May 21, 2026

Imec's Patrick Vandenameele: Full-stack Innovation Is the Name of the Game Imec CEO Patrick Vandenameele said five trends are reshaping chips: system-level co-optimization, silicon photonics, memory growth, chiplets and quantum industrialization. AI's energy and bandwidth limits demand tighter hardware-software integration. EE Times

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Scaling Down Is the New Scaling Up At Embedded Vision Summit, Meta Reality Labs' Vikas Chandra detailed efforts to bring agentic AI to phones and wearables, replacing chatbots with always-on assistants through advances in quantization, model design, optimization, and multimodal perception. EE Times

Package Assembly Design Kits: The Future of Advanced Package Design This white paper advocates for Package Assembly Design Kits (PADK) to streamline high-density fan-out package design by integrating manufacturing verification early, reducing design cycles and complexity. Technical Paper

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Researchers Develop Piezoelectric Hybrid Chip, Achieving 96.2% Power Conversion Efficiency for GPU UC San Diego engineers built a hybrid piezoelectric power-conversion chip that cuts 48V data center power to 4.8V for GPUs at 96.2% efficiency. The design boosts output current fivefold while reducing energy losses in next-generation infrastructure. TrendForce

Changing Waste into Revenue in Semiconductor Manufacturing SEMI launched a roadmap urging chipmakers to replace "take-make-dispose" waste practices with circular recycling and recovery strategies. The report highlights proven methods that cut disposal costs, lower emissions, and turn semiconductor waste into revenue. SEMI

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Technical Papers Automated X-Ray Metrology: Enhancing Quality and Efficiency in Wafer and Panel-Level Applications Alpha Particle Emissions: An Overlooked Risk for Soft Errors in Advanced Packaging Revolutionizing IC Packaging with High-Density RDL Technology EOTPR Fine pitch probing for die-to-die interconnect failure analysis in chiplet devices Die-on-Tab for Compound Semiconductors: Enabling Advanced RF Power Systems Package Assembly Design Kits: The Future of Advanced Package Design Novel Molded FCBGA Package Platform For Highly Reliable Automotive Applications MORE TECHNICAL PAPERS

Sponsor Advanced Packaging and Electronic Assembly Cleaning Fluid Innovation This paper will present aqueous cleaning technology innovations to address the challenges of cleaning highly dense electronic hardware. Read more. KYZEN

ASML Expects First High-NA EUV Memory, Logic Products Within Months Amid TSMC’s Cost-Driven Delay ASML expects the first High-NA EUV chips within months as Intel and SK hynix accelerate adoption of the costly lithography tools. TSMC and Samsung remain cautious, focusing on economics, yields and extending current EUV systems for future nodes. TrendForce

Bezos brushes off concerns of an AI bubble: 'You shouldn't worry about it' Jeff Bezos downplays AI bubble concerns, arguing massive investments from firms like Amazon, Microsoft and Google accelerate innovation. He says even flawed ideas get funded, but strong ones prevail, comparing the boom to the 1990s biotech bubble. CNBC

Sponsor Corner fill inspection A memory manufacturer adopted Nordson's AOI system with deep learning to inspect IC corner fill, ensuring accurate detection, measurement, and improved reliability in semiconductor assembly. Nordson Test & Inspection

When Arm Meets RISC-V: SiPearl, Semidynamics to Co-Develop Sovereign AI Platform SiPearl and Semidynamics launch a multi-year partnership to build Europe's sovereign rack-scale AI platform, combining Rhea2 Arm CPUs and RISC-V accelerators, aiming to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers through open, chiplet-based, OCP-aligned data center architecture. EE Times

How tiny capacitors became the latest AI-driven investor darling AI server production is driving MLCC demand higher, tightening capacitor supply and lifting prices. Manufacturers are shifting capacity toward data centers as power-hungry AI hardware increases component usage and fuels industry growth worldwide. South China Morning Post

Sponsor OntosIS Atmospheric Plasma System The ONTOS Plasma Head is available for integration into third party equipment. The Plasma Curtain is available in several widths to enable optimization of the gas consumption on smaller devices. Ontos Equipment Systems

OpenAI announces new Guaranteed Capacity offering for customers to secure compute OpenAI launched Guaranteed Capacity, allowing customers to secure one-, two-, or three-year compute access at discounted rates. The program helps enterprises plan AI deployments, addresses soaring demand, and supports OpenAI's costly infrastructure expansion. CNBC

Strengthening U.S. Semiconductor Leadership Through Smart Export Control Policy SIA urged policymakers to strengthen U.S. semiconductor leadership through targeted export controls, bipartisan legislation, and tougher enforcement. It also backed policies that protect security while expanding innovation and adoption of chips. Semiconductor Industry Association

Sponsor Die-on-Tab for Compound Semiconductors This white paper explains why die-on-tab is critical for GaN and GaAs RF power devices, improving heat dissipation, reliability, and system life. Download now. StratEdge Corporation

AI exports are armoring trade in Asia: consultants Asia's chip exports show a record price–volume divergence, with value up 81% and volume 28%. Strong AI-driven demand for advanced chips boosts pricing power, decouples trade from external shocks, and drives 80% Q1 export growth across economies, Oxford Economics says. Taipei Times

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