On August 8, 2024, Black Sesame Technologies, a company specializing in AI chip for smart vehicles, was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Founded in 2016, Black Sesame is a provider of automotive-grade intelligent vehicle computing chips and chip-based solutions. The company has established research and sales centers in Wuhan, Silicon Valley, Shanghai, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Chongqing, and Singapore.

Currently, Black Sesame has launched two major product lines: the Huashan series designed for autonomous driving and the Wudang series focused on cross-domain computing.

The SoCs of Huashan A1000 family is designed for autonomous driving and supports BEV fusion algorithms for L3 and below application scenarios.

The Huashan® A1000 automotive-grade high-performance autonomous driving chip applies to L2+ and L3 level autonomous driving, which is currently the most widely used autonomous driving chip in Chinese mass-produced car companies and the only local chip platform capable of backing integrated domain controllers with a single chip.

It’s reported that Huashan A1000 chip has been in full mass production and adopted by several leading Chinese car manufacturers, including FAW Group, Dongfeng Group, Geely Group, and JAC Group, and has been used in mass-produced models including Lynk & Co 08, Hycan V09, Dongfeng eπ007, and its first pure electric SUV Dongfeng eπ008. The next-generation SoC, Huashan A2000, is currently under development and is expected to be launched in 2024.

The Wudang C1200 family of intelligent vehicle cross-domain computing chips was rolled out in April 2023. It has completed full testing after tape-out, with successful functional and performance verification, and sample chips are now available to customers.

As an “All in one” chip, the C1200 family targets multi-domain integration and cross-domain computing, covering core scenarios of intelligent vehicles with a single chip and thus empowering smart vehicles as a whole. Black Sesame expects to generate revenue from C1200 in 2024 and achieve mass production before 2025.

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(Photo credit: Black Sesame Technologies)

According to a report from The Chosun Daily, major tech companies like NVIDIA are considering using Intel’s foundry services (IFS) as an alternative due to TSMC’s packaging capacity shortages. While packaging is a core competency for semiconductor foundries, Samsung, which is facing difficulties in attracting customers, will need to exert maximum effort to secure orders.

It’s highlighted by the report that the demand for AI accelerators is growing rapidly, but TSMC’s AI chip production capacity is unable to keep up.

Furthermore, per The Chosun Daily citing sources, major clients like NVIDIA and Apple have secured TSMC’s 3nm advanced process capacity, pushing order backlogs into 2026.

Therefore, major tech companies seeking alternatives are turning to Intel’s IFS. Since Intel’s Foveros is said to be comparable to TSMC’s CoWoS-S, it has made Intel’s advanced packaging a viable option to ensure supply.

TSMC and Intel offer advanced packaging services to customers under the names CoWoS and Foveros, respectively. Both CoWoS and Foveros are advanced packaging technologies that connect two or more semiconductor chips on a wafer and then place them onto a packaging substrate.

Reportedly, in addition to NVIDIA and Microsoft, Amazon and Cisco are considering outsourcing to Intel Foundry to reduce their dependence on TSMC.

The report further emphasizes that this market trend is likely to cause anxiety for Samsung, which competes with TSMC and Intel in advanced processes.

Recently, Samsung’s former clients, Google and Qualcomm, have chosen TSMC, while Intel, seen as a latecomer, is catching up by securing advanced packaging orders from major tech companies, potentially narrowing the gap with Samsung.

Kim Hak-sung, head of Hanyang Institute of Smart Semiconductor, said that packaging is a technology that critically influences customer acquisition in the AI semiconductor era, where various types of chips are interconnected.

He noted that although there may not be a substantial technical capabilities difference between Samsung Electronics and Intel, as mass production experience allows the process to stabilize and become more appealing to customers.

Kim eventually addressed that to stay competitive, Samsung needs to focus on capturing the volumes that TSMC cannot accommodate, positioning itself ahead of Intel.

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• [News] TSMC Reportedly to Raise 3nm & 5nm Prices Soon, Looking to Maintain Long-Term Profit Margins 
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(Photo credit: Samsung)

According to a report from Reuters citing sources on August 7th, American chip giant Intel had an opportunity to invest in OpenAI several years ago but ultimately had the investment rejected by company executives, resulting in a missed opportunity.

Reportedly, Intel and OpenAI discussed collaboration several times between 2017 and 2018. At that time, OpenAI was still a nascent nonprofit research organization focused on developing relatively unknown generative AI technologies.

The discussions included Intel potentially purchasing a 15% stake in OpenAI for USD 1 billion in cash and possibly producing hardware for OpenAI at cost in exchange for an additional 15% stake.

Sources cited by the report further reveal that OpenAI was very interested in Intel’s investment, primarily because it would reduce the company’s reliance on NVIDIA chips and enable OpenAI to build its own infrastructure.

However, Intel ultimately rejected the deal. One reason cited by the report was that then-CEO Bob Swan did not believe generative AI could be commercialized in the short term and was concerned that Intel’s investment would not yield returns. Another reason was that Intel’s data center division was unwilling to produce hardware for OpenAI at cost.

After Intel’s refusal, Microsoft began investing in OpenAI in 2019. In 2022, OpenAI launched the chatbot ChatGPT, reportedly sparking a global AI boom and achieving a valuation of USD 80 billion. Per the data from CB Insights, it has made OpenAI the third most valuable tech startup worldwide, behind only ByteDance and SpaceX.

Neither Intel nor OpenAI has commented on these reports.

As per a previous report from The Atlantic, Intel had previously declined to produce processors for Apple’s iPhone, a misstep that caused Intel to miss the opportunity to transition into the mobile area.

The news from Reuters this time further suggests that Intel has made a similar mistake in the AI domain.

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(Photo credit: Intel)

According to a report from Economic Daily News, the AI boom has significantly increased the use of passive components, particularly in AI PCs and AI servers. Murata, a Japanese giant in multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCC), is optimistic about the market outlook, stating that AI is driving waves of MLCC demand.

As per a report from Nikkei, Murata President Norio Nakajima revealed in an interview that the AI trend is unstoppable, leading to an expansion in MLCC applications.

This expansion reportedly starts with smartphones and extends to edge AI in computers equipped with generative AI functions. The end-use of these devices will drive an increase in MLCC consumption, and the demand for components in AI servers is also ramping up.

Murata’s views on the passive component market are referable, as in the first half of this year, Murata was ahead of the industry in announcing a recovery in component shipments for the smartphone market and an increase in capacity utilization at its MLCC plants.

Norio Nakajima pointed out that as demand surges, the capacity utilization rate of Murata’s MLCC plants has been continuously increasing to meet end-user demand. Last quarter, the capacity utilization rate was approximately 80% to 85%, and this quarter it is expected to rise to 85% to 90%.

Following Murata, Taiwanese companies such as Yageo and Walsin Technology also saw a recovery in their operations, marking the beginning of a bullish phase for the passive component market.

Industry sources cited by Economic Daily News further explain that Murata’s optimistic outlook is well-founded. The average MLCC usage per AI PC has surged by about 80% compared to traditional PCs, while the usage in AI servers has more than doubled, with each server requiring an average of 3,000 to 4,000 MLCCs.

In high-speed computing environments, this will further drive the demand for high-capacity and high-voltage MLCCs. Meanwhile, Yageo and Walsin Technology are actively seizing the business opportunities brought by AI.

Yageo Chairman Pierre Chen once stated that at this stage, the group not only provides MLCCs and chip resistors for AI applications but also inductors and magnetic components.

These offerings include both standard and niche products, and the company can also provide customized product combinations according to customers’ requirements for high-temperature and high-current tolerance.

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• [News] Global Passive Component Giants to Raise Prices by 20%, Benefiting Taiwanese Supply Chain
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(Photo credit: Murata)

As the demand for memory chips used in AI remains strong, prompting major memory companies to accelerate their pace on HBM3e and HBM4 qualification, SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung stated on August 7 that driven by the high demand for memory chips like high-bandwidth memory (HBM), the market is expected to stay robust until the first half of 2025, according to a report by the Korea Economic Daily.

However, Kwak noted that the momentum beyond 2H25 “remains to be seen,” indicating that the company needs to study market conditions and the situation of supply and demand before making comments further. SK hynix clarified that was not an indication of a possible downturn.

According to the analysis by TrendForce, HBM’s share of total DRAM bit capacity is estimated to rise from 2% in 2023 to 5% in 2024 and surpass 10% by 2025. In terms of market value, HBM is projected to account for more than 20% of the total DRAM market value starting in 2024, potentially exceeding 30% by 2025.

SK hynix, as the current HBM market leader, said earlier in its earnings call in July that its HBM3e shipment is expected to surpass that of HBM3 in the third quarter, with HBM3e accounting for more than half of the total HBM shipments in 2024. In addition, it expects to begin supplying 12-layer HBM3e products to customers in the fourth quarter.

The report notes that for now, the company’s major focus would be on the sixth-generation HBM chips, HBM4, which is under development in collaboration with foundry giant TSMC. Its 12-layer HBM4 is expected to be launched in the second half of next year, according to the report.

Samsung, on the other hand, had been working since last year to become a supplier of NVIDIA’s HBM3 and HBM3e. In late July, it is said that Samsung’s HBM3 has passed NVIDIA’s qualification, and would be used in the AI giant’s H20, which has been developed for the Chinese market in compliance with U.S. export controls. On August 6, the company denied rumors that its 8-layer HBM3e chips had cleared NVIDIA’s tests.

Notably, per a previous report from the South Korean newspaper Korea Joongang Daily, following Micron’s initiation of mass production of HBM3e in February 2024, it has recently secured an order from NVIDIA for the H200 AI GPU.

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• [News] SK hynix, TSMC, and NVIDIA Reportedly Forge Alliance to Develop Next-Generation HBM
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(Photo credit: SK hynix)