Hardware & Semiconductors

A European team eliminates mid-circuit measurements from fault-tolerant quantum computing, running Grover's algorithm on three logical qubits encoded in eight trapped ions without pausing to read error syndromes.

The three largest Open RAN operators are scaling deployments in 2026, with AT&T past 50% of its Nokia-to-Ericsson radio swap and targeting 70% open-capable traffic by year-end.

Intel's Heracles processor, developed under DARPA's DPRIVE program, performs computations on fully encrypted data without decryption, achieving speedups of 1,074 to 5,547 times over a 24-core Xeon.

A new ABI Research report finds that LEO satellite broadband subscriptions reached 11.8 million at the end of 2025, with SpaceX commanding 76 percent of the market, while Amazon and Eutelsat race to scale competing constellations.

Quantum Computing Inc. installed its Dirac-3 quantum optimization machine on the Quantum Corridor network connecting Chicago and Hammond, Indiana, marking the first time a quantum computer has been deployed on a QKD-secured commercial fiber network spanning U.S. state lines.

Intel is in advanced talks with Google and Amazon for EMIB-based chip packaging services worth billions annually, positioning its foundry division as a credible alternative to TSMC's constrained CoWoS capacity.

TSMC's Compact Universal Photonic Engine enters volume production in 2026, with NVIDIA's Spectrum-X Photonics switches and AMD's new $280 million R&D hub positioning optical interconnects as the successor to copper wiring in AI infrastructure.

The industry association's latest 300mm Fab Outlook report forecasts an 18 percent jump in equipment spending this year, with investments projected to exceed $150 billion for the first time in 2027 as AI demand drives historic commitments to advanced capacity across all major regions.

Water treatment giant Ecolab is buying CoolIT Systems from KKR in an all-cash deal that values the Calgary-based liquid cooling company at roughly 18 times its price just three years ago, reflecting the explosive demand for direct-to-chip cooling in AI data centers.

Intel's Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Core Ultra 5 250K Plus ship with additional efficiency cores, native DDR5-7200 support, and aggressive pricing that undercuts their predecessors by up to $100, though AMD's X3D chips retain the gaming crown.

Meta unveiled the Ray-Ban Meta Blayzer Optics and Scriber Optics, its first AI-powered smart glasses engineered from the ground up for prescription wearers, priced at $499 and shipping to U.S. retail on April 14.

The Semiconductor Industry Association reported February 2026 sales of $88.8 billion, a 61.8 percent year-over-year surge driven by AI infrastructure spending, as the chip market remains on pace to cross $1 trillion in annual revenue for the first time.