Intel Cancels Falcon Shores, Amazon's $16B Data Center Investment, and more US AI Chip Export Restrictions

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In this edition of Silicon Brief, we're diving into the latest developments in AI chips and data centers. Intel has made headlines by canceling its Falcon Shores AI Chip development, a move that has surprised many in the industry. Meanwhile, ASML is seeing a rise in orders for AI equipment, indicating a growing demand for advanced technology in this sector.

On the data center front, Amazon is making a significant investment of $16 billion in Mississippi data centers, while Vantage Data Centers has secured $13 billion for its expansion plans. These investments highlight the increasing importance of data centers in supporting AI advancements and the digital economy.

Chevron Corp., GE Vernova, and Engine No. 1 are collaborating to build natural gas-fired power plants to meet AI data centers' energy needs, with a joint venture aiming to provide 4 gigawatts of electricity by 2027. Meanwhile, Meta has signed deals with Zelestra and Engie for 795 megawatts of solar power in Texas to expand its data center infrastructure.

Prometheus Hyperscale has named John Gross as Chief Technology Officer to lead the development of sustainable, liquid-cooled data centers. RaiderChip has launched the GenAI NPU, a hardware accelerator aimed at improving generative AI inference at the edge, offering enhanced token generation speed and memory efficiency.

The US has revised its export rules, removing Switzerland from the list of countries allowed unrestricted access to AI chips, impacting Swiss imports for research and industry.
The U.S. Commerce Department is examining if DeepSeek used restricted U.S. AI chips in its AI assistant app, amid concerns over chip smuggling to China.
The Trump administration is contemplating new restrictions on Nvidia's H20 chip sales to China, amid concerns over China's AI advancements.

AVAIO Digital has partnered with the Industrial Development Authority of Prince Edward County to develop a 300 MW data center campus in Farmville, Virginia, costing $5 billion. iPronics has raised €20M in Series A funding to advance its Optical Networking Engine technology, which aims to enhance communication in AI data centres. Blackstone Group, Tillman Global Holdings, and Ursa Clusters have agreed to invest in data centers in Telangana, totaling nearly Rs 25,000 crores, to support AI applications.

Nano Labs Ltd has acquired a 5% stake in Hangzhou Weiheng Technology Co., Ltd., a company specializing in AI ASIC chips, to boost AI technology adoption. SoftBank Corp. and Quantinuum have announced a partnership to develop quantum computing solutions that integrate CPUs, GPUs, and QPUs, aiming to enhance computing capabilities in fields like healthcare and finance. OpenLight has partnered with DoplayDo to enhance the silicon photonics ecosystem by supporting the PH18DA process in GDSFactory+, aiming to streamline the design and manufacturing of photonic chips for AI and other applications.