Samsung chips drive record profit yet miss estimates; Sun Engineering lands Korea's largest 200 MW AI site
Alphabet's revenue rose 25% as Google enlisted partners such as Oracle to sell its AI chips, and Korea's Gaon Cable won a 120 billion won data-center cable order from a US tech company. Vertiv and Flex raised their outlooks on AI data-center demand, while the scrapped Firmus float in Australia cast doubt on billions in planned builds.
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Key notes
200MW
Korea's largest AI data center project
South Korea has a new largest AI data center project. Sun Engineering won the 200 MW project, which is based on NVIDIA's Vera Rubin platform, according to Korea Startup Post.
Samsung's semiconductor business powered a record quarterly operating profit, marketscreener reported. Bloomberg said the chip profit still missed estimates that had been lifted by renewed AI hopes, and Chosun Ilbo reported that finished products lost billions.
Alphabet's revenue jumped 25% as its in-house AI chips compete with Nvidia, Nikkei Asia reported. CNBC said Google is changing its cloud approach and enlisting partners to sell more of its AI chips.
A Korean cable maker won a large US AI data-center order. THE ELEC reported that Gaon Cable won a 120 billion won cable order from a US tech company, and The Korea Herald described it as a win for an LS Cable unit.
Debt raised for AI infrastructure is pushing up bond markets. BigGo Finance reported that global bond issuance passed $6.6 trillion and that Amazon has become the world's fourth-largest borrower. Separately, Bloomberg reported that Barclays is turning to insurers to hedge billions of data-center debt.
The UK is offering faster grid connections to priority data centres. Reuters reported that Healey offered faster grid access for key data centres as part of the country's AI push, and Techerati reported that the UK budget introduces a data centre covenant.
Data centers · 46 storiesSites, colocation, cooling, capacity leases.Korea's 200 MW Vera Rubin project and cable orders lead; Firmus float scrappedKorean suppliers won new data-center work, and Vertiv and Flex raised their outlooks on AI demand. In Australia, the cancelled Firmus listing raised questions about planned builds.Frontier AI sites: power against capital costEach point is a site in Epoch AI's frontier register with both a stated power capacity and a stated capital cost — the further above the trend, the more each megawatt cost to build.Sun Engineering won South Korea's largest AI data center project, a 200 MW build based on NVIDIA's Vera Rubin.코리아스타트업포스트Gaon Cable won a 120 billion won AI data-center cable order from a US tech company.THE ELEC, Korea Electronics Industry MediaABC reported that the scrapped Firmus float casts doubt on billions in AI data centre builds.ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting CorporationOpen 46 stories →
Hyperscalers · 9 storiesCapex, power procurement, model-capacity deals.Google enlists partners to sell AI chips; Amazon becomes fourth-largest borrowerThe window's hyperscaler news centred on chip distribution, debt and power. Oracle and NVIDIA also expanded OCI superclusters with Vera Rubin.Hyperscalers, indexed over the last 10 sessionsClosing prices on each company's home exchange, indexed to 100 at the first session shown, for the 5 hyperscalers that moved most over the window.CNBC reported that Google is changing its cloud approach and enlisting partners to sell more of its AI chips.CNBCBigGo Finance reported that debt raised for AI infrastructure pushed global bond issuance past $6.6 trillion, with Amazon now the world's fourth-largest borrower.BigGo FinanceBenchmark Mineral Intelligence said agreements by Google and Amazon show growing hyperscaler demand for nuclear power in a uranium market that is already tight.Benchmark Mineral IntelligenceOpen 9 stories →
Semiconductors · 50 storiesAccelerators, memory, foundry, packaging.Samsung's chip unit drives record profit; Alphabet revenue rises 25% on in-house chipsKorean memory and materials companies dominated the semiconductor news. New funding went to wafer and substrate makers in China.Chipmakers this window, by move8 of 8 tracked chipmakers rose over the window; the change is close to close on each company's home exchange, in its own currency.Samsung's semiconductor business powered a record quarterly operating profit, though Bloomberg reported that the chip profit missed raised estimates.marketscreener.comBloomberg.comNikkei Asia reported that Alphabet's revenue rose 25% as its in-house AI chips compete with Nvidia.Nikkei AsiaAXT announced up to $545M in financing for its subsidiary Tongmei, and China's Zing Semiconductor raised $285M to expand 300mm wafer output.citybizDealroomOpen 50 stories →
Semi equipment · 9 storiesLithography, deposition, etch, test, export rules.KLA earnings due after a chip selloff; JX Advanced Metals invests in recyclingThe equipment layer had no major orders in this window. Coverage focused on upcoming earnings, materials and market forecasts.Toolmakers from window open to close1 of 5 tracked toolmakers closed the window above where they opened it; each line is one company's close, indexed to 100 at the open.Investing.com reported that KLA Corporation is due to report earnings following a semiconductor selloff.Investing.comJapan's JX Advanced Metals will invest in new equipment for recycling semiconductor sputtering targets.Shanghai Metals MarketOne forecast has the semiconductor gases market growing at an 8.4% compound annual rate to reach $15.2 billion by 2030.The National Law ReviewOpen 9 stories →
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AI + Energy & Sustainability
Frontier AI power on the record, by country8 rows · 1 source
Stated power capacity summed across the frontier sites Epoch AI records in each country — where the grid load of the build-out actually sits.Epoch AI · Frontier Data Centers Hub
2 charts built from 3 stated figures across 15 stories, the first planned by the composer from the record. Also had the data for what today covered · topic by region, when the energy stories landed, pressure and relief by topic. Held back: power committed in deals that state a figure (no deal in this edition states the capacity it commits); power disclosed per edition · last 7 (only 2 of the last 7 editions put a number on it).