Ahead of Intel’s upcoming board meeting in mid-September, rumors have been circulating that the struggling giant may be mulling to selling its FPGA unit Altera, with AMD and Marvell being potential buyers. However, according to an interview with Altera’s CEO by CRN, Altera’s plan for an initial public offering (IPO) remains unchanged, as it pursues to be listed by 2026.

The information is confirmed by Sandra Rivera, Altera’s CEO. Citing her remarks, CRN notes that the FPGA unit is working on its plan, which involves selling a stake in Altera, not the entire company. Rivera further stated that this has been Altera’s communicated strategy for over a year, with an IPO planned for 2026.

Citing Rivera, the report pointed out that though Altera began operating independently from Intel at the start of 2024, it is still in the process of separating from many of the general and administrative functions of its parent company, with a target completion date of January 1, 2025.

Intel acquired Altera in 2015 for USD 16.7 billion, and the latter dropped its name afterwards, known as the Programmable Solution Group under the U.S. semiconductor giant.

It was not until 2023 that Intel announced its intention to spin off the Programmable Solutions Group into a separate, wholly-owned company. In February, 2024, the FPGA unit announced that it would revive the Altera brand, CRN reported.

The spin-off of the FPGA business is intended to achieve two goals: providing Intel with additional liquidity to fund CEO Pat Gelsinger’s costly revitalization strategy and enhancing the business opportunities for the FPGA company, according to CRN.

Intel’s board is set to meet this week to discuss restructuring plans, which may include separating its design division from its foundry operations. Citing Intel CFO David Zinsner’s comments at an investor meeting last week, a report by CNBC notes that dividing the two businesses would be a logical move, as the company is trying to create more separation between these two businesses.

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• [News] AMD Could Emerge as a Prospective Buyer for Intel’s Potential Sale of Altera
• [News] Intel Reportedly Considering Foundry Spin-Off or Merger to Mitigate Losses

(Photo credit: Intel)

According to a report from The Register, DPU developer Xockets recently filed a lawsuit, accusing AI chip giant NVIDIA, Microsoft, and intellectual property risk management company RPX of colluding to avoid paying Xockets the fees it is owed, violating federal antitrust laws, and intentionally infringing on its patents.

The report states that in addition to seeking monetary compensation, Xockets is also requesting an injunction. If granted, this injunction would prevent NVIDIA from selling its upcoming Blackwell architecture GPUs.

Per Reuter’s report, Xockets, founded in 2012, claims that its invention, the Data Processing Unit (DPU), plays a critical role in some of NVIDIA’s and Microsoft’s systems. The company states that its technology helps offload and accelerate tasks that would otherwise place a heavy burden on server processors.

Reportedly, Xockets founder Parin Dalal began filing a series of DPU technology patents in 2012. These patents describe architectures used for the linear downloading, acceleration, and isolation of data-intensive computational operations from server processors.

Xockets claims that its DPU-related patents cover various applications including cloud computing, machine learning, security, network overlay, stream data processing, and cloud computing architectures. Xockets alleges that Microsoft and Mellanox, which was acquired by NVIDIA in 2020, which was acquired by NVIDIA in 2020, have infringed on these patents.

In a recent statement, Xockets claimed that NVIDIA has utilized DPU technology patented by Xockets, allowing NVIDIA to monopolize the AI server market using its GPUs. Meanwhile, Microsoft has allegedly monopolized the AI platform market using NVIDIA GPUs.

Xockets further claimed that it has made effort to engage in sincere negotiations with NVIDIA and Microsoft, but these attempts have been rejected.

Xockets’ lawsuit reveals that it actually demonstrated the relevant technology to Microsoft in 2016, and the technology was subsequently adopted by Mellanox within the same year for cloud computing downloads used by Redmond and other clients.

Additionally, NVIDIA’s ConnectX smartNIC, BlueField DPU, and NVLink switch, which are crucial for extending AI training and inference deployments across large GPU clusters, are said to infringe on Xockets’ patents.

Regarding this matter, NVIDIA has declined to comment, while Xockets’ spokesperson has also not provided any additional explanation.

The report highlights that Microsoft and NVIDIA may not be Xockets’ only targets but are at least the most profitable ones. Other companies, such as Broadcom, Intel, AMD, Marvell, Napatech, and Amazon, are also actively developing products similar to NVIDIA’s ConnectX, BlueField, and NVLink.

Regarding the lawsuit, the judge overseeing the case has approved a preliminary injunction hearing to be held on September 19.

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• [News] NVIDIA’s Blackwell Overcomes Delays, as GB200 Reportedly Sets for December Mass Production
• [News] Foxconn Remains Unfazed Despite NVIDIA’s GB200 Delay, with Customers Aim to Secure Their Orders

(Photo credit: Xockets)

Rumors have been circulating that Intel has been working with investment bankers on options to navigate the company through difficulties, which may include selling off its Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) unit Altera and halt its investment project in Germany, according to the report by Reuters.

Regarding the status quo of the FPGA market, a report by TechNews states that its applications have been concentrated in small-scale sectors such as communications, defense, and chip prototyping, with Xilinx and Altera dominating the field. As a result, rumors have emerged that Intel might sell its entire Altera division to another chip company looking to expand its product portfolio.

Notably, per industry sources cited in the report from TechNews, it’s further suggested that AMD could be a potential buyer, as it would help the US chip giant expand its FPGA product lineup, which would be more effectively ingrated with its current porfolio.

Altera generated USD 342 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2024, a significant decrease of 58% compared to USD 816 million in the same period last year.

On the other hand, AMD’s Embedded Solutions Division, which includes products acquired from Xilinx in 2022, reported a 46% year-over-year decline in sales to USD 846 million for the first quarter, falling short of Wall Street expectations. Both companies’ recent financial reports have been underwhelming.

In addition to AMD, Marvell, a company specialized in network IC design, has also been reported as a potential buyer for Altera.

Previously revealed in a report by Bloomberg on August 29 citing sources, Intel is said to be considering several potential strategies, including spinning off its product design and foundry businesses, canceling some of its regional facility construction plans, or pursuing mergers. These options are expected to be discussed at the board meeting scheduled for September.

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• [News] Intel Reportedly Mulls to Sell FPGA Unit Altera and Freeze USD 32 Billion German Project amid Crisis
• [News] Lip-Bu Tan Resigns from Intel Board Amid Reported Disagreements

(Photo credit: AMD)

According to a report by 36Kr, China’s EV maker, XPeng Motors, has successfully completed the tape-out process for its self-developed intelligent driving chip.

Sources cited by the report further reveal that XPeng’s intelligent driving chip is specifically designed to meet AI demands, including end-to-end large models. The product is considered to be is a central computing architecture chip that supports integrated cabin and driving functionalities.

The AI computing power of this chip is said to be equivalent to that of three mainstream intelligent driving chips.

Additionally, the report mentions that on August 27th, during XPeng’s 10th anniversary and the launch event for the M03 model, XPeng Motors will officially release details about its self-developed chip.

In response to the rumors surrounding the unveiling of XPeng’s self-developed chip, as per the report, XPeng’s Chairman and CEO hinted on his personal social account that the company certainly won’t disappoint.

Previously, NIO, another automobile manufacturer in China, had also announced the successful tape-out of its 5nm autonomous driving chip, the NX9031.

The tape-outs of self-developed chips marks the beginning of a new phase in which automakers are further competing to enhance the efficiency of intelligent driving software and hardware.

Per a previous report by 36Kr, it was noted that XPeng began building its chip team in 2020. Initially, XPeng collaborated with the U.S. chip design company Marvell, but the partnership did not go smoothly.

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• [News] China Reportedly Demands Automakers Increase Local Chip Procurement to 25%
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(Photo credit: XPeng)

Per a report by the Vietnam News Agency, Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính recently signed Government Decree No. 791/QĐ-TTg on the establishment of the National Steering Committee for Semiconductor Industry Development.

The main tasks and functions of the steering committee include assisting the Prime Minister and the government in researching, guiding, and coordinating the resolution of important and cross-departmental matters related to promoting the development of Vietnam’s semiconductor industry; researching, consulting, and advising on directions and solutions to promote the industry’s growth; and guiding the coordination among various departments, government agencies, relevant organizations, and entities to vigorously advance the development of Vietnam’s semiconductor industry.

Semiconductor industry is one of the strategically important global industries, and it undoubtedly represents a significant development opportunity for Vietnam.

It is reported that the semiconductor, as one of Vietnam’s nine national-level products, has been included in the country’s key development priorities for the next 30 to 50 years.

According to its National Semiconductor Industry Strategy, Vietnam aims to become a global center for semiconductor chip design, packaging, and testing by 2030.

To achieve this goal, the Vietnamese government has introduced a series of preferential policies and incentives to encourage foreign enterprises to invest in the country.

Moreover, the government has established the National Innovation Center (NIC) to create a high-tech ecosystem and beef up the training of professionals to meet the needs of developing semiconductor industry.

Currently, Vietnam has drawn in investment from foreign enterprises such as Intel, ASE Group, Samsung Electronics, Amkor, Qualcomm, ONSemi, Renesas, Texas Instruments, NXP, Marvell, Synopsys, Hana, and Anpei. In fact, with global capital investment, Vietnam’s semiconductor industry ecosystem is gradually taking shape in recent years.

Vietnam’s Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Chí Dũng stated that Vietnam boasts some conditions and factors conducive to the development of semiconductor industry, involving a stable political system, a favorable geographical location, and attractive investment incentive policies.

The Vietnamese government has been committed to developing semiconductor industry and hopes to attract more and more large enterprises to invest in Vietnam.

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• [News] Nvidia CEO Visits Vietnam, Plans to Establish Chip R&D Base

(Photo credit: Intel)