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AI Chips & Semiconductors: News and Explainers

News and explainers on AI accelerators and the chip industry behind them: Nvidia, AMD and custom silicon, TSMC and rival foundries, advanced packaging and the memory shortage.

Latest in AI Chips & Semiconductors

What we cover in AI Chips & Semiconductors

This section follows the chips that run artificial intelligence and the industry that builds them. That means AI accelerators, the specialized processors used to train and run AI models, from Nvidia, AMD and designers of custom silicon. It also covers the manufacturers that turn those designs into silicon, including TSMC, Samsung, Intel and Japan's Rapidus. Coverage extends to the advanced packaging that joins processors to memory, and to the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) at the center of a wider memory shortage.

The sums involved have grown quickly. World Semiconductor Trade Statistics, an industry statistics body, reported that global semiconductor sales reached $702 billion in the first half of 2026. It said that was up 102 percent from a year earlier, with memory sales up 305 percent. Nvidia reported revenue of $96.2 billion for its quarter ended July 26, 2026. It said $89.0 billion of that came from data center products.

Production is concentrated in a few companies. TrendForce is a market research firm. It estimated that TSMC held 72.5 percent of the contract chipmaking market by revenue in the second quarter of 2026, the first in which its 2-nanometer process contributed sales. In memory, the three biggest manufacturers are Samsung, SK hynix and Micron, according to IDC. TrendForce projected on September 30, 2026 that conventional DRAM contract prices would rise a further 10 to 15 percent in the fourth quarter. Explainers here focus on how the technology and its supply chain work, and on what the numbers mean for buyers.

AI Chips & Semiconductors reference

AI Chips & Semiconductors: common questions

Why are RAM prices so high?
Memory makers are directing limited factory capacity toward AI data centers, which need high-bandwidth memory and server DRAM. That leaves less for PCs and phones. IDC described this in December 2025 as a zero-sum contest for wafer capacity. TrendForce reported in August 2026 that server DRAM contract prices rose a cumulative 64 percent in the second half of 2025. It forecast a further increase of roughly 270 percent in 2026.
Is TSMC a monopoly?
Not in the literal sense, because rival foundries exist, but it dominates contract chipmaking. TrendForce estimated TSMC's share of foundry revenue at 72.5 percent in the second quarter of 2026. It put Samsung at 5.9 percent and SMIC at 5.4 percent. The Register reported in February 2026 that Samsung had also begun 2-nanometer volume production in late 2025. It said Japan's Rapidus was aiming for mass production by 2027.
Is TSMC's Arizona fab operational?
Yes. TSMC says its first Arizona fab began high-volume production on its N4 process in the fourth quarter of 2024. As of October 2026, the company says the structure of a second fab was completed in 2025. It says volume production there on its N3 process is targeted for the second half of 2027. A third fab, planned for N2 and A16 technologies, broke ground in April 2025.
What is HBM memory?
High-bandwidth memory, or HBM, is a type of DRAM built for AI and high-performance computing. According to Micron, it stacks multiple memory dies vertically and connects them with thousands of tiny vertical links called through-silicon vias. The stack sits beside the processor on a silicon interposer, which shortens the distance data travels. Micron says its HBM interface is 16 times wider than a standard DDR5 module's.

Sources

  1. Global Semiconductor Market records exceptional growth in Q2 2026, World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS)
  2. NVIDIA Announces Financial Results for Second Quarter Fiscal 2027, NVIDIA
  3. Global Foundry Revenue Approaches US$53.49 Billion in 2Q26 as SMIC Narrows Market Share Gap with Samsung, Says TrendForce, TrendForce
  4. AI Server Demand Sustains Memory Contract Price Increases in 4Q26, While Consumer-Side Pressure Persists, Says TrendForce, TrendForce
  5. Memory Prices Soar; DRAM and NAND Flash to Account for 68% of Major CSP CapEx in 2027, Says TrendForce, TrendForce
  6. Global Memory Shortage Crisis: Market Analysis and the Potential Impact on the Smartphone and PC Markets in 2026, IDC
  7. TSMC Arizona - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, TSMC
  8. High-bandwidth memory (HBM) | Micron Technology Inc., Micron Technology
  9. Japan's Rapidus lands $1.7B to chase 2nm chip production by 2027, The Register