Year: 2026
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Bolt Confounds Skeptics, Tapes Out Zeus GPU
Startup GPU maker Bolt Graphics is on track to deliver development kits to lead customers by the end of the year, having taped out its first chip last month. By the end of 2027, the company expects to begin shipping PCIe cards based on a production version of its Zeus GPU. This schedule represents a…
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Matrix Multiplication Comes to x86
The x86 Ecosystem Advisory Group (EAG, better known as AMD and Intel) has defined the AI Compute Extensions (ACE) for the x86 architecture. The group frames these instructions as a palette, a term Intel coined for a specific configuration of its Advanced Matrix Extensions (AMX). Those AI-focused instructions and associated hardware first appeared in Sapphire…
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Blowout AMD & Intel Earnings, Google TPUv8, Astera Scorpio-X, RISC-V New, and More: It’s BWR Ep 13.
This episode features an in-depth discussion on the latest developments in data center chips, AI accelerators, interconnect technologies, and RISC-V ecosystem growth. Experts analyze AMD and Intel earnings, Google TPU v8, Astera Labs’s Scorpio-X, and emerging startups, providing insights into market trends, technological innovations, and strategic shifts.
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Google TPUv8: Early Specs and Performance Gains
Google has unveiled its eighth-generation AI accelerator, revealing a design similar to past designs but with greater per-socket throughput, faster networking, and new collective engines. Per-chip gains should improve cost per token and performance, particularly as large language models grow well beyond 1 trillion parameters. As with some previous generations, the new accelerator (NPU) has…
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Hynix Infusion Helps Semidynamics Diversify into AI Chips
Memory giant SK Hynix has invested in RISC-V supplier Semidynamics, helping the CPU designer expand into chips, boards, and systems for data-center AI inference. The Spanish startup joins Arm and fellow European RISC-V supplier Codasip in moving beyond IP. Semidynamics Evolves from RISC-V IP to AI Systems Semidynamics began as a design services company. It…
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Codasip Pivots Away from RISC-V IP
Following a year-long process to sell the company, RISC-V licensor Codasip restructured this month. On Semiconductor (Onsemi) has acquired the CPU design (IP) operation, and we expect it to use the Codasip cores in its chips and those of its ASIC customers. Codasip continues, licensing its CPU-customization tool to Onsemi, licensing its Cheri security technology,…