Lam Research and ASE expansions; data center shifts; CPO system architecture initiative; 2D-transistor interface solution; USENIX HW security; patent suits; image sensors; programmable AI memtransistor; Nvidia’s new plan; earnings; Tier IV’s L4 auto chip. UC Berkeley experts argue that AI progress does not require ever-larger data centers. Smaller open-source models are becoming capable enough for many tasks while using far less compute, energy, and water — and increasingly they could run on local HW. Data-center network fabrics are undergoing another architectural shift as optical interconnects assume a larger role in AI-cluster connectivity. The push toward 1-megawatt racks is forcing fundamental changes in data center architecture, including cooling, power delivery, rack design, and 3D-IC packaging. CSISrecommends tying data center incentives to measurable community benefits, prioritizing brownfields and existing industrial or federal sites, and locating new compute capacity near universities, national labs and advanced-manufacturing hubs. CPO is taking off as AI data centers leverage every possible option for improving performance and reducing power, but keeping pace with demand is a challenge as CPO shifts from lab instrumentation to production ATEs on a factory floor. Capacity ASE’s subsidiary SPIL broke ground on a nearly US$3.1B advanced packaging and test plant in Douliu, Taiwan. The 6-hectare facility is expected to add CoWoS capacity for AI chips, with first-phase production targeted for 2028 and more than 2,200 jobs planned at full buildout. Lam Research will spend $3B over 5 years to expand its R&D lab network, increasing its experiment capacity by more than 50%. China is rapidly gaining ground across the semiconductor supply chain, with legacy-chip capacity projected to approach half of global output by 2030 and domestic equipment makers expanding even as access to leading-edge AI chips remains constrained, predicts Rhodium Group. Notable deals Lam Research and NY Creates are partnering to train about