CAMBRIDGE, UK – Artificial Intelligence has come a long way since the success of DeepMind over Go world champion Lee Sedol in 2016; the world is beginning to change according to the new possibilities afforded by AI. From the robust predictive abilities of OpenAI’s ChatGPT – where the AI chatbot can be used for all sorts of purposes, from creating scripts (including malware) to writing academic essays – to AI image generators that are so good that they can win Sony world photography awards, the complexity and capabilities of AI algorithms are growing at a startlingly fast pace. Hardware is hardly divorced from this. As machine learning workloads become more complex and more compute-hungry, so must hardware scale appropriately to ensure cost-efficiency for end users without stalling progress in the software domain. Hardware and software are tightly linked, and it is the matter of control and ownership of AI hardware that is emphasized in IDTechEx’s latest report, “AI Chips 2023-2033”.

The Price of Failure

2016 may have been the year that the world first took notice of the reality of AI, but IDTechEx believes that 2020 will be the year that is remembered as a turning point in technology initiatives across the globe. Chips for AI training – where training refers to providing AI algorithms with large datasets, such that the algorithm can adjust its weights in order to better fit with the provided data – are typically at the most leading-edge nodes, given how computationally intensive the training stage of implementing an AI algorithm is. Intel, Samsung and TSMC are the only companies that can produce 5 nm node chips. Of these, TSMC is currently the only company that is having any real success with securing orders for 3 nm chips. TSMC is a Taiwanese company, Samsung South Korean. TSMC has a global market share for semiconductor production that is currently hovering at around 60%. For the more advanced nodes, this is closer to 90%. Of TSMC’s six 12-inch fabs and six 8-inch fabs, only two are in China and one is in the USA. The rest are in Taiwan. Therefore, the semiconductor manufacture part of the global supply chain is heavily concentrated in the APAC region, principally Taiwan.

Such a concentration comes with a great deal of risk should this part of the supply chain be threatened in some way. This is precisely what occurred in 2020 when a number of complementing factors (such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the rise of data mining, a Taiwanese drought, fabrication facility fire outbreaks, and neon procurement difficulties due to the Russia-Ukraine war) led to a global chip shortage, where demand for semiconductor chips exceeded supply. Since then, the largest stakeholders (excluding Taiwan) in the semiconductor value chain (the US, the EU, South Korea, Japan, and China) have sought to reduce their exposure to a manufacturing deficit should another set of circumstances arise that results in an even more exacerbated chip shortage.

The Prize

But this is not the only reason that national and regional government initiatives have been put in place to incentivize semiconductor manufacturing companies to expand operations or build new facilities. The manufacture of advanced semiconductor chips fuels national/regional AI capabilities. These capabilities, in natural language processing (understanding of textual data, not just from a linguistic perspective but also a contextual one), speech recognition (being able to decipher a spoken language and convert it to text in the same language, or convert to another language), recommendation (being able to send personalized adverts/suggestions to consumers based on their interactions with service items), reinforcement learning (being able to make predictions based on observations/exploration, such as is used when training agents to play a game), object detection, and image classification (being able to distinguish objects from an environment, and decide on what that object is), are so significant to the efficacy of certain products (such as autonomous vehicles and industrial robots) and to models of national governance and security, that the development of AI hardware and software should be at the top of the agenda for any government body that wishes to be at the technological forefront.

Report Coverage

IDTechEx forecasts that the global AI chips market will grow to US$257.6 billion by 2033. How this pie is sliced will largely depend on how effective funding initiatives are. IDTechEx’s report breaks down each major national and regional funding initiative related to semiconductor manufacture, giving analysis pertaining to where funding is coming from, how this is to be dispensed, and the relative effectiveness of each governing body’s initiatives. Geopolitical background is given, difficulties and opportunities presented, and each region’s use and expertise with AI clearly detailed. In addition, the major private investments made and announced since 2021 with regard to semiconductor manufacture are surveyed and contextualized within overarching funding initiatives.

More generally, the report covers the global AI Chips market across eight industry verticals, with 10-year granular forecasts in seven different categories (such as by geography, by chip architecture, and by application). In addition to the revenue forecasts for AI chips, costs at each stage of the supply chain (design, manufacture, assembly, test & packaging, and operation) are quantified for a leading-edge AI chip. Rigorous calculations are provided, along with a customizable template for customer use and analyses of comparative costs between leading and trailing edge node chips.

IDTechEx’s latest report, “AI Chips 2023-2033”, answers the major questions, challenges and opportunities faced by the AI chip value chain. For further understanding of the markets, players, technologies, opportunities, and challenges, please refer to this report.

To find out more, including downloadable sample pages, please visit www.IDTechEx.com/AIChips 

CRANSTON, RI – AIM Solder, a leading global manufacturer of solder assembly materials for the electronics industry, is pleased to announce their participation in the upcoming SMTA Juarez Expo taking place on May 19th at the Polanco Complex – Hall A in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. AIM will highlight their newest halogen-free no clean solder paste, H10.

H10 offers exceptional fine feature printing, improved electrochemical reliability, and powerful wetting in AIM's brand-new halogen-free no clean solder paste. H10 solder paste is capable of transfer efficiency >90% on area ratios of 0.50 and a stencil life >8 hours.

H10’s powerful wetting characteristics eliminate NWO (HiP) defects and improve pad coverage on all surface finishes. H10 reduces voiding on BGA, BTC and LGA and offers enhanced electrochemical reliability on all low stand-off devices. Fit for automotive, LED and aerospace assemblies, H10 no clean solder paste is robust, stable, and easy to implement.

To discover all of AIM’s products and services, visit the company at the SMTA Juarez Expo on May 19th for more information and to speak with one of AIM’s knowledgeable staff members, or visit www.aimsolder.com 

TOKYO – Leading semiconductor test equipment supplier Advantest Corporation (TSE: 6857) today announced it has shipped its 10,000th V93000 system-on-chip (SoC) test system to longtime customer Infineon Technologies, the world’s number one automotive semiconductor supplier. The milestone system is a V93000 configuration developed to address the diverse test needs of power, analog, microcontroller and sensor ICs used in automotive and microcontroller applications. Ever-increasing semiconductor content in today’s automobiles is creating a pressing need for the V93000’s combination of advanced test capabilities and leading cost-of-test savings.

“Advantest’s 93000 tester has proven to be a highly effective digital, power and mixed-signal tester for us. The partnership with Advantest has helped to enable fast time to market while hitting our challenging cost-of-test targets,” said Ralf Schuster, senior vice president, Test and Automation Technologies, Infineon. “We have worked with Advantest for many years, and we are pleased to be the recipient of the 10,000th V93000 shipment.”

Michael Stichlmair, managing director, Advantest Europe, noted, “The V93000 has proven to be one of the most adaptable and versatile platforms in our arsenal. Our engineering team continually develops new innovations to expand the tester’s capabilities and ensure that we can meet the evolving needs of our broad customer base. Shipping our milestone V93000 to our esteemed partner and industry leader Infineon makes this achievement even more significant.”

In the more than two decades since its introduction, the flexible, scalable V93000 has become Advantest’s flagship SoC test platform. The company offers a wide range of V93000 options together with complementary test instruments – including universal analog and digital test cards, RF instrumentation and mixed-signal cards, and best-in-class DPS and floating-power VI cards – as well as the user-friendly SmarTest system software environment. The newest V93000 offering is the EXA Scaleä generation system for testing a wide range of devices, from current and future generations of low-cost Internet of Things (IoT) chips to high-end automotive devices, highly integrated multicore processors, and advanced digital ICs up to the exascale performance class.

PENANG, MALAYSIA – ViTrox, which aims to be the world’s most trusted technology company, is honoured to announce our participation at Semicon Southeast Asia (SEA) 2023 as a Platinum sponsor! We will be showcasing our breakthrough innovations at Booth #A304 in Setia SPICE Arena, Penang, Malaysia from 23rd to 25th May 2023.

Semicon SEA is one of the biggest and most influential events in the regional semiconductor industry, attracting thousands of visitors from around the world. The event provides an excellent opportunity for us to unleash cutting-edge New Product Introductions (NPIs) and a full range of inspection solutions, ranging from Middle & Back-end Semiconductor Vision Solutions to SMT PCB Assembly Vision Solutions, Electronics Communication Systems, and Industry 4.0 Manufacturing Intelligence Solutions – V-ONE, and engage in networking sessions with customers while sharing knowledge. We are excited to meet with industry professionals and players physically.

You will be able to experience the wonders of our advanced and Industry 4.0-ready solutions through our live product demonstrations and new product launch sessions, which is the key highlight of our participation in this grand event. Among the NPIs that will be showcased will be the:

• Wafer Vision Inspection Solution – the Wi8i G2 PRO!
• Die Sorting and Vision Inspection Solution – PX740i
• Advanced 3D Solder Paste Inspection (SPI) Solution for advanced packaging and microelectronics.
• Advanced 3D Optical Inspection (AOI) Solution for advanced packaging and microelectronics.
• V-ONE’s All-New Imaging Analytics with Deep Learning – DeeLIA

In addition, visitors will also have the opportunity to attend insightful sharing sessions from our technical experts at TechStage on 24 & 25 May (Wednesday & Thursday), SMART Enterprise Forum on 24 May (Wednesday) and Advanced Product Testing Forum on 25 May (Thursday)! Furthermore, we have also prepared a mini virtual-reality game called “Treasure Hunt”, whereby visitors get to virtually experience ViTrox Campus 2.0 and learn more about our company's background and culture.

Another thrilling news is that we will be stationed at the Workforce and Talent Development Pavillion (Booth #A1012) to showcase both career and education opportunities with ViTrox. The education arm of ViTrox – ViTrox Academy (VA) team will be on-site to promote their available courses and training programmes and our People Management team will be there to welcome aspiring candidates looking to join ViTrox! Moreover, the Sr. Manager of People Management, Ms Yeoh Siew Eng, will share about our company’s background and culture, internship and career opportunities at ViTrox.

ViTrox team is well-prepared and ready to present innovative solutions and technologies during the show! It's a great platform for us to reconnect and meet with our customers and visitors in person after the pandemic! Please send in your appointment request via the registration link to meet up with our field experts in person!