logo
SoftBank reportedly looking to launch a trillion-dollar AI and robotics industrial complex

SoftBank reportedly looking to launch a trillion-dollar AI and robotics industrial complex

Yahoo10 hours ago

SoftBank is going all in on AI.
Just months after announcing its involvement in the $500 billion Stargate AI Infrastructure project, of which SoftBank is rumored to be fronting a cool $19 billion, the Japanese investing conglomerate is reportedly looking to launch its largest AI project yet.
The company is looking to team up with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to launch a trillion-dollar industrial complex in Arizona to build AI and robotics, according to reporting from Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the project.
The initiative, dubbed Project Crystal Land, appears to still be in its very early stages. Despite SoftBank's desire to work with TSMC on the project, it's unclear what TSMC's role would be, according to Bloomberg, or if it would be interested in joining forces with SoftBank at all — TSMC already has its own AI infrastructure projects in Arizona in the works.
TechCrunch reached out to SoftBank for more information.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Spot Crypto ETF Filings for XRP, SOL, DOGE Among Those With Overwhelming SEC Approval Odds: Bloomberg
Spot Crypto ETF Filings for XRP, SOL, DOGE Among Those With Overwhelming SEC Approval Odds: Bloomberg

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

Spot Crypto ETF Filings for XRP, SOL, DOGE Among Those With Overwhelming SEC Approval Odds: Bloomberg

Odds are stacked that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approves most of the filed crypto exchange-traded funds, including the various XRP ETFs, by their respective deadlines, according to Bloomberg Analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas. 'We are raising our odds for the vast majority of the spot crypto ETF filings to 90% or higher,' Bloomberg Intelligence's James Seyffart said in a post on X. 'Engagement from the SEC is a very positive sign in our opinion.' According to the analysts, ETFs for assets like Litecoin, Solana, XRP, Dogecoin, and Cardano all now sit at or above the 90% mark. These estimates reflect growing optimism from ETF specialists following a wave of 19b-4 acknowledgements and S-1 amendment requests from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Analysts view this back-and-forth process as a signal that the SEC is now more willing to work with issuers. The only asset lagging behind is SUI, filed solely by Canary. Bloomberg assigns it a 60% chance of approval, citing a lack of regulated futures and regulatory uncertainty. Bettors on Polymarket are also feeling optimistic. They are giving a 98% chance that an XRP ETF gets approved this year, and a 91% chance a SOL ETF gets the green light. It's also likely that a DOGE ETF gets a go-ahead, with bettors giving that a 71% chance of happening.

Intel claims 18A, the node Pat bet the company on, is either 25% faster or 38% more efficient than Intel 3. Though that's a node Intel didn't have enough faith in to release for desktops or laptops
Intel claims 18A, the node Pat bet the company on, is either 25% faster or 38% more efficient than Intel 3. Though that's a node Intel didn't have enough faith in to release for desktops or laptops

Yahoo

time3 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Intel claims 18A, the node Pat bet the company on, is either 25% faster or 38% more efficient than Intel 3. Though that's a node Intel didn't have enough faith in to release for desktops or laptops

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Intel has been deep diving on its upcoming 18A chip node at the VLSI Symposium in Japan. And if the company's claims are to be believed, 18A is looking pretty sweet. Among other factoids, Intel says it's either up to 25% faster at the same power level, or up to 38% more efficient at the same frequency compared with the Intel 3 node. That's very promising for laptop battery life in particular. Of course, Intel 3 is a node of which we have absolutely zero experience. That's because Intel has never used Intel 3 for a consumer chip, choosing instead to go with TSMC's N3 node for both its Lunar Lake laptop chip and latest Arrow Lake desktop and mobile CPU family, as used for the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K. The most advanced Intel node in the PC is Intel 7, which is a rebrand of Intel's infamous 10nm technology, which ended up arriving the better part of a decade late. Anyway, what to make of these claims from Intel? Specifically and compared to Intel 3, Intel says that in low voltage 0.65 V operation, 18A is either 18% faster or 38% more efficient, while in high voltage 1.1 V mode, it's 25% faster or 36% more efficient. In other words, in low voltage mode you can either run the same clock speed as Intel 3 and use 38% less power, or use the same power and enjoy 18% faster clocks. Meanwhile, in the high performance, high voltage mode, you can choose between either 25% higher clocks for the same power consumption as Intel 3 or the same clocks with 36% lower consumption. Any way you slice it, these are very nice numbers. It's just hard to draw too many conclusions given the scarcity of comparable Intel chips on the Intel 3 node. For now, it's only the Xeon 6 Granite Rapids server CPU, launched earlier this year, that's built on Intel 3. Moreover, the fact that Intel passed over Intel 3 for Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake hardly seems like a vote of confidence in its own manufacturing tech. The point being that Intel also made some bullish claims about Intel 3 and an 18% performance-per-watt increase over Intel 4, but it seems like we'll never get an Intel 3 chip in a PC. What's more, even if these claims are accurate, there's the question of yields. Can Intel actually produce 18A chips at scale? Answers to all these questions will presumably come later this year when the Panther Lake mobile CPU with an 18A CPU die is supposed to be released. If Intel's numbers are accurate, Panther Lake ought to be a much more efficient laptop CPU, enabling clearly improved battery life. At least, that's compared to Intel 3. Exactly how 18A compares with TSMC N3, which is the node used by Intel for Lunar Lake's CPU cores is a separate matter. The takeaway here, then, is that this is all very complicated. Intel has released some very promising numbers. But they involve comparison with another Intel node which itself is only available in a range of server chips and it's unclear how 18A stacks up against TSMC's competing technology. The proof will be in the processing, so to speak, when Panther Lake arrives at the end of this year. It's been a long time coming, but no CPU has ever felt as critical for Intel as Panther Lake.

Rebecca Shi on ICE Raids Scaring Essential US Workers
Rebecca Shi on ICE Raids Scaring Essential US Workers

Bloomberg

time3 hours ago

  • Bloomberg

Rebecca Shi on ICE Raids Scaring Essential US Workers

Rebecca Shi, American Business Immigration Coalition Executive Director, discusses the impact ICE raids are having on the US labor force and shares her thoughts on whether or not the deportations themselves or the fear the deportations are instilling on workers are putting more stress on the job market. She speaks with Joe Mathieu and Tyler Kendall on the late edition of Bloomberg's "Balance of Power." (Source: Bloomberg)

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store