Tesla is receiving competing bids for a second Gigafactory in China, according to new documents released by a Chinese province. The automaker said that it expects to announce a new factory location this year. Tesla currently operates two main factories, Tesla Fremont and Gigafactory Shanghai, and it has Gigafactory Texas and Gigafactory Berlin slowly starting to ramp up production.

Intel is close to buying Israeli firm Tower Semiconductor for about US$6 billion, a source familiar with the matter said, as the US company looks to advance its strategy of contract manufacturing chips for other businesses.

AMD has received approval from all necessary authorities to proceed with the acquisition of Xilinx.

Oil prices jumped Friday after a senior White House official warned that the US believes Russian President Vladimir Putin could order an invasion of Ukraine imminently.

ASML has warned that an affiliate of a China company it previously accused of stealing its trade secrets has begun marketing products that could infringe on its intellectual property rights.

In the early weeks of 2022, the government had to take drastic measures to ensure that (coal-fired) electricity is not interrupted, while in this same year it is leading the Group of 20, in which one of three priority issues is sustainable energy transition. It would be a gross oversimplification to pass quick judgement on any government facing one of the most challenging wicked problems - namely energy transition.

(Bloomberg) -- Panasonic Corp. is renovating a facility in Japan to start testing mass production of a new type of lithium-ion battery that's championed by Tesla Inc. as the key to unlocking cheaper electric vehicles.

Intel has just announced $1 billion for the foundry ecosystem. The company will prioritize investments in "capabilities that accelerate foundry customers' time to market - spanning intellectual property (IP), software tools, innovative chip architectures, and advanced packaging technologies." What's interesting is that it does not only cover x86 architecture but also Arm and RISC-V, with a focus on the latter, as Intel has just become a Premier member of RISC-V International.

Several experts expressed optimism. There are signs of improvement. The number of container ships in the queue for L.A.-Long Beach totaled 78 as of late Wednesday, down from a peak of 109 a month ago. The first phase of transport from Asia to North America is taking 7% less time now than it did in November. Pockets of worsening congestion are still easy to see. The protest blocking freight traffic from Detroit into Canada is starting to bite, as Ford was forced to idle a Canadian engine factory.

The $5 billion will be distributed to states over five years, with $615 million available in fiscal 2022. The first year of the program will prioritize EV charging stations along designated alternative fuel corridors, particularly along the Interstate Highway System. Subsequently, states will be able to use funding to develop community charging infrastructure, a senior administration official told reporters on a press call.

Sumco, a key supplier of silicon wafers for the semiconductor industry, said it has already sold out its production capacity through 2026, a sign shortages in the industry may not abate for years.

Heavy investment is needed to increase capacity in the semiconductor industry and there is no immediate danger of oversupply, the CEO of Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML said on Wednesday.

Samsung Electronics is making the biggest change to its smartphone strategy in years by reorganizing around its big-selling Galaxy S and foldable Galaxy Z series of devices. The company plans to discontinue its Note lineup of stylus-equipped phones and instead distribute that capability across its portfolio while pushing premium foldables in its challenge to Apple.

Renesas Electronics expects solid growth in revenue and profits in 2022 following a robust performance last year, amid a global semiconductor shortage.

Teradyne reported higher fourth-quarter profit and revenue, helped by strong demand across test and industrial automation end markets.

China's No. 2 telecommunications equipment maker ZTE has been quietly boosting its chip design capabilities as a US crackdown continues to hobble its bigger domestic rival, Huawei Technologies, Nikkei Asia has learned.

The European Commission will ease funding rules for innovative semiconductor plants under plans announced on Tuesday as the European Union looks to boost its chip industry and cut its dependence on US and Asian supply.

Highly complex infotainment systems are vulnerable to malfunctions that only arise in highly complex systems.

The co-founder of exercise brand Peloton is to step down from leading the company as it plans to cut thousands of jobs.

SoftBank has shelved its blockbuster sale of Arm to US chipmaker Nvidia valued at up to US$80 billion citing regulatory hurdles and will instead seek to list the company.

Verizon continues to be a leading corporate buyer of US renewable energy, announcing seven new Renewable Energy Purchase Agreements (REPAs) for an aggregate of approximately 910 megawatts (MW) of projected renewable energy capacity. These agreements position the company to achieve its goal to source or generate renewable energy equivalent to 50% of its total annual electrical consumption by 2025.

Haas succeeds Simon Segars, who has stepped down as chief executive officer and member of the board of directors after 30 years with the company.

"Infineon has made a successful start into the 2022 fiscal year," said Infineon CEO Reinhard Ploss. "Utilization of our manufacturing capacities is very high and we are expanding them step by step. This will help us improve the availability of products that we manufacture in-house over the course of the year."

Thai-Chinese joint venture SAIC Motor-CP, the manufacturer and distributor of MG cars, plans to spend THB2.5 billion (US$75.8 million) developing a factory to produce batteries for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and start making BEVs domestically next year.

Rohde & Schwarz is partnering with the automotive chipset development team of Realtek to ensure compliance with current and future OPEN Alliance standards.

Peloton Interactive is drawing interest from potential suitors including Amazon.com, according to people familiar with the matter, as the stationary-bike maker's stock slumps and an activist urges it to explore a sale.

Apple is targeting a date on or near March 8 to unveil a new low-cost iPhone and an updated iPad, according to people with knowledge of the matter, kicking off a potentially record-setting year for product launches.

Siltronic AG (SDAX/TecDAX: WAF) recorded a significant increase in sales and earnings in 2021. This excellent development is primarily based on a strong increase in wafer area sold.

In a tech world still hindered by component shortages, choices have to be made. And in the world of laptops, Windows-based devices are being chosen over those running Chrome OS.

Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage will construct a new 300-milimeter wafer fabrication facility for power semiconductors at its main discrete semiconductor production base, Kaga Toshiba Electronics, in Ishikawa Prefecture. Construction will take place in two phases, allowing the pace of investment to be optimized against market trends, with the production start of Phase 1 scheduled for within fiscal 2024. When Phase 1 reaches full capacity, Toshiba's power semiconductor production capacity will be 2.5 times that of fiscal 2021.

China plans to set up a special organization that facilitates collaboration between domestic companies and overseas semiconductor powerhouses such as Intel to foster development hubs for software, material and manufacturing equipment.

Ford Motor plans to suspend or cut production at eight of its factories in the United States, Mexico and Canada throughout next week because of chip supply constraints, a spokeswoman told Reuters on Friday.

Samsung Electronics is stepping up spending on advanced chipmaking technology as it sees growing demand for its smartphones, displays and memory products.

On the call, Intel Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger told analysts that the company has "a lot of catching up to do" in building out capacity, or "shells," to address supply constraints.