Last Week in Materials, Microprocessors, and Robotics
News from the week of 28 April
Welcome back. With the week’s crowd favorite AI post done, we’re onto materials, microprocessors, and robotics. Enjoy!
From Good Tech / Bad Tech
Global Microchip Scramble
TSMC's Arizona Gamble: TSMC is "tripling down" in Arizona, starting a third US plant even as tariff threats loom. This massive foreign investment is touted for domestic job creation and supply chain security
Singapore Seeks US Chip Supply: Singapore is trying to secure its access to US chips while also angling for pharmaceutical tariff concessions. It's a delicate dance of global trade, where access to critical technology is a bargaining chip, potentially leaving smaller nations and their citizens' needs (like affordable medicine) hanging in the balance.
Intel's "Tweaks" for the Masses and AI Overlords: Intel is adapting its 18A process, with versions for "mass-market chips" and, predictably, "big AI brains." While claiming to serve broader applications, the immense focus on AI-specific hardware raises questions about resource allocation.
EU Chips Act: A Flailing Attempt? A damning report suggests the EU Chips Act is heading for failure, unlikely to meet its ambitious 20% global market share target. With fragmented funding and slow progress, critics say it's time for a "Chips Act 2.0."
China's Silicon-Free Dreams: Reports on China's '2D' bismuth-based chip research suggest a potential path to "silicon-free chips," possibly sidestepping current manufacturing dependencies and US restrictions.
GPU Hoarding and Reselling: In a sign of the times, Tencent and Alibaba are reportedly buying Nvidia GPUs from ByteDance's stockpile. This secondary market for restricted high-end chips underscores the desperation for AI compute power.
TSMC's Future Vision: The TSMC Tech Symposium 2025 laid out a roadmap for ever-smaller, more powerful chips (N2, A16, A14). The relentless march towards finer geometries is a technical marvel, but the immense R&D and manufacturing costs inevitably get passed on.
Advanced Materials and Manufacturing
Additive Manufacturing Scales Up: ATI's new large-format additive manufacturing facility and DEEP Manufacturing's six-arm HexBot system promise to revolutionize how large metal components are made, particularly for aerospace, defense, and subsea applications. While "less waste" is a selling point, the energy intensity and reliance on specialized materials for these high-tech sectors warrant scrutiny.
Designed to Crumple (for Space): NASA JPL is 3D printing crushable structures for high-speed impacts, aiming to protect Mars samples. Interesting idea, but I wonder what applications we will have for it with all the cuts to NASA coming through.
Next-Gen Data Storage: A new material might enable "Predator-style" thermal vision specs without bulky cooling.
Thermal Vision: A layered semiconductor shows potential for future data storage, promising more data with less energy.
Nanoparticle Secret: Unveiling the 3D crystal secrets of defective nanoparticles could advance materials research.
Spacecraft Stumble: In other space news, there has been a problem with the futuristic thrusters on NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is a reality check on the complexities and potential failures in high-tech endeavors.
Future Microprocessors
Connecting Chiplets: Research into inter-chiplet interconnect topologies on organic and glass substrates aims to improve how these tiny components talk to each other. This enables more powerful and specialized processors.
Cooling the Beast: Tiny "Fans-on-Chips" are proposed to cool big data centers. While an innovative approach to a critical problem, it also underscores the immense heat generated by modern data processing and AI.
Keeping Up With Research: The latest Chip Industry Technical Paper Roundup highlights ongoing academic and industry research.
Robotics and Defense
Defense Tech Consolidation: AeroVironment's $4.1B acquisition of BlueHalo signals further consolidation in the defense technology sector. Such mega-deals often prioritize shareholder value and military contracts over broader applications that could benefit civilian life.
Robots for the Extreme: This video showcases robots designed for extreme environments. While these machines can perform tasks too dangerous for humans, their development is often driven by industrial or military needs, with less focus on everyday assistance or accessibility.
Full Source List
New ATI Facility Sets Benchmark for Large-Format Additive Manufacturing;
Tencent, Alibaba buy Nvidia GPUs from ByteDance stockpile, report says
Singapore negotiates US chips access, seeks pharmaceutical tariff concessions
Crushing it: 3D printing crushable structures for high-speed impact at NASA JPL
Inter-Chiplet Interconnect Topologies On Organic And Glass Substrates
Intel tweaks its 18A process with variants tailored to mass-market chips, big AI brains
TSMC triples down on Arizona, begins construction on third US plant as tariffs loom
Flex PCBs Explained: From Materials to Applications Technical eBook
China's '2D' chip could soon be used to make silicon-free chips
DEEP Manufacturing introduces large-format, six-arm metal additive manufacturing system, HexBot
Layered semiconductor shows potential for next-gen data storage
There’s a problem with the futuristic thrusters on NASA’s Psyche spacecraft
New material may help us build Predator-style thermal vision specs