Hydra Host has raised $100m to build the plumbing of the AI boom, and one of its new backers is the company whose chips it is trying to turn into a commodity: Nvidia. The Series A was led by Kindred Ventures, with Nvidia joining alongside ARK Invest, Comcast Ventures, Magnetar, PEAK6 and others. The Information, […]
IMEC, the Belgian semiconductor research institute that partners with more than 600 chip industry players, has expanded its 300mm RF silicon interposer platform with three new manufacturing capabilities that bring 6G chip production closer to commercial viability. The platform achieves record-low signal loss at frequencies up to 325GHz, covering the millimetre-wave and sub-terahertz bands that […]
Sarvam, the Bengaluru company building India’s sovereign AI stack, has become the country’s newest AI unicorn. It has raised $234m in the first close of a $300m Series B, at a $1.5bn valuation, led by IT services giant HCLTech, which is putting in $150m. The round is a sovereign-AI bet with a strategic spine. HCLTech […]
The natural diamond industry has a problem it cannot see with the naked eye. Lab-grown stones are now virtually identical to mined gems, they cost a fraction of the price, and the broader tech landscape of 2025 has only accelerated their rise. De Beers Group, the world’s largest diamond producer and distributor, is betting that blockchain can […]
Bangalore-based Avataar AI has launched Varya, one of India’s first homegrown video AI models. It generates video at roughly $0.005 per second, or 0.48 rupees. Founder Sravanth Aluru, a former Deutsche Bank investment banker and Microsoft and IIT Mumbai alum, says that is 27 times cheaper than comparable open-source video models. The cost advantage comes […]
China has launched its first dedicated photonic computing laboratory in Shanghai, signalling that Beijing sees light-based chips as a strategic route around Washington’s tightening grip on conventional semiconductor exports. The Shanghai Key Laboratory of Integrated Photonic Computing Chips and Systems opened on 11 June at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the state-backed Jiefang Daily reported. The lab is […]
Infineon Technologies is preparing to open its largest single investment, a €5 billion semiconductor factory on its Dresden campus, on 2 July. The Smart Power Fab, which received approximately €1 billion in EU Chips Act subsidies, will produce power semiconductors used in AI data centres, electric vehicles, and renewable energy systems. The opening arrives three […]
Google DeepMind built an AI that can predict football plays before they happen. TacticAI uses geometric deep learning to model player movement, forecast dynamics up to eight seconds into the future, and recommend tactical adjustments, all from broadcast-style visual data. Brazilian club Palmeiras is the first to use it for live open-play analysis. The system […]
Prometheus, the AI startup co-led by Jeff Bezos, has raised $12 billion in a funding round that values the company at $41 billion. Investors include JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, DST Global, and Arch Venture Partners, alongside Bezos himself. Total funding now exceeds $18 billion. The company is building what Bezos calls an “artificial general […]
