chipmakers

Nvidia has added $150 billion to its stock buyback program, described as the largest share repurchase authorization ever announced by a company. The move comes as the chipmaker continues to ride enormous profits from demand for its artificial intelligence processors, giving it vast cash reserves to return to shareholders.

Samsung has committed $1 billion to an AI infrastructure company backed by Nvidia and private equity firm KKR. The investment adds Samsung to the growing list of major tech and finance players funding the data centers and computing capacity needed to power artificial intelligence, underscoring how aggressively chipmakers and investors are pouring capital into AI infrastructure.

AMD has agreed to acquire World Labs, the AI startup founded by Fei-Fei Li, in a deal valued at $8.2 billion, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The acquisition would give the chipmaker access to World Labs' spatial intelligence technology and its team, deepening AMD's push into artificial intelligence beyond processors and accelerators.

Nvidia has unveiled a new security platform designed to prevent AI agents from acting unpredictably or beyond their intended instructions. The announcement, reported by wire outlets, addresses growing concerns that autonomous AI systems operating in businesses could take unintended actions. It signals Nvidia's push to supply not just AI chips but also safety and control tools for enterprises deploying agentic AI.

Nvidia has authorised a stock buyback worth $150 billion, one of the largest in corporate history. The move returns cash to shareholders by reducing the number of shares outstanding, which can support earnings per share and signal management's confidence in the chipmaker's future. Analysts are weighing what the repurchase means for existing shareholders and whether potential investors should read it as a sign the stock remains undervalued.

AMD has committed $8.2 billion in a deal to bring in the researcher widely known as the 'Godmother of AI', according to finance coverage circulating widely. The move is being read as a major bet on artificial intelligence talent and technology as chipmakers race to secure leading AI expertise.

An ASML executive has said the Dutch chipmaking equipment giant currently sells no machines within Europe, despite being one of the continent's most valuable technology companies. The remark highlights Europe's limited domestic chip manufacturing base, with ASML's lithography systems going overwhelmingly to customers in Asia and the United States.

Nvidia has launched an open-source platform designed to stop AI agents from hacking other websites. The tooling is intended to keep autonomous AI systems from probing or breaking into sites while carrying out tasks on behalf of users. Discussion centers on how far agent safety measures can go in preventing misuse of increasingly capable AI software.

A former Pentagon official said the United States needs to control China's access to advanced semiconductor technology, in comments carried by CNBC. The remarks feed into an ongoing debate in Washington over export controls on cutting-edge chips and chipmaking equipment, which US officials view as critical to maintaining a military and technological edge over Beijing.

Nvidia has expanded its stock buyback authorization by $150 billion, described as the largest addition ever to a share repurchase program. The announcement signals the chipmaker's confidence in its continued cash generation from the AI boom, and adds to the tens of billions it has already spent repurchasing its own shares.

Samsung has pledged $1.0 billion to an AI infrastructure company backed by private equity firm KKR and chipmaker Nvidia, according to The Wall Street Journal. The investment underscores Samsung's push to expand its footprint in artificial intelligence infrastructure amid intense global competition for AI capacity, hardware and data-center resources. Details on the target company's valuation and Samsung's strategic plans for the stake were not disclosed in the report.

Vanguard International Semiconductor, a smaller affiliate of TSMC, is considering building a second chipmaking plant in Singapore through its joint venture to meet growing demand for chips. The move would expand Singapore's role in global semiconductor supply at a time when manufacturers are investing heavily in new capacity worldwide.

Nvidia is approaching insurance companies to help spread the financial risk of its massive artificial intelligence infrastructure build-out, according to the Financial Times. The chipmaker has committed billions of dollars to data centres and AI deals, and is exploring ways to offload some of the exposure tied to those increasingly large commitments.

AMD has agreed to acquire World Labs, the spatial intelligence startup founded by AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li, in a deal valued at $8.2 billion. The move marks one of the largest acquisitions in the AI startup space, giving the chipmaker a foothold in world-model technology. Observers are weighing what the deal means for competition with Nvidia and the growing consolidation of top AI firms.

Synopsys has introduced AgentEngineer, an Autopilot-style platform that uses AI agents to carry out chip development tasks autonomously. The company says the technology is expected to reach general availability by the end of 2026, marking a push to automate parts of the traditionally labor-intensive chip design process.

Chipmaker Cerebras has agreed to supply 100 megawatts worth of AI chips to Gimlet Labs, a cloud startup building AI infrastructure. The deal marks a major scale-up for Cerebras, whose wafer-scale chips compete with GPUs for AI workloads, and signals growing demand among emerging cloud providers for alternative AI computing hardware.

Chipmaker AMD is reportedly acquiring World Labs, the spatial intelligence startup founded by AI researcher Fei-Fei Li, in a deal valued at $8.2 billion. The move would give AMD a major foothold in world-model AI technology as competition over the next generation of artificial intelligence intensifies. The acquisition, reported by TechCrunch, is drawing attention as one of the largest AI startup deals to date.

China's artificial intelligence industry is entering a new phase, DigiTimes Asia reports, shifting from trying to catch up with US rivals to monetizing AI at scale. The report links the trend to domestic semiconductor efforts, including CXMT's DRAM production and advanced hardware packaging, as Chinese firms build homegrown supply chains to support commercial AI deployment and reduce reliance on foreign chip technology.

AMD has reached an $8.2 billion deal to acquire World Labs, the spatial intelligence startup founded by Stanford's Fei-Fei Li, often called the 'godmother of AI' for her pioneering work in computer vision. The move signals AMD's push to compete more directly in artificial intelligence beyond chips, and tech and business media are closely watching what Li's team brings to the company.

Researchers are applying semiconductor chipmaking techniques to build improved electric vehicle batteries, according to a report by SciTechDaily. The approach adapts lithography-based manufacturing methods from the chip industry to battery production, potentially improving battery performance. Details on which institutions are involved and the specific results have not been widely reported, but the cross-industry idea is drawing attention in technology and energy circles.

China is reportedly broadening its approach to extreme ultraviolet lithography by investigating alternative EUV light sources, rather than solely trying to replicate the ASML platform. According to DigiTimes Asia, the strategy suggests Chinese researchers are pursuing different technical routes to overcome export restrictions on advanced chipmaking equipment.

Nvidia could gain permission to sell more of its chips in China, with reports pointing to CEO Jensen Huang's growing influence over President Trump shaping US export policy. The potential shift would ease restrictions on the chipmaker's access to the Chinese market, a major revenue source, and is drawing attention given the strategic importance of semiconductors in US-China trade tensions.

ASML, Europe's most valuable chip technology company, reportedly has no customers on its home continent, with an executive stating plainly that the company is not selling anything there. The Dutch firm dominates the global market for advanced lithography machines used to make cutting-edge chips, but its buyers are concentrated in Asia and the United States, leaving Europe essentially absent from advanced chipmaking.

New coverage examines how artificial intelligence is reshaping the semiconductor industry, from chip design to rising demand for the specialized materials needed to manufacture AI processors. The reporting highlights the broader transformation of the sector as suppliers adapt to the surge in AI hardware requirements, with investors watching closely for which chipmakers and materials producers stand to benefit most from the shift.

Chipmaker AMD has agreed to acquire the AI start-up founded by Stanford professor Fei-Fei Li in a deal worth about $8 billion, according to the Financial Times. The move signals AMD's push to strengthen its position in artificial intelligence against rivals like Nvidia, and the news is drawing attention across tech and business circles.

Nvidia is raising its dividend for 2026, a move highlighted by Morningstar as drawing fresh attention to dividend growth stocks. While the chipmaker's payout remains small relative to its size and growth focus, the increase underscores how even tech giants are leaning into shareholder returns, prompting investors to revisit dividend growth strategies more broadly.