Intel Corporation

Nuvacore, a six-month-old semiconductor startup backed by Sequoia Capital, is seeking to raise hundreds of millions of dollars at a valuation of approximately $2.5 billion, Reuters reported exclusively on Friday, citing two people familiar with the fundraising. The San Jose-based company is developing a central processing unit designed for data centers, targeting growing demand for computing infrastructure supporting artificial intelligence applications. Nuvacore has yet to release a product, and its latest funding round remains open, with the final valuation and amount raised subject to change. The Information previously reported that the startup was seeking at least $200 million, but the proposed $2.5 billion valuation had not been disclosed. Founded by semiconductor engineers Gerard Williams, John Bruno and Ram Srinivasan, Nuvacore plans to design its processor's core functionality before selecting an architecture, potentially avoiding limitations associated with Intel and Advanced Micro Devices' x86 technology or Arm-based designs. Williams previously worked at Apple and founded Nuvia, which Qualcomm acquired for $1.4 billion in 2021. Nuvacore declined to comment on the fundraising, Reuters reported.

Intel Corp. CEO Lip-Bu Tan said the company will continue working with Elon Musk on the Terafab semiconductor project, telling Bloomberg ahead of an event in Tokyo marking the U.S. company's 50th year of operations in Japan that Intel would keep its involvement in the effort. The comments follow a decline in Intel's stock after Musk on Saturday confirmed early-stage discussions with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. about a potential role in the planned Texas-based Terafab AI chip complex. On Wednesday, Musk responded to Tesla expert Herbert Ong and stated that his companies will build and run the fab, saying there should be zero doubt about that and that TSMC might sublease part of the Terafab if it wants, but nothing more than that. In April, Intel said it was working with Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and Tesla, Inc. on Terafab, with its chip design, manufacturing and advanced packaging capabilities enabling the project's goal of producing 1 terawatt of computing capacity for AI and robotics per year. The possible involvement of Taiwan Semiconductor has raised questions about the degree of Intel's involvement in the process.

Nvidia is evaluating glass substrate packaging solutions and working with German equipment maker SCHMID and other companies to advance related equipment development. It also hopes panel makers in South Korea, Japan, and elsewhere can complete glass substrate development within two years. SCHMID disclosed in its earnings call that it is jointly developing glass substrate equipment with core companies in the supply chains of Nvidia, Intel, and AMD, but technical difficulties remain in the metallization step for through-glass vias, and customer certification has not yet been completed. According to TrendForce analysis, TSMC's CoPoS will focus on 310 by 310 millimeter substrate sizes in the near term. 2026 is a critical verification period for equipment and material suppliers, pilot production is expected in 2027, and formal mass production will begin in the second half of 2028. Li Wenqi, general manager of Shanghai Yibu Semiconductor, said TSMC originally planned to start mass production this year, but recent information shows it has been postponed to 2028. Domestically, BOE Chairman Chen Yanshun said the company is preparing to invest in a mass production line for semiconductor glass substrate carriers. Its 20-layer large-size glass substrate sample has passed six semiconductor-grade reliability tests and has been sent to leading domestic AI chip makers. Lens Technology's wholly owned subsidiary Lens International signed a memorandum of cooperation with Intel. Woge Optoelectronics' Hubei Phase One production line with annual capacity of 100,000 square meters of through-glass via substrates will complete certification with multiple customers in the first half of 2026 and enter small-batch supply. Triumph Science and Technology is investing 150 million yuan in Bengbu to build a pilot line for advanced packaging glass with through-glass vias. TCL Technology is investing 500 million yuan to establish Shenzhen Yunqi New Materials, in which it holds a 51 percent stake. On the equipment side, Delphi Laser's panel-level glass substrate via equipment has already begun shipping. S.C New Energy Technology's dedicated bubble cleaning equipment for through-glass via glass substrates and fully automatic hole-filling electroplating equipment have completed full-process testing and begun shipping.

Amkor Technology is sharply increasing capital spending to capture growth in advanced packaging, AI and data-center applications, with first-half 2026 capital expenditures of $688.4 million, up from $226.1 million a year earlier, and full-year 2026 CapEx guidance of $2.5-$3 billion. Most of that spending is targeted at facility expansion, including Arizona, while the remainder goes toward HDFO, test and other advanced packaging capacity. The investment is supported by improving demand: second-quarter revenues rose 26% year over year to $1.90 billion, gross margin expanded to 16.8% from 12%, factory utilization improved from the 50s into the 70s, and computing revenues hit a record, up 20% sequentially and expected to accelerate to nearly 30% in the third quarter on AI data center demand and the HDFO CPU ramp. Amkor's capital-intensive model carries risks, since new capacity adds depreciation and fixed costs, the company generally has limited backlog and sometimes invests without firm customer commitments, and customer-specific equipment may be hard to reuse if demand weakens; as of June 30 it also had $2.5 billion of debt and $1.47 billion of purchase obligations. Competition is intensifying, with Intel raising 2026 CapEx above $20 billion including packaging and targeting high-volume EMIB-T customer ramps in 2027, while GlobalFoundries expects 2026 CapEx at the high end of its 15%-20% range as it expands silicon photonics and advanced packaging capacity. The Zacks Consensus Estimate projects 2026 and 2027 revenues of $7.64 billion and $8.55 billion, respectively, and 2026 earnings of $2.60 per share, implying 73.3% year-over-year growth.

Baird analyst Tristan Gerra raised his price target on Micron Technology to $1,520 from $1,280 while keeping a Buy rating, just ahead of the company's Sept. 30 earnings release. Gerra said server deployments using AMD and Intel CPUs could lift demand for dynamic random-access memory, or DRAM, as AI workloads expand, and he expects AI-related CPU demand to increase about 40% in 2027. He also sees DRAM supply growth slowing to around 20% next year from more than 30% in 2026, a setup that could keep pressure on memory prices in check. On pricing, Gerra expects DRAM contract prices to rise 20% sequentially in the September quarter and another 10% in December, with enterprise DDR5 and NAND prices also projected to advance.

SCHMID shares surged nearly 20% by Friday afternoon trading after a report revealed that advanced chipmakers were considering the use of glass substrates in processors. The technology could increase the amount of high-bandwidth memory in chips, boosting processing speeds for AI workloads. SCHMID Chief Sales Officer Roland Rettenmaier said on the company's second-quarter 2026 earnings call that many players in the Intel, Nvidia and AMD supply chains are eyeing glass core substrates for their flatness, smoothness, dielectric constants and signal integrity, and that the German-based company is engaged with most major supply chain players to make glass core substrates real. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently met with the chairman of SK Group to discuss using glass substrate technology in next-generation semiconductors, according to Seoul Economic Daily, and has reportedly discussed it with TSMC as well. SCHMID specializes in high-tech manufacturing for electronics, photovoltaics, glass and energy systems, and has been developing glass substrate solutions that offer thinner, smoother packaging material to raise chip speeds and cut power consumption.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing plans to raise wafer foundry prices by 3% to 6% starting in 2027, with the largest increases targeted at advanced process nodes used in high performance computing and AI chips. Management is preparing the multi-year pricing update as capacity remains tight for AI-related demand and advanced packaging through 2030. The move is intended to give the company more room to earn a return on heavy spending for 2nm and other advanced facilities, tilting its foundry model further toward higher-value capacity rather than pure volume. Raising prices first can signal confidence in tight supply, but it also invites Samsung and Intel to adjust their own pricing, and any meaningful discount or aggressive incentives from rivals could pull future AI programs or advanced packaging work away. The key test for investors is whether customers lock in multi-year agreements through 2027 at the higher wafer rates, especially on 2nm and related advanced nodes, with disclosed capacity commitments, utilization data around those leading processes, and management commentary on pricing discipline as the metrics to track.