The Circuit

They investigate a rare anhydrous hydrogen bromide shortage and its geopolitical impact on EUV lithography. They map growing semiconductor supply constraints and how those limits cap industry growth. They unpack a CPU renaissance driven by agentic AI and why high-core-count CPUs are surging. They assess ARM and AMD momentum, Neo Cloud economics, and timing for an optical networking inflection.

Jeremy Werner, SVP and GM at Micron’s Core Data Center unit, leads memory and SSD strategy for AI workloads. He unpacks the rising 'memory wall' in inference and why expanded context windows explode memory needs. He outlines Micron’s multi-year bets across HBM, DRAM and ultra-high-capacity SSDs and how denser storage shrinks footprint, saves power, and reshapes data center design.

A deep dive into Google’s new TPU v5p/v5i launches and the shift toward disaggregated training and inference silicon. A look at memory choices, HBM scarcity, SRAM inference ideas, and board/network moves to cut latency at scale. A surprising take on Intel’s strong earnings, CPU resurgence, foundry capacity and packaging backlogs. Debate over High‑NA EUV economics and whether the current semiconductor rally can last.

Discussion of TSMC’s strong quarter and its big CapEx ramp to chase AI compute demand. A look at Cerebras’ S‑1 and the wafer‑scale inference focus with concentration risks. Talk about a fragmenting custom ASIC market as Google shops design partners like Marvell and MediaTek. Reflection on Apple’s leadership change and the incoming hardware and AI growth cycle.

Discussion of Intel’s recent strategic wins and how advanced packaging could reshape foundry dynamics. Debate over TerraFab details, economics, and market reactions. Exploration of data center design shifts like 800 VDC and liquid cooling to squeeze more compute per megawatt. Conversation about AI model trends, token costs, Anthropic integrations into productivity apps, and capacity and measurement challenges.

A deep dive into MediaTek's push from mobile chips into top‑tier custom ASICs and its technical advantages in packaging and IP. A look at persistent memory shortages, shifting wafer allocation toward HBM, and why pricing is driving market growth. Discussion of supply constraints from tungsten to transformers and what that means for data center scaling and supplier opportunities.

A deep dive into ARM's bold move from licensing to selling CPUs and what that means for the CPU market. Discussion of agent-native versus cloud-native chips and whether ARM will rival x86 players. Exploration of memory market worries and the TurboQuant reaction. Reaction to leaks about Mythos and rapid shifts in AI model leadership.

They unpack Nvidia's GTC buzz, product launches, and how vertical stacks reshape data center infrastructure. They explore optical networking trends, co-packaged optics reliability, and manufacturing challenges. They react to Micron's surprising earnings and debate whether memory margins signal a lasting industry shift.

In this episode of The Circuit, hosts Ben Bajarin and Jay Goldberg dive into NVIDIA’s strategic positioning within the AI infrastructure stack, colloquially referred to as a "five-layer cake". They dissect NVIDIA’s recent push into open-source models, comparing it to Intel’s historical dominance through Linux optimizations, while questioning the true intent behind NVIDIA’s $26 billion "investment" in open-source R&D. The conversation shifts to the rapidly evolving world of "agentic orchestration," where AI agents collaborate across different models to maximize efficiency and token spend. Finally, the duo explores the broader hardware ecosystem, including Meta’s ambitious six-month silicon cadence and the supply chain "masters" who hold leverage in a world defined by compute constraints.

Analysis of Broadcom and Marvell earnings and what their guidance signals for AI semiconductor demand. A deep dive into the copper versus fiber debate for data center interconnects and when optics become necessary. Discussion of hyperscalers' varied networking strategies and the supply chain pressures shaping compute availability. Recap of Apple's new affordable Neo and M5 product moves and their market implications.