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MicroLEDs vs. Lasers: The Linewidth Tradeoff
Why spectral purity defines the speed limits of datacenter optics
1 hr ago
•
Vikram Sekar
12
1
1
🍪 TWiC: Samsung SiPho, Mobile Demand, Nvidia+Marvell, Intel Fab, Claude Leak, ++
This Week in Chips: Freshy chip news from the semi galaxy, and neighboring dwarf stars
Apr 3
•
Vikram Sekar
20
1
Why the DRAM Structural Floor in the AI Era Makes This Time Different
Why AI demand adds a structural floor that transforms the typical memory cycle into a strong demand signal that is here to stay.
Apr 1
•
Vikram Sekar
33
3
🍪 TWiC: TurboQuant, AGI CPU, GF Sues Tower, CPU Price Hikes, 400G SiPho, AAOI, ++
What's your Weissman score?
Mar 27
•
Vikram Sekar
25
2
TurboQuant: Inner Workings and Implications
Google's year old research resurfaced in a recent blog post and spooked memory investors.
Mar 26
•
Vikram Sekar
37
2
3
Most Popular
View all
The CPU Bottleneck in Agentic AI and Why Server CPUs Matter More Than Ever
Feb 17
•
Vikram Sekar
80
1
9
A Close Look at SRAM for Inference in the Age of HBM Supremacy
Jan 11
•
Vikram Sekar
and
Subbu
70
7
A Beginner’s Guide to Interconnects in AI Datacenters
Sep 8, 2025
•
Vikram Sekar
69
12
Why is High Bandwidth Memory so Hard to Manufacture?
Aug 31, 2025
•
Vikram Sekar
65
2
9
Deep technical insights on AI semis, delivered to your inbox.
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News and Insights
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🍪 TWiC: Samsung SiPho, Mobile Demand, Nvidia+Marvell, Intel Fab, Claude Leak, ++
This Week in Chips: Freshy chip news from the semi galaxy, and neighboring dwarf stars
Apr 3
•
Vikram Sekar
20
1
🍪 TWiC: TurboQuant, AGI CPU, GF Sues Tower, CPU Price Hikes, 400G SiPho, AAOI, ++
What's your Weissman score?
Mar 27
•
Vikram Sekar
25
2
🍪 TWiC: MU HBM4, OCI MSA, Credo Optics, VCSEL Scale-Up, DGX GB300, NBIS $27B
Hot takes from the AI oven.
Mar 20
•
Vikram Sekar
21
2
4
🍪 TWiC: MTIA x4, AVGO 400G, UMC, Nebius, SiPho Readiness++
This Week in Chips: Key developments across the semiconductor and adjacent universes.
Mar 13
•
Vikram Sekar
35
1
4
Memory
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Why the DRAM Structural Floor in the AI Era Makes This Time Different
Why AI demand adds a structural floor that transforms the typical memory cycle into a strong demand signal that is here to stay.
Apr 1
•
Vikram Sekar
33
3
Context Memory Storage Systems, Disruption of Agentic AI Tokenomics, and Memory Pooling Flash vs DRAM
How a new storage tier unlocks long context inference for agents, and dramatically drops cache storage costs. Storage system specifics, potential…
Jan 18
•
Vikram Sekar
43
3
5
Errata: A Close Look at SRAM for Inference in the Age of HBM Supremacy
An update on SRAM bandwidth calculations.
Jan 13
•
Vikram Sekar
15
A Close Look at SRAM for Inference in the Age of HBM Supremacy
Why SRAM for AI inference is far from the silver bullet everyone is expecting, an in-depth look into SRAM's specific performance benefits, and why HBM…
Jan 11
•
Vikram Sekar
and
Subbu
70
7
Computing
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TurboQuant: Inner Workings and Implications
Google's year old research resurfaced in a recent blog post and spooked memory investors.
Mar 26
•
Vikram Sekar
37
2
3
Beyond GTC: A Deep Dive into Compute, LPX, and the Untold Story of SpecDec
Analyzing the CPU, GPU, and LPU chip ratios unveiled at the Nvidia GTC keynote, the impact of the Groq LPX chip on disaggregated decoding, and its…
Mar 18
•
Vikram Sekar
35
6
GTC 2026 Preview | Implications of Nvidia's SRAM-Decode Hardware on the Inference Market
The case for dedicated decode hardware and what it means for AMD, HBM, and the SRAM startup market.
Mar 4
•
Vikram Sekar
39
8
6
The AI Datacenter CPU Yellow Pages
Grace, Vera, Venice, Turin, Diamond/Granite Rapids, Clearwater/Sierra Forest, Graviton, Cobalt, Phoenix, AmpereOne.
Feb 24
•
Vikram Sekar
39
1
Optics and Photonics
View all
MicroLEDs vs. Lasers: The Linewidth Tradeoff
Why spectral purity defines the speed limits of datacenter optics
1 hr ago
•
Vikram Sekar
12
1
1
Grating Coupled COUPE for CPO, and Himax's Fragile FAU Moat
An engineering deep dive into TSMC's COUPE optical engine, explaining why the co-design position of Himax makes them critical near-term suppliers for…
Mar 25
•
Vikram Sekar
29
3
5
Why Optical Circuit Switching is Arista Networks’ Long-Term Problem
OCS is not a near term danger to Arista but can pose a structural threat to Arista’s “blue-box” networking moat in the long run.
Mar 11
•
Vikram Sekar
41
6
6
Lumentum: Laser Demand, OCS, CPO and Optical Scale-Up
$LITE’s enviable market position, big order of UHP lasers, OCS deployments, optical scale-up benefits, and what needs to happen for full optical…
Feb 6
•
Vikram Sekar
42
1
2
Packaging and Interconnect
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Plastic Cables for AI Clusters: Can Point2’s E-Tube Disrupt Copper and Optics?
A deep dive into dielectric waveguides, the company behind them, performance compared to copper and optics, and whether hyperscalers will actually adopt…
Sep 14, 2025
•
Vikram Sekar
28
6
4
A Beginner’s Guide to Interconnects in AI Datacenters
Understanding performance and trade-offs shaping interconnect choices in AI datacenters.
Sep 8, 2025
•
Vikram Sekar
69
12
The Manufacturing Challenge Behind Nvidia’s Plan to Mount AI Chips Directly on PCB Platforms
Is substrate-like PCB technology sufficiently ready to replace ABF substrates that are ubiquitous in AI chips today?
Aug 17, 2025
•
Vikram Sekar
21
2
A Comprehensive Primer on Advanced Semiconductor Packaging
Almost everything you will ever need to know about semiconductor packaging.
Jun 1, 2025
•
Vikram Sekar
117
10
18
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