Hardware Podcasts

Ep 160: More good News for Intel, AI Model Trends, Future of Datacenter

The Circuit · 13 Apr 2026 · 43m · Episode 163

What this episode covers

Ben Bajarin and Jay Goldberg analyze Intel's recent strategic moves, including a partnership with Tesla for its 'Terafab' project and co-design work with Google on its IPU, interpreting these as validation for Intel's advanced packaging and foundry capabilities. They discuss the broader semiconductor market's valuation disconnect, noting how investors are shifting focus from established compute giants to obscure optical and mineral supply chain bottlenecks. The hosts also examine the future of data centers, arguing that extreme co-optimization of power (800 VDC) and cooling is becoming essential to unlock compute capacity, and cover Anthropic's rapid product rollout, including its Word connector and 'Mythos' model, while highlighting rising token costs and capacity constraints.

Most relevant to

large enterprises

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Intel, Tesla, TSMC, Samsung, Google, Anthropic, NVIDIA, Schneider Electric
Products
Claude, Mythos, Opus, EMIB, IPU
Materials
Tungsten
Also
800 VDC

Related episodes from other shows

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Catalyst · 35m

    Inside Google’s massive AI capex (live)

    Amin Vahdat, Google’s chief technologist for AI infrastructure, explains how Google is shifting from training to inference, enabling smaller, distributed data centers and lowering reliability requirements to double compute capacity. He details Google's strategy of using behind-the-meter power as a bridge to grid interconnection and their milestone agreement with utilities for one gigawatt of demand response. Vahdat emphasizes that co-optimizing chip design, building cooling, and power generation creates superefficient 'AI factories,' while identifying power, chips, and construction as simultaneous rate limiters for growth.

    Energy & climate techChips, FPGAs & semiconductors
    8 chapters

  • EE Times Current · 20m

    The State of Multi-Die: Insights and Customer Requirements

    Shaker Kapur, Executive Director of Productline Management for the Synopsys EDA Group, discusses the industry shift toward multi-die design driven by the strategic collaboration between OpenAI and AMD. He explains how this partnership, involving up to 6 gigawatts of AMD Instinct GPUs, highlights the necessity of co-optimizing hardware and software to meet exploding AI compute demands. Kapur details how Synopsys addresses these challenges through its 3DIC Capital platform, which unifies multi-die architecture exploration and system-level analysis to enable scalable, power-efficient data center architectures.

    Chips, FPGAs & semiconductorsAI & machine learning
    7 chapters

  • EE Times Current · 29m

    How Much is Enough for Hyperscale Companies?

    Brian Santo hosts a discussion on how hyperscale companies like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft are reshaping the semiconductor industry by demanding extreme power efficiency and designing custom AI accelerators. Experts Rick Merritt, Gary Hilson, and Dylan McGrath explain that these giants are pushing beyond standard roadmaps, collaborating directly with equipment vendors like Applied Materials, and leveraging their vast capital to drive innovation in memory and process technology. The episode concludes with Wally Rhines' insight that these companies' ultimate goal is owning the data and systems rather than just selling silicon, raising concerns about their growing societal power.

    Chips, FPGAs & semiconductorsSourcing & supply chain
    6 chapters

  • EE Times Current · 18m

    Designing the AI Factory from the Rack Up

    Neeraj Paliwal, Senior Vice President of Silicon IP Product Management at Synopsys, explains why the AI rack has replaced the data center as the fundamental unit of design and economics. He details the shift from 8kW to 130kW+ power densities in systems like NVIDIA's GB200 NVL72, driven by the need to optimize cost per token across distributed GPUs. Paliwal highlights that the industry is moving past single-die limits toward 3D stacking, custom HBM memory integration, and high-speed die-to-die interfaces like UCIe to overcome the memory and I/O bandwidth walls.

    Chips, FPGAs & semiconductorsBatteries & low-power design
    5 chapters

  • EE Times Current · 26m

    China’s $28B Big Fund | The Cockiest Startup | Sony’s Ambitions

    Brian Santo and Junko Yoshida discuss three major developments in the tech industry: the launch of Nuvia, a startup founded by former Apple and Google chip architects aiming to challenge Intel's data center dominance with a new System-on-Chip; Sony's creation of an independent AI research hub focused on gaming, sensors, and robotics; and China's announcement of its $28 billion Big Fund Phase 2 to build a self-sufficient semiconductor supply chain. The hosts analyze the feasibility of Nuvia's ambitious goals, Sony's strategic pivot in AI, and the long-term implications of China's state-backed semiconductor investments.

    Chips, FPGAs & semiconductorsAI & machine learning
    8 chapters

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by The Circuit. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.