With the first desktop processors to integrate a dedicated AI inference engine and dramatically better graphics, AMD hopes to give PC enthusiasts a reason to upgrade.

The new Ara2 neural-processor unit (NPU) from Kinara, which means edge in Hindi, provides an 8× increase in performance over the first-generation chip and can run large language workloads.

Intel, TSMC, and Samsung all presented papers on complementary transistors (CFETs) at the 2023 International Electron Devices Meeting. The results were successful enough that CFETs now have a place on the industry’s technology roadmap.

The Meteor Lake PC processor architecture leverages two CPUs largely the same as prior generations. The big upgrade lies in the graphics.

NXP and TI have updated their automotive radar SoCs with new versions intended for centralized processing of radar data.

TechInsights has forecast a doubling of semiconductor sales over the next decade. Some of the dynamics playing out in processors and memory may impact that forecast.

Intel’s Meteor Lake processor has yielded 11 laptop models. They feature fewer threads than prior families but include a new lower-power efficiency core.

The year 2023 saw the data-center AI chip market reach a new height—Nvidia attained a trillion-dollar valuation. Other vendors, including hyperscalers, marched forward with the next version of their chips.

In 2023, communications-infrastructure chips overshadowed smartphone processors as access to the internet—at the user end and at the center—received some necessary attention.

AMD’s MI300 accelerator series uses the latest in advanced packaging from TSMC, with a three-layer die stack using the largest interposer seen to date.

Arm Brings Vectors to a Small CPU; Imagination Updates GPUs

2023 saw new processors for laptops, workstations, and servers. And they weren’t all x86 models: some are vehicles for Arm to enter these spaces.