Webtagr - Technology News Summarizer

Andes' Cuzco Core: A RISC-V Challenger in the Datacenter

2025-09-18

Taiwanese chipmaker Andes and its US subsidiary Condor Computing unveiled Cuzco, a groundbreaking RISC-V core aiming to disrupt x86 and Arm's dominance in datacenters. Cuzco employs a novel time-based scheduling architecture, eliminating power-hungry CAMs while maintaining high performance. Its unique execution unit design and multi-level cache architecture support up to eight cores and is compatible with the latest RVA-23 specification. With a track record of over 17 billion RISC-V chips shipped and significant inroads in the AI sector, Andes positions Cuzco to become a leading high-performance RISC-V CPU IP.

(www.nextplatform.com)

Hardware

Pezy Computing's SC4s: A Japanese Math Accelerator Challenging GPU Hegemony

2025-09-08

After fifteen years of development, Japan's Pezy Computing has unveiled its latest SC4s math accelerator, challenging Nvidia's GPU dominance in high-performance computing and AI. The SC4s boasts 2048 RISC-V cores, 96GB of HBM3 memory, and a peak power consumption of 600 watts. Its FP64 performance rivals Nvidia's H100, while offering excellent energy efficiency. Unlike the SIMT architecture of GPUs, Pezy uses an SPMD architecture for greater programming flexibility and supports mainstream AI frameworks like PyTorch. While the future FugakuNext supercomputer primarily uses Nvidia GPUs, Pezy's continued R&D ensures Japan's technological independence in high-performance computing and opens possibilities for diverse computing architectures.

(www.nextplatform.com)

Hardware

Dell's AI Server Business Explodes: Riding the Generative AI Wave

2025-09-03

Dell's strategic positioning in the AI server market yielded spectacular results in Q2 of fiscal 2026. Fueled by massive deals with clients like xAI and CoreWeave, and a preference for American-made hardware, Dell's AI server sales reached $8.1 billion, a 2.6x year-over-year increase. While overall server business profitability saw some compression, the robust growth in AI pushed Dell's Infrastructure Solutions Group revenue past its PC business for the first time in history. Dell forecasts at least $20 billion in AI system sales for fiscal 2026, demonstrating its ability to capitalize on the generative AI boom.

(www.nextplatform.com)

Hardware AI servers

Intel Xeon 7: Can 18A and 3D Packaging Turn the Tide?

2025-08-29

With AMD holding over 40% revenue and 27% shipment share of the x86 server CPU market in the first half of 2025, Intel is betting on its Xeon 7 processors (Clearwater Rapids and Clearwater Forest), launching in 2026, to regain ground. These CPUs leverage the 18A process, 2.5D EMIB interconnect, and Foveros 3D stacking—technologies first deployed (with delays) in the datacenter with the ill-fated Ponte Vecchio. The success of Xeon 7 hinges on stemming AMD's momentum and countering the rise of hyperscaler's custom Arm server CPUs. While the energy-efficient E-core variants have a niche market, they aid Intel in refining its 18A process and 3D packaging. This article details the architecture of the Clearwater Forest E-core processor, including its improved RibbonFET transistors, PowerVia backside power delivery, and 3D packaging, and analyzes its performance potential.

(www.nextplatform.com)

Hardware

IBM's Power11 Processor: A Balanced Act of Memory and I/O

2025-07-18

IBM launched the Power11 processor, an upgrade to the Power10, primarily improving core utilization and supporting DDR5 memory. Power11 maintains a strong balance between memory and I/O, even under massive memory and peripheral demands, making it competitive for large transactional database management systems. Despite manufacturing process challenges and delays, Power11 overcame hurdles through a partnership with Samsung, improving instruction sets and architecture. The article also explores future Power11 upgrades, such as expanding DCM modules to boost scalability to meet growing computational demands.

(www.nextplatform.com)

Hardware server processor

Quantum Computing's Commercial Dawn: QuEra Computing's Breakthrough

2025-06-24

QuEra Computing is making significant strides, accelerating the path to practical quantum computing. The company has successfully deployed quantum computers to research institutions in Japan and the UK and secured substantial funding to further R&D and partnerships. QuEra's unique neutral-atom technology offers advantages in size, power consumption, and scalability, promising commercial value in chemistry, pharmaceuticals, and materials science within the next few years. The industry's positive outlook on quantum computing is underscored by massive investments and active participation from tech giants.

(www.nextplatform.com)

Tech neutral atoms

Europe's First Exascale Supercomputer, Jupiter: An Nvidia-Powered Beast with Arm Aspirations

2025-06-14

The Forschungszentrum Jülich's long-awaited exascale supercomputer, Jupiter, has finally debuted on the Top500 list. This hybrid CPU-GPU machine, built by Eviden and ParTec, boasts a GPU booster module that ranked fourth in the June HPL benchmark. While heavily reliant on Nvidia GPUs and interconnect technology, Jupiter incorporates a Universal Cluster module based on SiPearl's Rhea1 Arm CPU, signifying a move towards European HPC independence. However, reaching the full exascale FP64 performance goal requires further expansion of GPU nodes. The €500 million project highlights the substantial investment in high-performance computing, with a significant portion allocated to hardware and software.

(www.nextplatform.com)

Tech

Armv9: Higher Royalties Fuel Arm's $4B+ Revenue Surge

2025-05-18

Arm's Armv9 architecture, unveiled four years ago, boasts higher royalty fees than its predecessors, significantly contributing to record-breaking revenue. In Q4 FY25, Arm surpassed $1 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time, reaching over $4 billion annually, with royalty revenue exceeding $2 billion. Smartphone chip royalties surged 30%, outpacing shipment growth. The server market also shows strong Armv9 adoption by major players like Nvidia, Google, and Microsoft. This success stems from Arm's leading position in AI cloud deployments and the growing demand for custom silicon solutions, driving license and royalty growth.

(www.nextplatform.com)

Tech chip royalties

Amazon's Ocelot Quantum Chip: A Giant Leap Towards Practical Quantum Computing

2025-03-03

The race towards practical quantum computing is heating up! Amazon Web Services (AWS) unveiled Ocelot, a groundbreaking quantum chip that tackles the persistent challenge of error correction. Unlike previous approaches that added error correction as an afterthought, Ocelot integrates it from the ground up, leveraging 'cat qubits' to effectively suppress errors and dramatically reduce costs (up to 90%). This significant advancement promises to accelerate the timeline for a practical quantum computer by up to five years. Coupled with similar advancements from Google (Willow) and Microsoft (Majorana), the future of quantum computing looks brighter than ever, poised to revolutionize various tech sectors.

(www.nextplatform.com)

Tech quantum chip

Amazon's AI Spending Spree: A $100B+ Bet on the Future

2025-02-07

Amazon plans to spend over $100 billion in capital expenditures in 2025, with a significant portion (estimated at over $86 billion) dedicated to building out AI infrastructure for its AWS cloud services. This massive investment reflects Amazon's strong belief in AI and its potential for future growth. While the short-term investment-to-revenue ratio is high, Amazon's financial model projects a substantial long-term return on investment for its AI infrastructure, explaining the company's aggressive approach to the AI market.

(www.nextplatform.com)

Tech AI Investment

Red Hat Undercuts VMware With OpenShift Virtualization Engine

2025-01-16

Following Broadcom's acquisition of VMware and subsequent pricing changes, many enterprise users are seeking alternatives. Red Hat is capitalizing on this with the launch of OpenShift Virtualization Engine (OVE), a virtualization-focused platform designed to attract VMware customers. OVE leverages the OpenShift platform, removing container capabilities to provide a pure virtualization solution. Integrated with Advanced Cluster Management (ACM) and Ansible automation, OVE simplifies VM migration and management. Red Hat also offers migration tools and professional services to ease the transition, particularly for large enterprises with substantial VM deployments.

(www.nextplatform.com)

Tech