Nvidia Unveils Rubin Chip, Meta Secures Nuclear Power, and AMD Launches Ryzen AI 400

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Welcome to the latest edition of Silicon Brief, where we delve into the dynamic world of AI chips and data centers. This week, Bitfarms has made headlines by selling its Paraguay mining site to fund its expansion into AI infrastructure in North America. Meanwhile, the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority has embarked on constructing the world's largest government data center in Riyadh, a project that underscores the growing global emphasis on data capacity.

In other news, Space Forge has achieved a significant milestone in semiconductor manufacturing by generating plasma on its ForgeStar-1 satellite, showcasing the potential of in-space production. Additionally, Shanghai Jiao Tong University has unveiled the LightGen optical chip, promising advancements in generative AI model efficiency. These developments highlight the rapid advancements and investments in AI technology and infrastructure across the globe.

Bitfarms Sells Paraguay Mining Site for $30M

Bitfarms has sold its 70 MW Bitcoin mining site in Paraguay for up to $30 million. This move allows the company to focus on expanding its AI and HPC data centers in North America. Read more

Saudi Authority Begins Construction on World's Largest Government Data Centre

The Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority has started building the Hexagon Data Centre in Riyadh, set to be the largest government data centre by capacity globally, aiming to support digital transformation and data sovereignty. Read more

Space Forge Achieves Plasma Generation on ForgeStar-1

Space Forge has successfully generated plasma on its ForgeStar-1 satellite, marking a milestone in in-space semiconductor manufacturing. This achievement demonstrates the potential for gas-phase crystal growth in low Earth orbit, paving the way for high-performance semiconductor materials production. Read more

Big Tech Blocks California Data Center Regulation

Big Tech has successfully blocked California's proposed regulation on data center energy usage, resulting in a law that only requires a study by 2027. The original proposal aimed to create a separate electricity rate for data centers to protect consumers from rising costs. Read more

MICROIP Validates NFC IC with High Functional Yield

MICROIP has successfully validated its NFC transceiver IC, achieving a 99% functional yield. This milestone highlights the company's proficiency in ASIC design and its capability to integrate AI applications effectively. Read more

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Develops LightGen Optical Chip

Shanghai Jiao Tong University has announced the creation of LightGen, an all-optical computing chip aimed at enhancing the efficiency of generative AI models. This innovation promises improvements in processing speed and energy efficiency over traditional electronic neural networks. Read more

Biren Technology Lists on Hong Kong Stock Exchange

Biren Technology, a GPU developer, has become the first GPU stock on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, listing on January 2, 2026. The company aims to boost China's AI industry with its innovative solutions. Read more

Applied Digital Expands AI Infrastructure and Forms ChronoScale

Applied Digital Corporation is expanding its AI infrastructure with a loan from Macquarie Group for new data centers. The company will also spin off its cloud unit to form ChronoScale through a merger with EKSO Bionics Holdings Inc., expected to complete in early 2026. Read more

Azimuth AI Secures Funding for AI Semiconductor Development

Azimuth AI has announced a new funding round led by Jetha Global to support the development of custom edge-AI System-on-Chips for smart utilities and industrial infrastructure. Read more

Black Sesame's AI Chip Approved for Global Sales

Chinese chipmaker Black Sesame Technologies has received US approval for its Huashan A2000 chip, allowing for its international distribution. Read more

Johnson Controls Invests $60M in Singapore AI Hubs

Johnson Controls plans to invest up to $60 million over five years to expand its Innovation Center in Singapore, focusing on sustainable data center solutions amid growing AI and energy demands in Asia Pacific. Read more

DeepSeek Unveils AI Framework to Tackle Nvidia Chip Limits

DeepSeek, a startup from Hangzhou, China, has launched an open-source AI training framework named 'Manifold-Constrained Hyper-Connections' aimed at improving scalability and reducing AI training demands. Read more

Nvidia Unveils Rubin Chip Architecture at CES 2026

At the Consumer Electronics Show, Nvidia announced the Rubin computing architecture, featuring six chips and a new Vera CPU, aimed at boosting AI hardware performance. Read more

AMD Launches Ryzen AI 400 Series at CES 2026

AMD has introduced its new Ryzen AI 400 Series processors at CES 2026, offering enhanced multitasking and content creation capabilities. The series includes 12 CPU cores and 24 threads, and AMD also revealed the Ryzen 7 9850X3D gaming processor. Read more

Astrikos AI Receives Investment from Gorilla Technology

Astrikos AI, based in Bengaluru, India, has announced a strategic investment from Gorilla Technology Group Inc. to support its global expansion and development of its Smart Interop Analytical Platform. Read more

NVIDIA Enhances AI Factory with BlueField

NVIDIA has upgraded its Enterprise AI Factory by incorporating BlueField cybersecurity and infrastructure acceleration. This includes collaborations with major software platforms to boost AI security and efficiency in data centers. Read more

Tenstorrent and Razer Unveil AI Accelerator at CES 2026

At CES 2026, Tenstorrent and Razer announced a new compact AI accelerator designed for edge development, enhancing AI computing capabilities with Thunderbolt™ connectivity. Read more

Supermicro Expands AI Infrastructure with NVIDIA Solutions

Supermicro has announced an expansion in its production and liquid cooling capabilities in collaboration with NVIDIA. This move aims to support the new NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 and HGX Rubin NVL8 models for enhanced AI infrastructure. Read more

Intel to Unveil Panther Lake AI Chip at CES 2026

At CES 2026, Intel will introduce its Panther Lake AI chip, the first product using its new 18A manufacturing process, promising significant performance improvements. Read more

xAI Secures $20 Billion in Series E Funding

xAI, founded by Elon Musk, has raised $20 billion in a Series E funding round with strategic investors including Nvidia and Cisco. The funds will support data center expansion and improvements to the Grok chatbot. Read more

AMD Unveils MI440X Chip for Data Centers

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. announced the MI440X chip for smaller corporate data centers at CES 2026, aiming to challenge NVIDIA Corp. in the AI hardware market. Read more

AMD Unveils MI440X GPU and Future AI Systems at CES 2026

At CES 2026, AMD announced the MI440X GPU for enterprise AI deployments and previewed the 'Helios' platform for high-performance AI systems. Read more

TakeMe2Space Raises $5M for Space Data Centre

Hyderabad-based startup TakeMe2Space has secured $5 million in seed funding from Chiratae Ventures to develop India's first orbital data centre, with plans to launch six satellites for its OrbitLab platform. Read more

Supermicro Launches AI Solutions for Various Markets

Supermicro has introduced new high-performance AI products, including the Super AI Station and workstation systems, aimed at enhancing performance and energy efficiency for AI developers and researchers in consumer and edge markets. Read more

Marvell to Acquire XConn for $540 Million

Marvell Technology plans to acquire XConn Technologies for $540 million to enhance its AI infrastructure capabilities. The acquisition is expected to boost Marvell's data center hardware offerings. Read more

Nvidia Requires Upfront Payments for H200 AI Chips in China

Nvidia is requiring Chinese customers to pay upfront for H200 AI chips due to regulatory uncertainties. The decision affects refund and order change policies, while demand remains high. Read more

Hyundai and DEEPX Develop AI Chip for Robotics

At CES Foundry 2026, Hyundai Motor Group and DEEPX announced the development of 'Edge Brain', an on-device AI chip for autonomous robot operation. Read more

Meta Secures Nuclear Power for AI Data Centers

Meta has signed agreements with TerraPower, Oklo, and Vistra to provide nuclear power for its AI data centers, aiming for 6.6 gigawatts of clean energy by 2035. Read more

New Jersey to Charge AI Data Centers for Electric Costs

Lawmakers in New Jersey have approved a bill to impose tariffs on large-load data centers, aiming to manage rising electric costs and promote energy efficiency. Read more

OpenAI and SoftBank Invest $1 Billion in AI Data Centers

SB Energy, under SoftBank Group, partners with OpenAI to invest $1 billion in AI data centers in the U.S., aiming to enhance AI and energy infrastructure. Read more

Virginia's New Electricity Rate for AI Data Centers

The Virginia State Corporation Commission has approved a new electricity rate class for data centers, effective January 1, 2027, to address the energy demands of AI-driven data centers. Read more

Florida Bill Targets AI Data Center Regulations

Florida House Bill 1007, introduced by Rep. Philip 'Griff' Griffitts, Jr., proposes regulations on hyperscale data centers to address consumer protection concerns related to electricity costs and environmental impacts. Read more

SDU, Danfoss, and HPE to Build AI Data Center in Denmark

The University of Southern Denmark is collaborating with Danfoss and HPE to create an energy-efficient data center in Sønderborg, focusing on AI and supercomputing research with sustainable energy solutions. Read more

Apollo Invests $5.4 Billion in xAI Infrastructure

On January 7, 2026, Apollo announced a $5.4 billion investment to support xAI through a capital solution managed by Valor Equity Partners. This funding will enhance xAI's AI capabilities with advanced data center infrastructure. Read more

MeiG Smart Launches 100 TOPS AI Module at CES 2026

MeiG Smart introduced a new AI module capable of delivering 100 TOPS (Tera Operations Per Second) at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026, showcasing advancements in AI technology. Read more

Macquarie Group Invests in Polarise GmbH

Macquarie Group is providing up to €117 million to Polarise GmbH for a Deutsche Telekom AG data center and other European projects, highlighting Europe's AI data center growth. Read more

Reliance Industries to Build AI-Ready Data Center in Jamnagar

Reliance Industries plans to invest 7 trillion rupees in Gujarat to construct India's largest AI-ready data center in Jamnagar. The project aims to enhance AI service accessibility across India through a new Jio smart platform. Read more

Eric Schmidt Launches AI Data Center Startup in Texas

Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, has launched Bolt Data & Energy, a startup focusing on AI data centers in rural West Texas. The company aims to provide essential resources for data center campuses, partnering with Texas Pacific Land for land and resources. Read more

Baidu Plans Spin-off and Listing of AI Chip Unit Kunlunxin

Baidu has announced its intention to spin off and list its AI chip subsidiary, Kunlunxin, on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. This strategic move is aimed at boosting Kunlunxin's market visibility and attracting investment in the AI chip industry. Read more

Liberty Energy and Vantage Data Centers Partner for Gas-Fired Power Solutions

Liberty Energy has partnered with Vantage Data Centers to develop gas-fired power solutions for data centers, aiming to deliver up to 1 GW of power over the next five years. Read more

Lenovo and Nvidia Unveil AI Cloud Gigafactory

At the Consumer Electronics Show, Lenovo and Nvidia announced their collaboration on an AI cloud gigafactory to boost enterprise AI workloads, alongside the introduction of the Qira platform. Read more

Red Hat and NVIDIA Expand Partnership for AI Solutions

Red Hat has announced an expanded partnership with NVIDIA to enhance enterprise AI solutions, including optimized support for the NVIDIA Rubin platform. Read more

Argonne and Intel Deploy 12-Qubit Quantum Processor

The collaboration between Argonne National Laboratory and Intel has resulted in the deployment of a 12-qubit quantum processor using silicon quantum dots, highlighting the potential of semiconductor methods in quantum computing. Read more

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Nvidia Unveils Rubin Chip, Meta Secures Nuclear Power, and AMD Launches Ryzen AI 400 - Silicon Brief #51

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