build a $540 billion semiconductor hub in the southwest faces fierce local opposition over power and water demands. Residents reject new reactors and dam expansions, echoing delays at Yongin clusters. The government aims for 2030, but infrastructure bottlenecks and public consent remain unresolved.

Enterprise AI prompts expand into massive token workloads, creating a hidden KV cache storage tax that bottlenecks inference. High-capacity SSDs are critical to avoid slowdowns and scale AI effectively.

French automotive supplier Valeo partners with defense tech firm Harmattan AI to manufacture electric drone motors in France. The motors eliminate heavy rare earths, reducing supply chain risks and advancing sovereign defense capabilities.

Google is developing a new server chip, 'Frozen v2,' that embeds its Gemini AI model directly into hardware to tackle a severe computing capacity crunch. The move promises faster, more efficient AI serving but raises concerns about flexibility as models rapidly evolve.

Samsung SDS launched Korea’s first deep learning cloud service on a domestic chip, aiming to slash inference costs and bolster data sovereignty. The move signals a global shift toward alternative AI silicon.

Meta Platforms is reportedly in advanced talks to lease $10 billion worth of computing power to AI firm Anthropic, signaling a major shift in how frontier AI models access critical infrastructure. The deal could redefine cloud competition and give Anthropic independence from investor-controlled clouds.

Microsoft and 3M have partnered to deploy EBO optical technology in Azure data centers, promising faster, more resilient AI infrastructure. 3M will also use Microsoft AI to transform its enterprise operations.