ARM Archives - Taking Stock

September 1, 2026September 1, 2026

Microduck AI Arrives from Hugging Face

It may look like a cute toy duck, but Hugging Face’s new Microduck is a fascinating example of how interconnected the modern technology industry has become.

The 25cm-tall robot has been developed by Pollen Robotics, the French robotics company acquired by Hugging Face in 2025.

Beneath its quirky exterior is a Chinese-made Rockchip RK3566 processor based on ARM architecture, alongside cameras, LiDAR, motion sensors, microphones and wireless connectivity.

The software story is equally international. Microduck is designed around open-source technology, allowing developers to programme, train and teach it new behaviours using Hugging Face’s robotics ecosystem and reinforcement learning tools.

Global design

That makes Microduck more than an amusing little robot. It is a miniature demonstration of the global supply chain behind modern AI: French engineering, Chinese semiconductor manufacturing, British-designed ARM technology and internationally developed open-source software coming together in one product.

Priced at $399, Microduck is intended to make physical AI more accessible to developers, researchers and enthusiasts. Hugging Face says it received more than $2.6 million in orders during the first 24 hours.

The duck may be French-designed, Chinese-powered and ARM-based — but its ambition is truly global.

What will Nvidia think if they complete their reported potential acquisition of Hugging Face?

September 1, 2026August 31, 2026

Nvidia Reportedly Agrees $12.9 Billion Deal for Hugging Face

Nvidia is reportedly set to acquire artificial intelligence platform Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, in a deal that would give the world’s leading AI chipmaker a powerful position in the rapidly expanding open-source AI market.

The reported transaction, first revealed by The Information and subsequently reported by Reuters, would rank among Nvidia’s largest acquisitions.

However, there was still some uncertainty over whether a definitive agreement had been formally signed, with neither Nvidia nor Hugging Face initially confirming the deal publicly.

Open-source AI

Hugging Face has become one of the most important platforms in the AI industry, acting as a vast repository where developers can share, download and work with open-source AI models, datasets and software. It also provides cloud-based services for running and deploying AI applications.

For Nvidia, the attraction goes well beyond simply acquiring another technology company. Open-source AI is becoming increasingly important as developers look for alternatives to the powerful but largely closed systems operated by companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

That matters to Nvidia because many of those companies are also developing their own AI chips, potentially threatening Nvidia’s extraordinary dominance of the AI hardware market.

Strength

Owning Hugging Face could therefore help Nvidia strengthen its influence across both the software and hardware sides of the AI ecosystem.

The price tag is eye-catching. Hugging Face was valued at $4.5 billion following a 2023 funding round and was reportedly generating annualised revenue of around $150 million. At $12.9 billion, Nvidia would therefore be paying roughly 86 times that revenue figure.

Premium

Yet Nvidia clearly appears willing to pay a premium for strategic control. The acquisition would give Jensen Huang’s company a significant foothold in open-source AI while potentially creating another route into cloud computing and AI services.

If completed, the deal would send a powerful message: Nvidia is no longer simply selling the picks and shovels of the AI revolution — it wants a much bigger stake in the mine itself.

Hugging Face was founded in 2016, so as of August 2026 it is 10 years old.

It was originally created as a chatbot company by Clément Delangue, Julien Chaumond and Thomas Wolf, before evolving into the major open-source AI platform it is today.

Quite remarkable, really — a 10-year-old company potentially being worth nearly $13 billion.

August 28, 2026September 4, 2026

Nvidia’s AI Machine Shows No Sign of Slowing

Nvidia has once again delivered figures that underline just how extraordinary the artificial intelligence boom has become.

Its latest results, reported on 26 August, showed second-quarter revenue soaring 106% year-on-year to $96.2 billion, comfortably ahead of Wall Street expectations of around $92.3 billion. Adjusted earnings reached $2.22 a share, also beating forecasts.

Data centres

The real powerhouse remains Nvidia’s data-centre business. Revenue from the division jumped 117% to $89 billion, reflecting the enormous sums being spent by cloud providers, AI laboratories and technology companies building increasingly powerful computing infrastructure.

More remarkable, however, was Nvidia’s outlook. The company expects third-quarter revenue to reach approximately $108 billion, plus or minus 2% — ahead of analysts’ expectations of roughly $104 billion.

Growth into 2028

Nvidia also revealed that it expects revenue to grow by around 70% in fiscal 2028, an unusually long-range forecast that suggests management believes the AI infrastructure boom has considerably further to run.

The company is already ramping up its next-generation Vera Rubin platform, while an expanded partnership with Amazon Web Services includes the deployment of an additional two million Nvidia GPUs.

Demand and risk

Demand is increasingly coming from AI labs, enterprises, sovereign customers and industrial users, rather than just the traditional hyperscalers.

There are still risks. Nvidia warned that shortages and soaring memory costs will squeeze margins, while its outlook assumes no data-centre compute revenue from China. Competition from customers developing their own chips is another potential challenge.

Nevertheless, the message from Nvidia is remarkably bullish: AI spending is not peaking — it is broadening.

The big question for investors is no longer whether Nvidia can grow, but how long growth of this extraordinary magnitude can continue before the law of large numbers finally catches up.

August 19, 2026August 23, 2026

The AI Revolution Is Real — But So Is the Bubble Risk

Hermann Hauser has seen technology revolutions come and go. As the co-founder of Arm and a veteran technology investor, his latest warning about artificial intelligence deserves attention — particularly because he is not predicting that the AI boom will collapse.

Quite the opposite

Hauser believes AI could create more economic value than any previous technology revolution.

But he also describes the journey ahead as a “rollercoaster”, arguing that some valuations have already raced far beyond what the underlying businesses can reasonably justify.

That distinction is important. The technology can be transformational while the financial markets surrounding it become overheated.

Billions

Billions are pouring into AI companies, data centres, chips and infrastructure. At the same time, some of the industry’s biggest players are increasingly intertwined financially, creating concerns about circular investment — money flowing between chip companies, AI developers and infrastructure providers.

Hauser reportedly believes a correction could therefore be painful, even if the technology itself continues advancing.

Yet he does not see the largest AI laboratories as necessarily being the biggest casualties. Companies with substantial capital and genuine demand for their products may be capable of surviving a market reset.

The bigger question is whether investors have confused technological potential with guaranteed financial returns.

History lesson

History offers plenty of warnings. The internet genuinely transformed the world, but that did not prevent the dot-com bubble from destroying enormous amounts of wealth. Great technology and terrible investment decisions can exist at the same time.

Hauser’s message is therefore neither “AI is a fraud” nor “AI stocks can only go higher”.

It is much more uncomfortable: the revolution may be real — and the bubble may be real too.

For investors, that could be the most important warning of all.

August 11, 2026August 11, 2026

AI’s Energy Crisis: The Power Problem Behind the Tech Boom

Artificial intelligence is facing a problem that cannot be solved by buying more chips: there may not be enough electricity to power the machines.

AI data centres are expanding rapidly. Training and running models requires enormous computing power, while the facilities themselves need electricity for cooling.

IEA

The International Energy Agency estimates data-centre electricity consumption could reportedly more than double, from about 415 terawatt-hours in 2024 to roughly 945 TWh by 2030. That would make data centres one of the fastest-growing sources of electricity demand.

Old Infrastructure is a big problem

The problem is not necessarily a global shortage of energy. It is a shortage of electricity generation and grid infrastructure in the right places, at the right time.

Data centres can require hundreds of megawatts, yet connecting new generation to the grid can take years. Ageing transmission networks, lengthy planning processes, transformer shortages and grid-connection queues are becoming bottlenecks.

So how is the industry going to fix it?

The short-term answer is likely to be a mixture of natural gas, renewable energy, batteries and existing nuclear plants. Gas can be deployed relatively quickly and provides reliable power, although it increases carbon emissions.

Renewables are cheaper and cleaner but need transmission and storage to provide reliable power. The IEA expects gas and coal together to supply more than 40% of the additional electricity required by data centres through 2030.

Further ahead, nuclear power could become important, including small modular reactors, alongside geothermal energy and improved battery storage. AI companies are also exploring dedicated power plants and locating data centres closer to abundant electricity.

No quick fix

But there is no instant solution. New gas generation and grid upgrades can take several years; major transmission projects can take much longer, while new nuclear facilities can take a decade or more.

The AI revolution is therefore becoming an energy race. Chips may determine how intelligent AI becomes, but electricity may determine how quickly it can grow.

And the effect for you and me?

For the general population, the AI energy crunch could eventually mean higher electricity bills, greater pressure on national power grids and tougher competition for available energy.

As technology companies build enormous data centres, they may compete with households and traditional industries for electricity, particularly in areas where grid capacity is already limited.

Governments could be forced to spend billions upgrading power networks and building new generation, with some of those costs potentially passed on to consumers through taxes or energy bills.

There is also a risk that greater reliance on gas-fired generation could slow efforts to cut emissions.

However, the picture is not entirely negative: investment in new renewable energy, nuclear power, batteries and upgraded grids could ultimately create a more reliable and modern electricity system.

The real question is who pays for the huge infrastructure needed to power the AI boom — and who benefits from it?

Water?

Water could become another major pressure point. AI data centres generate enormous amounts of heat and many rely on water-based cooling systems, meaning their expansion can increase demand for local water supplies.

This could become particularly problematic in areas already facing drought or water shortages, where data centres may be competing with households, agriculture and industry for a limited resource.

Supply issues

The issue is not simply the amount of water consumed, but where and when it is consumed. A data centre built in a water-stressed region could place significant additional pressure on local supplies.

New cooling technologies, including closed-loop systems, liquid cooling and air cooling, can reduce consumption, while locating data centres near plentiful water supplies can also help. These closed systems need cooling too and likely will add to power consumption.

Compete

But, just as with electricity, the rapid expansion of AI means infrastructure and resource planning must catch up — otherwise the technology boom could increasingly compete with the basic resources people depend upon.

July 29, 2026July 29, 2026

China’s Chip Breakthrough Sends Shockwaves Through Global Tech Markets

A stunning breakthrough in China’s microchip industry has rattled global technology markets, wiping billions from company valuations and raising fresh questions over who will dominate the next phase of the artificial intelligence revolution.

Western control

For years, Western export controls were expected to slow China’s progress in developing cutting-edge semiconductors – the tiny but powerful processors that sit at the heart of AI systems.

Instead, Chinese engineers appear to have made significant strides, challenging the assumption that the country would remain years behind its international rivals.

Sharp stock sell-off

The news has sparked a sharp sell-off across technology stocks as investors digested the implications.

Shares in some of the world’s biggest chipmakers and AI-related companies fell as markets reassessed future earnings and the prospect of fiercer global competition.

While AI remains one of the fastest-growing industries on the planet, the emergence of another serious contender has unsettled a sector that has enjoyed remarkable investor confidence.

Strategic asset

Semiconductors have become one of the world’s most valuable strategic assets. They power everything from advanced chatbots and autonomous vehicles to medical research and military systems.

Any nation capable of producing high-performance chips gains not only an economic advantage but also increased technological independence.

Race

Industry experts believe China’s latest achievement could intensify the global race for semiconductor supremacy.

Governments are already investing heavily in domestic chip manufacturing, while technology firms are pouring billions into research to stay ahead of rapidly evolving competition.

Although the market reaction has been dramatic, many analysts see the current volatility as a short-term adjustment rather than a sign that the AI boom is fading.

Breakthrough

Instead, China’s breakthrough may ultimately accelerate innovation, forcing companies around the world to develop faster, smarter and more efficient technologies in what is becoming one of the defining industrial contests of the 21st century.

Or is there a more affordable alternative for AI development compared to the trillions the U.S. has invested?

China clearly believes there is.

June 29, 2026June 29, 2026

The Great Memory Squeeze: Why the AI Boom Is Reshaping the Entire Hardware Industry

A global shortage of DRAM is rippling through the technology sector, exposing a stark divide between the giants of consumer electronics and the smaller firms that rely on stable component pricing to survive.

What was once a cheap, predictable commodity has become the industry’s most volatile input, with prices rising several hundred per cent in under a year.

Feeding AI

The cause is simple: artificial intelligence systems now consume extraordinary volumes of high‑performance memory, and suppliers are prioritising the biggest buyers.

For companies like Apple, Microsoft and Samsung, the surge in memory costs is disruptive but manageable. These firms have the scale, cash reserves and supply‑chain leverage to secure allocation and pass higher costs on to consumers.

Apple has already raised prices across several product lines, while Microsoft has increased the price of its Xbox Series S and warned that memory costs may double again by 2027. Their margins will tighten, but their market positions remain secure.

Smaller manufacturers face a far harsher reality. Start‑ups, niche hardware makers and mid‑tier consumer electronics brands are being pushed to the back of the queue, forced to pay inflated prices or accept long delays. Some may simply be unable to ship products at all

Pressure.

Companies such as GoPro have already warned investors of existential pressure, and others in the audio, camera and budget‑device sectors are quietly preparing for cancelled launches or reduced specifications.

The stock market has responded unevenly. Memory suppliers like Micron and SK Hynix have seen extraordinary rallies, with margins soaring and investors betting on prolonged demand.

Meanwhile, smaller hardware firms are experiencing sharp declines as profitability evaporates.

Longer term, the memory crunch may accelerate consolidation. If supply remains tight, the industry could tilt even further towards a handful of dominant players, with innovation increasingly concentrated among those able to afford the rising cost of participation.

June 25, 2026June 26, 2026

IBM’s ‘block of flats’ chip design pushes Moore’s Law into new territory

IBM’s latest research breakthrough – a sub‑1nm chip architecture built like a “block of flats” – marks one of the most ambitious attempts yet to stretch Moore’s Law beyond its natural limits.

The company claims its new NanoStack design can pack almost 100 billion transistors onto a fingernail‑sized chip, a density that would have been unthinkable even a decade ago.

In early tests, the prototype delivered 50% higher performance and 70% better energy efficiency than IBM’s own 2nm technology, signalling a potential generational leap in computing power.

Moore’s Law at 50 years

For more than half a century, Moore’s Law – the observation that transistor counts double roughly every two years – has shaped the trajectory of the semiconductor industry.

But as transistors approach atomic scales, the physics has become unforgiving. Leakage, heat, and quantum effects increasingly threaten the neat exponential curve that once defined progress.

The industry’s response has been to move vertically: instead of squeezing more transistors across a flat surface, designers are now building upwards.

Verical stacking

IBM’s NanoStack takes this vertical shift to an extreme. Rather than simply elongating transistor structures, the company has begun stacking entire sheets of transistors on top of one another, creating a skyscraper‑like arrangement.

Professor Alan Woodward of the University of Surrey reportedly likens the shift to replacing a city of houses with a 100‑storey tower block – a vivid contrast to the 30–50‑storey equivalents being pursued by rivals such as Samsung and Intel.

The approach is bold, but it comes with engineering hazards. Heat rises through the stack, threatening performance and reliability. Layers that are too thin risk transistors failing to switch off cleanly, undermining the chip’s logic.

Obstacles

These are not trivial obstacles, and IBM acknowledges that commercial production remains several years away.

Yet the company argues that the architectural shift is essential if computing is to keep pace with the demands of AI, cloud workloads, and energy‑constrained data centres.

If NanoStack proves manufacturable at scale, it could represent the most significant extension of Moore’s Law since the industry moved from planar to FinFET designs.

The broader question is whether this vertical strategy can deliver multiple generations of improvement, or whether it is the final flourish before the industry must abandon transistor‑count metrics altogether.

For now, IBM has injected fresh momentum into a field long assumed to be running out of road – and reminded the industry that Moore’s Law may bend, but it is not yet broken.

Moore’s Law states

Moore’s Law is the principle that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles roughly every two years, leading to continual increases in computing power and efficiency.

June 18, 2026June 19, 2026

Qualcomm suggests AI Agents will replace apps soon

Qualcomm’s latest pitch is blunt: the age of standalone apps is fading, and AI agents are about to take their place.

It’s a bold claim, but it reflects a wider shift sweeping through the tech industry as on‑device AI becomes powerful enough to handle tasks that once required entire software ecosystems.

Delegating Intent

Qualcomm argues that future smartphones will rely less on tapping icons and more on delegating intent. Instead of opening an app to book travel, edit photos, or manage finances, users will instruct an AI agent that understands context, preferences, and history.

The agent will then orchestrate the work across services in the background. In Qualcomm’s view, this makes the traditional app model feel increasingly rigid and outdated.

The company’s latest Snapdragon platforms are designed around this idea: fast local processing, persistent personal models, and low‑latency agentic behaviour that doesn’t rely solely on the cloud.

It’s a strategic move to keep mobile hardware relevant as AI shifts the centre of gravity away from apps and towards continuous, conversational computing.

Sceptics will note that apps won’t vanish overnight. But the direction of travel is clear. If Qualcomm is right, the next major platform shift won’t be about bigger screens or faster chips.

It will be about replacing the app grid with an intelligent layer that simply gets things done.

June 5, 2026June 5, 2026

AI Rout Hits Seoul: Kospi Sinks Over 5% as Chip Giants Slide

South Korea’s markets were hit hard on Friday 5th June 2026, with AI‑linked stocks leading a sharp regional sell‑off after Wall Street’s tech slump rippled across Asia.

The Kospi tumbled 5.54%, closing at 8,160.59, its steepest one‑day fall in months, as investors rapidly unwound positions in semiconductor and AI beneficiaries.

Heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix were at the centre of the decline, sliding 6.40% and 9.92% respectively. This demonstrates how tightly exposed Seoul’s market has become to the global AI cycle.

The pullback followed a sharp rotation out of chipmakers in the United States, triggered by disappointing revenue data from Broadcom. This shook confidence in the sector’s near‑term momentum.

With A I names having powered much of 2026’s rally, even a modest earnings wobble proved enough to spark a broader de‑risking.

Domestic strain

Domestic pressures added to the strain. South Korea’s labour minister urged major tech firms to share more of their AI‑driven semiconductor profits with workers and suppliers. This is a signal that political scrutiny of the sector is rising just as global sentiment cools.

For now, the sell‑off looks like a reminder of how tightly South Korea’s market is tethered to global AI expectations.

If Wall Street’s AI led enthusiasm falters, Seoul’s tech giants may face a more prolonged test.

June 5, 2026June 5, 2026

Nvidia moves into PCs – All hail Nvidia!

Nvidia’s long‑anticipated push into the PC market has finally materialised — and it marks the company’s most aggressive attempt yet to extend its dominance beyond the data centre.

At Computex in Taipei, Jensen Huang unveiled the N1X, an Arm‑based CPU fused with a Blackwell‑class GPU into a new RTX Spark superchip, set to appear this autumn in premium Windows laptops from Microsoft, Dell, HP, ASUS, Lenovo and MSI .

The move is strategically significant. For decades, the PC’s central processor has been the guarded territory of Intel and AMD, with Apple’s M‑series proving the only major Arm‑based disruption.

Nvidia is now entering that arena with a design built explicitly for the age of agentic AI — machines that run multiple AI processes simultaneously, shifting huge volumes of data between GPU and CPU.

Nvidia has argued for months that CPUs have become the bottleneck in modern AI workflows, and the N1X is its answer: a custom Arm design, co‑developed with Microsoft and manufactured on TSMC’s 3‑nanometre process, paired with 128GB of unified memory for high‑bandwidth compute.

Huang framed the launch as a generational reset: “the first completely re‑engineered, reinvented line of PCs in 40 years.” It’s hyperbole with intent.

Nvidia wants to define the AI PC in the same way it defined the AI data centre — not as an incremental upgrade, but as a new category.

More than 30 laptops and 10 desktops are reportedly planned over time, with early models aimed at creators, AI developers and high‑end gamers seeking thin, light machines with workstation‑level capability.

The competitive implications are profound. Arm‑based computing is accelerating across the industry, and Nvidia’s arrival puts direct pressure on Intel and AMD just as both are scrambling to articulate their own AI‑centric roadmaps.

If RTX Spark delivers the performance uplift Nvidia promises, the centre of gravity in the PC market could shift rapidly — from x86 incumbents to a company that has already rewritten the rules of modern computing once.

All hail Nvidia.

May 5, 2026May 5, 2026

Intel’s latest surge is being described as its best performance in 55 years

Intel has delivered a remarkable turnaround, culminating in what analysts are calling its strongest market performance since the company first listed on the Nasdaq nearly 55 years ago.

Best figures since 1973

In April 2026, Intel’s shares soared 114%, marking the best month in its entire trading history and eclipsing a record that had stood since 1973.

The rally followed a blowout first‑quarter earnings report, where Intel posted $0.29 EPS and $13.58 billion in revenue, both comfortably ahead of expectations.

CPU demand

Demand for CPUs — long overshadowed by GPUs — is resurging as agentic AI systems increasingly rely on CPU capacity for data movement and workflow orchestration. This shift has placed Intel back at the centre of the AI infrastructure race.

While the company is still early in its recovery, the combination of stronger fundamentals, renewed CPU relevance, and investor confidence has produced a milestone month unmatched in over half a century.

April 13, 2026April 14, 2026

TSMC’s 35% Revenue Surge Signals the New Centre of Gravity in Global Tech

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has delivered a striking 35% year‑on‑year jump in first‑quarter revenue, reaching a record NT$1.13 trillion.

The result underscores just how dramatically the centre of gravity in global technology has shifted towards advanced semiconductor manufacturing, with artificial intelligence now the defining force behind industry growth.

Relentless AI demand

TSMC’s performance is being powered by relentless demand for cutting‑edge chips from major clients such as Apple and Nvidia.

As AI infrastructure spending accelerates worldwide, the company has become one of the few manufacturers capable of producing the most sophisticated processors required for training and running large‑scale models.

March alone saw revenue climb more than 45%, highlighting the strength and urgency of this demand.

Ambition

Analysts suggest TSMC is on track to exceed its already ambitious 30% annual growth target, helped not only by volume but also by reported price increases for its most advanced nodes.

Even as smartphone and PC markets remain uneven, AI‑related orders are more than compensating.

With more companies—from hyperscalers to AI start‑ups—designing their own chips, TSMC’s strategic position looks increasingly unassailable.

Upcoming earnings and ASML’s results next week will offer further clues about the momentum behind the semiconductor sector’s AI‑driven boom.

March 27, 2026March 27, 2026

Arm’s Bold Pivot: The AGI CPU Signals a New Era for British Chipmaking

ARM has triggered one of the most dramatic shifts in its 35‑year history with the launch of its first in‑house data‑centre processor, the AGI CPU — a move that sent its shares surging 16% and reshaped expectations for the company’s future.

Long known for licensing energy‑efficient chip designs to the world’s biggest tech firms, ARM is now stepping directly into the silicon market, competing with the very customers that built its empire.

Major Tech Firms Using Arm Designs (AI & Mobile)

Company	Primary Use Case	Arm-Based Technology
Apple	Mobile & on‑device AI	A‑series (iPhone/iPad) and M‑series (Mac) chips
Samsung	Mobile, AI, IoT	Exynos processors
Qualcomm	Mobile & automotive AI	Snapdragon SoCs
Google	Android ecosystem & edge AI	Pixel phones (Arm cores inside Tensor chips)
Amazon (AWS)	Cloud compute & AI inference	Graviton & Trainium/Inferentia (Arm Neoverse)
Meta	AI infrastructure	Deploying Arm-based AGI CPU
OpenAI	AI inference & orchestration	Early adopter of Arm AGI CPU
Nvidia	AI data‑centre CPUs	Grace CPU (Arm architecture)
OPPO	Mobile AI	Arm-based SoCs in Find series
vivo	Mobile AI	Arm-based SoCs in X‑series

Strong demand

The new AGI CPU is engineered for the rapidly expanding world of AI inference and agentic AI — workloads that demand vast CPU coordination rather than pure GPU horsepower.

Early demand appears strong. Meta has signed on as the first major customer, with OpenAI, Cloudflare and SAP also adopting the chip as they race to expand their AI infrastructure.

The financial implications are striking. ARM expects the AGI CPU alone to generate $15 billion in annual revenue by 2031, a figure that dwarfs the company’s 2025 revenue of $4 billion.

Significant shift

Analysts have described the announcement as the most significant strategic shift ARM has ever undertaken, noting that the revenue projections exceed even the most optimistic market estimates.

By moving into full chip production, ARM is broadening its market to include companies that previously had no interest in its traditional IP‑licensing model.

Executives say the chip will be competitively priced, offering an alternative for firms unable to build their own custom silicon.

For the UK, the launch marks a rare moment of industrial ambition in a sector dominated by American and Asian giants.

If ARM’s forecasts hold, the AGI CPU could become one of the most commercially successful chips ever produced by a British company — and a defining pillar of the AI age.

See more here about the new ARM AGI CPU

February 19, 2026February 19, 2026

Nvidia Draws a Line Under Its Arm Ambitions with Full Share Sale

Nvidia has formally severed its financial ties with Arm Holdings, selling the final tranche of its shares and closing the book on one of the semiconductor industry’s most ambitious — and ultimately unsuccessful — takeover attempts.

Regulatory filings reportedly show the chipmaker disposed of roughly 1.1 million Arm shares during the fourth quarter, a holding valued at around $140 million based on Arm’s recent market price.

Sale of entire ARM stake

The move brings Nvidia’s ownership of the British chip‑architecture specialist to zero, marking a symbolic end to a saga that began in 2020 when Nvidia launched a bold $40 billion bid to acquire Arm.

That deal, which would have reshaped the global semiconductor landscape, collapsed under intense regulatory scrutiny and resistance from major industry players concerned about competition and neutrality.

Despite the divestment, the relationship between the two companies is far from over. Nvidia remains a major licensee of Arm’s instruction‑set technology, which underpins its current and next‑generation CPU designs.

Strategic move

Analysts note that the sale appears to be strategic housekeeping rather than a shift in technological direction, especially given Nvidia’s rapid expansion across data‑centre, AI, and edge‑computing markets.

Arm’s shares initially wobbled on news of the disposal but quickly stabilised, even edging higher as investors interpreted Nvidia’s exit as a clearing of legacy baggage rather than a signal of weakening confidence in Arm’s long‑term prospects.

The company, now primarily owned by SoftBank, continues to push ahead with its growth strategy following its public listing.

For Nvidia, the sale represents a clean break from a failed acquisition that once promised to redefine the industry.

For Arm, it marks another step in its evolution as an independent powerhouse at the centre of global chip design. The strategic paths of both companies however, remain intertwined

August 16, 2024September 12, 2025

Intel sells stake in UK chip designer Arm

Intel has divested its 1.18 million share stake in the British chip company Arm Holdings, according to a regulatory filing.

Intel is undergoing significant restructuring and cost-cutting to address competitive challenges in the semiconductor industry.

The recent transaction, disclosed on Tuesday 13th August 2024, is believed to have earned Intel approximately $147 million, based on Arm’s average share price between April and June 2024.

This move away from Arm occurs during a challenging financial phase for Intel, as it embarks on what CEO Pat Gelsinger reportedly describes as “the most extensive restructuring of Intel since the memory microprocessor transition four decades ago.”

In early August, Intel announced a cost-reduction plan designed to save $10 billion. This includes the layoff of about 15,000 employees, the elimination of the fiscal fourth-quarter dividend, and a reduction in capital expenditures.

At the same time, Intel disclosed quarterly figures that fell short of expectations and provided conservative guidance for the upcoming quarter.

This announcement precipitated the steepest single-day decline in Intel’s stock value in half a century, plummeting 26%.

Intel one year chart as of 15th August 2024

August 1, 2024September 12, 2025

Arm issues light earnings guidance but latest results exceed expectations

Arm results exceeded expectations, but earnings guidance disappointed.

The chip-design company has ceased disclosing the quarterly shipment numbers of its chips.

Arm’s shares dropped over 13% in after-hours trading on Wednesday following the chip-architecture firm’s announcement of modest earnings projections for the current quarter and the entire fiscal year.

Shareholders report

Total revenue was a record $939 million, up 39% year-on-year

Royalty revenues were up and amounted to $467 million, this represents a 17% increase.

Licence and other revenue was $472 million, up 72% year-on-year.

Arm’s revenue increased by 39% year-on-year for the quarter ending 30th June 2024, as reported in a shareholder update. The net income reached $223 million, a significant rise from the previous year’s $105 million.

Arm has kept its full year forecast unchanged, projecting revenues between $3.8 billion and $4.1 billion.

For the upcoming fiscal Q2, Arm anticipates revenues ranging from $780 million to $830 million. This projection suggests no mid-range growth, contrasting with some analysts’ expectations of $804.1 million in revenue.

Arm Holdings one day share price mid-day 1st August 2024

June 7, 2024September 12, 2025

Is this German chipmaker about to gain more traction in the AI race

While Nvidia continues to dominate the AI chip market headlines, Infineon, a German semiconductor company, is also making waves.

Infineon is capitalizing on the AI surge, aiming to generate billions in revenue through the sale of premium chips.

As AI applications proliferate, encompassing data centre servers and integrated chipsets for PCs and mobile devices, the demand for AI chips is skyrocketing. This trend has only one direction, and that is up.

Infineon is certainly one to watch – it may just become the next major player in the industry.

Others to watch: ARM Holdings, AMD and Intel

May 21, 2024September 12, 2025

Microsoft announces new PCs with AI chips

Microsoft is promoting new computers equipped with advanced chips, engineered to operate the new artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities embedded in the Windows operating system.

On Monday 20th May 2024, Microsoft unveiled a Surface Laptop and a Surface Pro tablet, both featuring a Qualcomm chip capable of executing AI tasks both online and offline.

The new Microsoft Copilot+ PCs feature chips designed by ARM and are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips, which are also based on ARM architecture. These Snapdragon-powered PCs represent the initial series of devices under the Copilot+ PC brand, introducing over 20 models from various manufacturers, such as Acer.

The partnership between Microsoft, Qualcomm, and PC manufacturers is focused on providing superior processing and quick response times, with these ARM-based chips being integral to the new AI designs.

In addition, manufacturers like Lenovo, Dell, HP, Asus, Acer, and Samsung are launching AI-ready PCs featuring Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus processors. These processors offer extended battery life and compatibility with Microsoft’s Copilot AI chatbot.

Microsoft’s powerful AI vision – some tech information

Windows PCs designed for AI, known as Copilot+ PCs, are fitted with new, powerful chips capable of an astounding 40+ TOPS, ensuring all-day battery life and access to cutting-edge AI models.

Promoted as the fastest and most intelligent Windows PCs ever created, they boast features like Recall, Cocreator, and Live Captions, which can translate audio from over 40 languages into English.

These devices include sleek, lightweight, and elegantly designed models from Microsoft Surface and OEM partners such as Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung. Pre-orders are now open, with availability starting on June 18 and prices reportedly beginning at $999. This represents a major shift in the Windows platform, placing AI at the forefront of PC architecture.

This progress is a big part of Microsoft’s wider initiative to drive AI innovation onto devices, enhancing the AI capabilities that are already present in the cloud through Copilot.

This is a massive development in the deployment of AI to the masses.

May 13, 2024September 12, 2025

With a 20,000% increase over the past decade – has Nvidia’s stock peaked?

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) has experienced remarkable growth over the past decade.

Historical stock price trends

As of 10th May 2024, NVIDIA’s closing stock price stood at: $898.78

NVIDIA’s stock reached an all-time high of $950.02 on 25th March 2024. The 52-week high stands at $974.00, which is 9.7% higher than the current share price. Conversely, the 52-week low was $280.46, which is considerably below the current price.

Annual percentage changes

In 2024, the average stock price reached $763.29, marking a year-to-date rise of 79.30%.

In 2023, NVIDIA’s stock price experienced a remarkable surge of 239.02%.

Conversely, in 2022, the stock price witnessed a decline of 50.27%.

Throughout the past decade, the stock has undergone considerable volatility, exhibiting both notable gains and significant losses.

Focus

NVIDIA began as a pioneer in PC graphics and has since expanded its focus to artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. Its GPUs (graphics processing units) are pivotal in AI, high-performance computing (HPC), gaming, and virtual reality (VR) platforms.

The company’s parallel processing capabilities, powered by thousands of computing cores, are vital for executing deep learning algorithms. Additionally, NVIDIA is active in emerging markets such as robotics and autonomous vehicles.

Market position

NVIDIA holds a dominant position in the Data Centre, professional visualization, and gaming markets. Its success is bolstered by strategic partnerships with leading cloud service providers and server vendors.

Financial performance

NVIDIA’s revenue and profit have seen substantial growth over time. Its emphasis on AI and new technologies suggests a strong potential for further expansion. In summary, despite NVIDIA’s stock achieving impressive gains, it is still influenced by market trends and technological changes.

Its peak status hinges on multiple elements such as industry movements, competitive landscape, and upcoming innovations. Investors are advised to meticulously assess these factors when determining the stock’s future prospects.

Considering a long-term investment yet expecting a downturn, it might be prudent to realise some profits now, given the enormous 20,000% surge in stock value.

Take some profit and buy again after a pull-back.

May 13, 2024September 12, 2025

Arm reportedly to launch AI chips in 2025 as Softbank plan AI data centres

Arm, with a 90% holding by SoftBank, is reportedly set to establish an AI chip unit with the goal of developing a prototype by spring 2025.

This initiative is aimed at catching up with the booming AI market, currently dominated by Nvidia.

Arm, alongside competitors such as AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm, is accelerating efforts to gain position in the AI sector.

SoftBank is negotiating with contract manufacturers, including Taiwan’s TSMC, to produce the AI chips. Mass production is expected to commence in autumn 2025.

Arm’s shares have surged by nearly 45% this year, bringing its market capitalization to over $113 billion.

The chip designer based in the U.K., plans to create an AI chip unit to develop a prototype by spring 2025.

Discussions are reportedly ongoing with contract manufacturers like Taiwan’s TSMC for the production of the AI chips. It was reported that production is anticipated to start in fall 2025.

Arm is responsible for designing the core architecture for these chips. The company licences its designs to companies including Qualcomm and Nvidia and earning royalty fees from each sale. The company asserts that 99% of high-end smartphones utilize Arm technology.

Ambition

Established by Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son, SoftBank is heavily investing in AI. The company has new plans to allocate $960 million by the following year to enhance its generative AI computing capabilities. In June 2023, Son expressed SoftBank’s ambition to occupy a leading role in the AI revolution.

Reportedly, SoftBank aims to establish AI data centres equipped with proprietary chips throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia, and the Middle East by 2026.

For the fiscal year concluding in March 2024, SoftBank recorded a 7.24 billion Japanese Yen ($4.6 billion) profit in its Vision Fund.

This was the first profitable year for the principal tech investment division since 2021.

May 10, 2024September 12, 2025

Arm Holdings share price drops

UK chip designer Arm’s shares fell on Thursday 9th May 2024, subdued by revenue forecasts despite a strong sales quarter fueled by demand for AI applications.

Arm announced a 47% increase in fiscal Q4 revenue to $928 million on Wednesday.

This surge was propelled by its licensing business, which saw a 60% increase to $414 million for the quarter, attributed to several high-value licencing deals for AI chips.

Additionally, Arm’s royalty revenues rose 37% to $514 million year-over-year, thanks to the growing adoption of its new Armv9-based chips, which offer higher margins.

However, Arm’s revenue projection for 2025, estimated between $3.8 billion and $4.1 billion, did not meet investor expectations, with analysts anticipating $3.99 billion for the year.

What is Arm?

Contrary to chipmakers like Nvidia, which manufacture and market their own products, Arm creates the ‘architectures’ that form the foundation of chips.

These designs are then licenced to various chip manufacturers, including Qualcomm and Nvidia, with Arm earning royalties on each unit sold.

Originally founded in Cambridge, England, in 1990, Arm was an independent company listed in London until 2016, when it was acquired by Japanese tech investor SoftBank for $32 billion.

In September 2023, SoftBank listed Arm on the Nasdaq. Since its initial public offering, Arm’s share value has more than doubled, driven by the explosive demand for chips that power advanced generative AI applications, such as ChatGPT.

But this recent revenue forecast had a negative effect on its share price

Arm Holdings one year chart to 9th May 2024

The recent revenue forecast had a negative effect on its share price

April 3, 2024September 12, 2025

Intel shares fall after $7 billion operating loss revealed in foundry business

Intel’s stock dropped by 4% during extended trading on Tuesday 2nd April 2024, following the disclosure of long-anticipated financial details for its semiconductor manufacturing division, often referred to as the foundry business, in a filing with the SEC.

The company reportedly disclosed that its foundry business incurred an operating loss of $7 billion in 2023, against sales of $18.9 billion. This represents a greater loss compared to the $5.2 billion operating loss reported by Intel for its foundry business in 2022, which had sales of $27.5 billion.

This is the first time that Intel has disclosed revenue totals for its foundry business separately. Historically, Intel has both designed its own chips as well as its own manufacturing and reported microchip sales to investors.

Other American semiconductor companies such as Nvidia and AMD design their microchips but send them off to Asian factories such as Taiwan’s TSMC for manufacturing.

February 13, 2024September 12, 2025

Arm taking its place in the AI race

Arm’s strong growth forecast has led investors to declare it an AI darling

Arm shares soared 29% on Monday, extending last week’s rally as investors continue to applaud the chipmaker’s better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and its position in the artificial intelligence boom.

Up 93% since 8th February 2024

Arm is now up 93% since it reported quarterly figures on 8th February 2024. There is no obvious reason for the 29% climb on Monday. The fear of missing out (FOMO) could be playing a part in the meteoric share price move.

The stock has almost tripled since Arm’s initial public offering in September 2023, closing at $148.97 and is now worth almost $153 billion, that’s a little more than $30 billion below Intel’s market cap.

Arm 1 year chart showing huge gain in February 2024

AI demand fuels Arm’s success

Last week, Arm said it could double the price for its latest instruction set, which accounts for 15% of the company’s royalties, suggesting it can expand its margin and make more money off new chips. It also said it was breaking into new markets, such as cloud servers and automotive, due to AI demand.

Its royalty strength combined with Arm’s optimistic growth forecast has made the company the latest AI darling among investors, despite a higher earnings multiple than Nvidia or AMD.

February 2, 2024September 12, 2025

AMD enters AI-powered PC race as artificial intelligence demand grows

U.S. microchip giant Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is investing in AI PCs to take on the likes of Nvidia and Intel and Arm as the AI race gains momentum.

As the AI market expands so too will AI powered personal computer (PC). These are personal computers embedded with processors specifically designed to perform AI functions such as real-time language translation. Intel has already announced its AI powered chip for the PC.

Tech research firm Canalys in a December report said the boom in generative AI is expected to boost PC sales as consumers are seeking devices with AI features, predicting that 60% of the PCs shipped in 2027 will be AI-capable.

AI tech interest explodes

An explosion of interest in AI was sparked by the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 as the chatbot went viral for its ability to generate human-like responses to users’ prompts.

Microsoft was quick to adopt the Technolgy and incorporate AI into its Bing search engine. Other companies such as Amazon, Alphabet (Google), Arm, Meta, Tesla and Apple are all heavily involved in AI development too.

December 15, 2023September 12, 2025

Intel unveils new AI chip

Intel’s new chip will go head-to-head with Nvidia and AMD

Intel unveiled new computer microchips on Thursday 14th December 2023, including Gaudi3, a chip for generative AI software.

Intel also announced Core Ultra chips, designed for Windows laptops and PCs, and new fifth-generation Xeon server chips. Intel’s server and PC processors include specialized AI parts called NPUs that can be used to run AI programs faster.

AI race

AI models, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, run on Nvidia GPUs in the cloud. It’s one reason Nvidia stock has been up nearly 230% year to date while Intel shares have risen 68%. And it’s why companies like AMD and, now Intel, have announced chips that they hope will attract AI companies away from Nvidia’s dominant position in the market.

Gaudi3 will compete with Nvidia’s H100, the main choice among companies that build huge factories of the chips to power AI applications, and AMD’s forthcoming MI300X, when it starts shipping to customers in 2024.

CEO Gelsinger

‘We’ve been seeing the excitement with generative AI, the star of the show for 2023,’ Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger reportedly said at a launch event in New York where he announced Gaudi3 along other chips focused on AI applications.

**Intel upping the anti with its Gaudi AI chip. The AI PC to become the new AI start of 2024 and beyond!**

‘We think the AI PC will be the star of the show for the upcoming year,’ Gelsinger added. And that’s where Intel’s new Core Ultra processors, also announced on Thursday, will come into play.

Let the battle commence.