TSMC's Greener AI Chips, Huawei's 910C, and Google's Gemma 3 QAT - Silicon Brief #15

Hi there, In this edition of Silicon Brief, we're diving into the latest developments in AI chips and data centers. TSMC has introduced faster and more environmentally friendly AI chips, while Huawei is preparing to ship its new AI chip, the 910C, despite restrictions from Nvidia. Meanwhile, Google has released its Gemma 3 QAT models for consumer GPUs, and Baidu has unveiled its Kunlun Chip Cluster designed for AI model training. On the data center front, Microsoft and Du are collaborating on a $544 million data center in the UAE, and iGenius has opened the Colosseum AI Data Center with partners Vertiv and NVIDIA. Additionally, Amazon and Nvidia are experiencing strong demand for AI data centers, while Adani Group plans to invest $10 billion in Indian data centers. Stay tuned as we explore these stories and more in the world of AI and data infrastructure.

Ocient has secured $42.1 million in Series B funding to advance energy-efficient solutions for operational data and AI workloads, targeting data-center power costs. A report by BloombergNEF predicts that AI will double data centre energy demand by 2050, with centres accounting for nearly 9% of global energy demand. AI Green Bytes is set to open an immersion-cooled data center in Paris by June 2025, utilizing Oleon's biodegradable cooling fluid to reduce energy consumption. A study from Georgetown, Epoch AI, and Rand forecasts AI data center costs could hit $200 billion by 2030, stressing potential energy and environmental challenges.

Airedale by Modine has developed a Cooling AI Control System to optimize cooling in high-density data centers, potentially reducing energy consumption by up to 40% through AI-enhanced technology. On April 24, 2025, Dover reported that its first-quarter profits exceeded estimates, driven by a 27.4% increase in sales from its data center cooling components segment. Despite this, the company adjusted its full-year profit forecast downward. AWS has introduced the Model Context Protocol (MCP) Servers to enhance AI-assisted coding tools, aiming to improve development speed, code quality, and security by integrating with AWS services. Microsoft plans to implement LG Electronics' cooling solutions in several upcoming AI data centers to enhance thermal management and efficiency.

Intel has informed its Chinese clients that certain advanced AI chips will now need an export license due to new US restrictions. This follows Nvidia's announcement of a financial charge related to similar export limitations.
Austin City Council is considering a resolution to enhance AI oversight, focusing on workforce protections, transparency, and environmental impacts of data centers.
TSMC has refuted claims of sending advanced AI processors to Huawei, affirming adherence to US restrictions since 2020.

Microsoft and Du are collaborating to build a $544.54 million hyperscale data center in the UAE to enhance the region's digital infrastructure. iGenius has opened the Colosseum AI data center in Italy with Vertiv and NVIDIA, featuring a large NVIDIA DGX AI supercomputer. Stonepeak launched Montera Infrastructure to manage hyperscale data centers in North America with $1.5 billion in equity backing.

Ansys and TSMC have enhanced their collaboration to optimize semiconductor solutions for AI and high-performance computing. Aion Silicon has rebranded to focus on custom chip solutions for AI, automotive, and 5G applications. Vecow launched the ECX-4000 series with Intel Core Ultra 200S processors for AI applications in smart cities and in-vehicle computing.