Chips & Supply · United States

AMD plans to substantially increase supply in 2027, CEO says

Credited to The Economic Times · economictimes.indiatimes.com · 2d ago

Photograph · The Economic Times

AMD, Nvidia's closest rival in AI graphics processors, has been rapidly expanding its AI chip business, with its market value recently topping $1 trillion amid an AI-driven rally.

AMD plans to substantially increase chip supply in 2027 as the US chipmaker races to meet booming demand from artificial intelligence, CEO Lisa Su said on Tuesday.

"We've been able to increase our supply as we've gone through 2026, and we're going to substantially increase our supply in 2027," Su told reporters in Taipei.

Su said one purpose of her Taiwan visit was to ensure AMD's supply chain could ramp up CPU and GPU production to meet growing AI demand. She has met Foxconn and is due to meet TSMC as part of discussions with local partners.

AMD is also working closely with memory chipmakers to secure sufficient supplies, Su said, ahead of a visit to South Korea later on Tuesday. South Korea is home to memory giants Samsung and SK Hynix.

Asked whether TSMC had discussed a potential investment in Texas with AMD, Su did not answer directly, but said the company would need additional advanced wafer capacity to meet strong demand.

"There's very, very high demand for the next several years. We can see very high demand, and so we need more advanced wafer capacity," Su said, adding that AMD was now planning three to five years ahead.

Reuters reported last week that TSMC is evaluating potential investment in Texas.

Su also said AI could be "incredibly good for the world" but warned companies must remain mindful of risks and work together on AI safety.

She said coordination among leading technology companies would be important as AI and superintelligence advance, describing last week's AI summit between US President Donald Trump and technology executives as an important step.

Companies attending the meeting agreed to work with "independent auditors" to assess whether AI systems are operating as intended by their designers, according to a copy of the agreement posted by Trump on his social media platform.

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Chips & SupplyUnited States

NEXTIN Wins 25.44 Billion Won Wafer Inspection Equipment Order From SK hynix

Credited to TheElec · thelec.net1d ago

Useful

Semiconductor inspection and metrology equipment maker NEXTIN has won an order worth 25.44 billion won for equipment.

On Oct. 6, NEXTIN announced that it had signed a contract with SK hynix to supply a Wafer Inspection System. The contract is worth about 25.44 billion won, equivalent to 38.02% of NEXTIN's sales of 66.9 billion won last year.

The equipment to be supplied is understood to be from the AEGIS series. AEGIS is a front-end semiconductor inspection system based on 2D imaging technology that inspects the wafer during the process in which fine circuits are formed.

The system shines light onto the wafer surface and captures circuit images using multiple complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) sensors. It detects nanoscale defects and particles in fine circuits by comparing the images with normal pattern images.

The equipment incorporates both bright-field (BF), which uses reflected light, and dark-field (DF), which uses scattered light, optical systems. Inspection modes can be selected according to process characteristics. The system offers greater price competitiveness and process efficiency than competing equipment, which separates BF and DF systems into different machines.

The equipment will be supplied in South Korea. It is estimated to be intended for Y1, the first fab at SK hynix's new semiconductor industrial complex in Yongin.

The contract ends on Nov. 25 next year. NEXTIN will complete equipment manufacturing, delivery, installation and setup before the contract expiration date.

There is no separate advance payment. The company did not disclose the payment terms for the equipment. Semiconductor manufacturers typically make payments after equipment setup is completed.

Original · TheElec

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Chips & Supply · United States

AI computing startup Lambda to raise $4B ahead of planned IPO

Credited to TechCrunch · techcrunch.com · 1d ago

Cloud provider Lambda is raising up to $4 billion at a $14.5 billion pre-money valuation, marking what could be its last private round before a planned 2027 IPO, according to The Wall Street Journal. Coatue Management and Blackstone are leading the round.

A letter to investors reviewed by the Journal shows Lambda’s backlog grew from $15 billion in June to $50 billion in September. While that might look like a hearty increase in demand, much of that increase appears to be driven by a $35 billion commitment from one company: Anthropic, which signed a deal with Lambda in late August.

That means Lambda’s valuation, which has climbed significantly since its 2025 funding round, could be leaning heavily on Anthropic’s ability to keep paying. Still, with reliable GPU capacity so scarce, investors are clearly still willing to bet on companies that provide it, especially ones with large contracts with a major AI lab.

For neoclouds like Lambda, demand isn’t so much the problem as is the cost of meeting it. Data center buildouts are largely funded by debt — of which Lambda just raised an additional $1 billion last week — and lenders are getting choosier about who they offer cash to and under what circumstances. Lambda’s decision to raise more now not only sets the tone for its IPO pricing, but also gives it access to more capital before the scrutiny of public markets arrives.

If and when Lambda does IPO — the company was reportedly meant to debut this year, but has pushed that back amid market uncertainty — it will join other Nvidia-backed neoclouds, like CoreWeave and Nebius, that now depend on the health of their stock to fund their data center buildouts. British neocloud Nscale filed for an IPO last month and is expected to begin trading soon.

Lambda, Coatue, and Blackstone did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

​NEXTIN Wins 25.44 Billion Won Wafer Inspection Equipment Order From SK hynix

NEXTIN Wins 25.44 Billion Won Wafer Inspection Equipment Order From SK hynix