According to Chinatimes’ report, NVIDIA, the powerhouse in the AI domain, has recently announced recruitment initiatives in China, signaling an expansion of its autonomous driving team to propel the arrival of the AI-defined automotive era.

With a total of 25 positions across five departments, the focus is primarily on fields such as autonomous driving software, algorithms, and more, with job locations spanning Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.

The five departments open for recruitment at NVIDIA encompass the Autonomous Driving Software Group, Autonomous Driving Platform Group, System Integration and Testing Group, Map and Simulation Group, and the Product Group.

While each department has a varying number of open positions, the collective count reaches 25. Notably, within less than a day of posting the recruitment information on LinkedIn, NVIDIA has received over 100 resumes, indicating significant interest in the roles.

According to NVIDIA’s introduction, the mission of their autonomous driving team is to design, create, and deploy the safest and most advanced artificial intelligence-driven systems for automation and autonomous vehicles.

The scope of their work spans various modes of transportation, ranging from passenger cars to commercial vehicles and robot taxis. Safety is their top priority, whether it involves simultaneously training and testing AI in data centers or performing real-time data processing in vehicles.

NVIDIA asserts that as a leader in AI and accelerated computing, their autonomous driving solutions are global in scope. They aim to collaborate with automotive manufacturers to create value for users worldwide on the journey from L2 to L4 autonomy levels.

On the other hand, the team is led by Wu Xinzhou, who resigned from his position as Vice President of Autonomous Driving at XPeng Motors in August of this year.

Wu aspires for the Chinese autonomous driving team to become a core force propelling NVIDIA’s autonomous driving products to commercialization. He envisions leveraging China’s talent pool and experience to collaboratively create globally competitive autonomous driving products.

Wu also outlined specific requirements for prospective candidates, emphasizing the need for a solid professional background, strong self-motivation, a relentless pursuit of excellence in technology and product development, alignment with NVIDIA’s diverse work environment, and excellent communication skills to engage effectively with colleagues from different backgrounds.

(Photo credit: Nvidia)

On the 28th, Amazon unveiled two AWS-designed chips, Graviton4, a CPU propelling its AWS cloud services, and the second-gen AI chip Trainium2, tailored for large language models. Both chips boast substantial performance upgrades. With a positive market outlook, Amazon is intensifying its competition with Microsoft and Google for dominance in the AI cloud market. The demand for in-house chips is surging, leading to increased orders for key players like the wafer foundry TSMC and the silicon design and production services company ALCHIP, reported by UDN News.

According to reports, Amazon AWS CEO Adam Selipsky presented the fourth AWS-Designed custom CPU chip, Graviton4, at the AWS re:Invent 2023 in Las Vegas. It claims a 30% improvement in computing performance compared to the current Graviton3, with a 75% increase in memory bandwidth. Computers equipped with this processor are slated to go live in the coming months.

Trainium2, the second-gen chip for AI system training, boasts a computing speed three times faster than its predecessor and doubled energy efficiency. Selipsky announced that AWS will commence offering this new training chip next year.

AWS is accelerating the development of chips, maintaining its lead over Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud platforms. Amazon reports that over 50,000 AWS customers are currently utilizing Graviton chips.

Notably, Amazon’s in-house chip development heavily relies on the Taiwan supply chain, TSMC and ALchip. To produce Amazon’s chips, Alchip primarily provides application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design services, and TSMC manufactures with advanced processes.

TSMC consistently refrains from commenting on products for individual customers. Analysts estimate that TSMC has recently indirectly secured numerous orders from Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), mainly through ASIC design service providers assisting CSP giants in launching new in-house AI chips. This is expected to significantly contribute to TSMC’s high utilization for the 5nm family.

In recent years, TSMC has introduced successive technologies such as N4, N4P, N4X, and N5A to strengthen its 5nm family. The N4P, announced at 2023 Technology Symposium, is projected to drive increased demand from 2024 onwards. The expected uptick in demand is mainly attributed to AI, network, and automotive products.

(Image: Amazon)

With China intensifying export controls, Japanese companies relying on crucial battery and semiconductor materials manufactured in China are contemplating alternative solutions. They are actively seeking materials sources to achieve supply diversification.

TrendForce’s insight:

1. Alternative Solution Cannot be Translated into Immediate Success

While countries like Japan and South Korea have swiftly initiated strategies to find alternative solutions, the majority are still in the evaluation, research, or testing stages, unable to provide immediate assistance.

Even if alternative graphite production sources outside of China, such as in North America or Australia, are identified, it is likely to increase manufacturing costs, thereby impacting the selling price or profit performance of electric vehicles.

2. Back to Negotiation with Chinese Manufacturers

The post-export control scenario may accentuate the cost advantage of Chinese battery manufacturers, influencing the effectiveness of various protective measures taken by Europe and the United States to counter Chinese electric vehicles.

Consequently, countries may ultimately realize that returning to the negotiation table with China is more practical than going through a prolonged process, aligning with China’s primary objective.

3. Material Edge Won’t Last Forever

The continuous export restrictions on critical materials by China may encourage countries to persist in developing alternative solutions. For instance, OEMs like Tesla, GM, and Stellantis are actively investing in research on rare-earth-free motors to reduce dependency on Chinese rare earths.

While currently constrained by battery material technology, graphite remains the highest-value anode material. Yet, numerous companies are also exploring anodes with higher energy density, such as silicon oxide (SiO) and lithium metal (Li Metal).

Therefore, China must recognize that material advantages may not be permanent, and the core lies in the ability for technological iteration.

Read more

• [News] Japanese Companies Seek Battery and Chip Materials Outside China

(Photo credit: Pixabay)

STMicroelectronics, following its EUR 7.5 billion wafer fab project with GlobalFoundries in Crolles, France. is set to invest EUR 5 billion in building a new SiC super semiconductor wafer fab in Catania, Sicily, Italy. The fab in Italy will specialize in producing SiC chips, a pivotal technology for electric vehicles with substantial growth potential, according to French media L’Usine Nouvelle on November 26th,

STMicroelectronics competitively plans to transition to 8-inch wafers starting from 2024. The company will integrate Soitec’s SmartSiC technology to enhance efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. Simultaneously, STMicroelectronics aims to increase capacity, achieve internal manufacturing, and collaborate with Chinese firm Sanan Optoelectronics to raise SiC chip-related revenue from the expected USD 1.2 billion in 2023 to USD 5 billion by 2030.

On June 7th earlier this year, STMicroelectronics and Sanan Optoelectronics announced a joint venture to establish a new 8-inch SiC device fab in Chongqing, China, with an anticipated total investment of USD 3.2 billion.

To ensure the successful implementation of this extensive investment plan, Sanan Optoelectronics said to utilize its self-developed SiC substrate process to construct and operate a new 8-inch SiC substrate fab independently.

TrendForce: over 90% SiC market share by major global players        

According to TrendForce, the SiC industry is currently dominated by 6-inch substrates, holding up to 80% market share, while 8-inch substrates only account for 1%. Transitioning to larger 8-inch substrates is a key strategy for further reducing SiC device costs.

8-inch SiC substrates offer significant cost advantages than 6-inch substrates. The industry’s major players in China, including SEMISiC, Jingsheng Mechanical & Electrical Co., Ltd. (JSG), Summit Crystal, Synlight Semiconductor, KY Semiconductor, and IV-SemiteC, are advancing the development of 8-inch SiC substrates. This shift from the approximately 45% of total production costs associated with substrates is expected to facilitate the broader adoption of SiC devices and create a positive cycle for major companies.

Not only Chinese companies but also international semiconductor giants like Infineon Technologies and Onsemi are actively vying for a share of the market. Infineon has already prepared the first batch of 8-inch wafer samples in its fab and plans to convert them into electronic samples soon, with mass production applications scheduled before 2030. International device companies like Onsemi and ROHM have also outlined development plans for 8-inch SiC wafers.

Currently, major companies hold over 90% of the market share, intensifying competition. A slowdown in progress could provide opportunities for followers. According to TrendForce, the market share of the top 5 SiC power semiconductor players in 2022 was dominated by STMicroelectronics (36.5%), Infineon (17.9%), Wolfspeed (16.3%), Onsemi (11.6%), and ROHM (8.1%), leaving the remaining companies with only 9.6%.

(Image: STMicroelectronics)

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• [News] China Jingsheng Launches 2.1 Billion CNY SiC Substrate Project Marks Significant Investment
• [News] ROHM’s First SiC Substrate Production in Japan, 8-Inch Substrates Set for 2024
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• [News] GlobalWafers Plans 8-Inch SiC Production Next Year and Growth for 2025

According to the Economic Daily News’ report, industry sources indicate that Samsung, a major supplier of CIS, has issued a price increase notice to customers on November 29th, projecting an average price increase of up to 25% in the first quarter of next year.

The individual product lines may see an even higher increase, reaching levels of up to 30%, primarily in specifications with 32 million pixels and above. This suggests that the CIS market is poised for a new cycle of price increases.

Previously, the CIS market was impacted by subdued demand in the consumer market, leading to a decline in market prices and making CIS one of the first component to experience price declines. However, entering the latter half of this year, the demand for smart devices, particularly in the smartphone market, has started to recover comprehensively.

This is driven by strong procurement efforts from Chinese smartphone brands, significantly boosting inventory demand and becoming the catalyst for the rapid clearance of CIS inventory.

(Photo credit: Samsung)