ASML workers still in the dark seven weeks after 1,700 management cuts announced — cuts represent 4% of its global workforce

The prolonged uncertainty is generating internal unrest, according to an ASML spokesperson who spoke to Dutch broadcaster Omroep Brabant.
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Elon Musk says his chipmaking ‘Terafab Project’ venture will launch in seven days — Musk’s latest moonshot multi-billion project launches on a Saturday

Elon Musk plans to start his ‘Terafab Project’ semiconductor production venture in a week.

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Invisible malicious code attacks 151 GitHub repos and VS Code — Glassworm attack uses blockchain to steal tokens, credentials, and secrets

The technique exploits Unicode Private Use Area characters, which render as zero-width whitespace in virtually every code editor and terminal.
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US gov’t revokes controversial AI hardware export rule that would mandate investments from foreign companies — new export rules are still in the works, though

U.S. Department of Commerce withdraws draft export rule for AI accelerators that would give the U.S. government ultimate power over export controls and mandate investments of foreign firms in the U.S. AI sector.
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Chip material prices double as Middle East conflict compounds China’s existing gallium export ban — wide range of materials for chipmaking skyrocket as supply constricts

Manufacturers have said that prices for key chipmaking metals have doubled, and gallium has climbed sharply, as disruptions from the ongoing Middle East conflict pile onto supply constraints.
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DoJ dismantles botnet made of 360,000 infected routers and IOT devices spread across 163 countries that ran for 16 years — SocksEscort proxy network eliminated in joint operation with Europol

Long-running SocksEscort proxy network brought down by US-EU operation

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US and Gulf states race for Ukrainian interceptor drones, 3D printed model costs $1,000 apiece — Shahed-136 kamikaze drone threat spurs rush for interceptors

Ukraine has sent drone interceptors and training crews to the U.S. and its Gulf State allies as the Iran War rumbles on.
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Tech titans team up to form optical interconnect alliance to solve the AI buildout’s big data bottleneck — Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom & more set sights on building PHY to break through the limitations of copper

AMD, Nvidia, Microsoft, Broadcom, and Meta have formed an Optical Compute Interconnect Multi-Source Agreement (OCI MSA) to develop a standardized optical interconnect for AI data centers, with the aspiration to build a PHY…

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The ongoing Strait of Hormuz blockage will impact the semiconductor and AI industries with Aluminum, Helium and LNG shortages — and with no timeline for re-opening, supply chains face significant challenges

As global oil prices spike due to the ongoing pseudo-blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, other shortages are looming, and they could hit the chip and AI industries dramatically. Aluminum and helium for chip production have b…

Iran conflict delays Meta’s 2Africa undersea cable project — cable layer declares force majeure, says it can no longer safely operate in the Persian Gulf

Meta is delaying work on the Pearls section of its Africa2 network after its contracted cable-layer, Alcatel Submarine Networks, declared force majeure due to the risk of getting hit during the Iran conflict.
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