Semiconductors & AI Chips Weekly Briefing

May 8, 2026

AMD and TSMC post strong financial gains as the industry scales AI networking and infrastructure amidst intensifying global trade scrutiny and more.

AMD reported strong first-quarter 2026 financial results with revenue reaching $10.3 billion, a 38% year-over-year increase driven primarily by a 57% surge in its data center segment. ^{12345678910111213}
NVIDIA announced a major strategic partnership with Corning to expand U.S. optical fiber production, alongside collaborations with IREN for 5 GW of infrastructure and ServiceNow for autonomous desktop AI agents. ^{14151617181920}
TSMC reported April 2026 revenue of NT$410.73 billion, reflecting a 17.5% year-over-year increase, while also making progress on its Arizona expansion and entering an image sensor partnership with Sony. ^{21222324252627}
The U.S. government is investigating a suspected smuggling scheme involving billions of dollars' worth of NVIDIA chips routed through Thailand to bypass export restrictions to China. ²⁸
Major industry players including NVIDIA, AMD, Broadcom, and Intel collaborated with OpenAI to detail the Multipath Reliable Connection (MRC) protocol to improve networking efficiency for large-scale AI factories. ^29303132
ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet addressed export controls and joined other European tech leaders in calling for reduced regulation and better policy support to maintain the continent's global competitiveness. ^33343536
Other notable developments include AMD's launch of Instinct MI350P PCIe cards for enterprise inference, record quarterly revenue of $1.49 billion for Arm, and Samsung's validation of AI-driven 5G Power Class 1 technology with Qualcomm. ^373839404142

Sources

Seeking Alpha · May 7 AMD Q1: The Rally Has Only Started
Yahoo Finance · May 6 Even after reporting $10.3 billion in Q1 revenue, AMD can't avoid sting of the memory supply crisis
CNBC · May 6 AMD's Su explains what's behind massive forecast change as stock roars 15% on earnings
Yahoo Finance · May 7 Advanced Micro (AMD) Soars to All-Time High as AI Bolsters Profits by Nearly Double
Yahoo Finance · May 6 AMD Q1 Earnings Beat Estimates, Revenues Rise on Data Center Demand
The Verge · May 6 AMD's revenue jumps 38 percent from last year as Q1 data center sales hit $5.8 billion.
Morningstar · May 5 AMD Earnings: Server CPU Demand Is Skyrocketing
The Motley Fool · May 6 Stock Market Today, May 6: AMD Surges After Q1 Beat and Strong Q2 Data Center Outlook
SiliconANGLE · May 6 AMD's stock rises on surging demand for CPUs and GPUs for AI workloads
Markets Insider · May 5 AMD Reports First Quarter 2026 Financial Results
AMD · Announcement · May 5 AMD reports Q1 2026 financial results
Reuters · May 5 AMD forecasts quarterly revenue above expectations as AI chip demand stays strong
The Wall Street Journal · May 6 AMD Stock Surges on Agent-Driven Data Center Demand
NVIDIA · Announcement · May 7 NVIDIA announces strategic partnership with IREN
Reuters · May 6 Corning partners with Nvidia to expand US fiber optic output for AI growth
CNBC · May 6 Nvidia, Corning partner on massive optical fiber deal that may be a game changer...
NVIDIA · Announcement · May 6 Nvidia announces partnership with Corning
Yahoo Finance · May 5 NVIDIA Deepens Enterprise AI Role With ServiceNow Project Arc Launch
Investing.com · May 5 ServiceNow launches desktop AI agent with NVIDIA security By Investing.com
NVIDIA · Announcement · May 5 NVIDIA and ServiceNow partner on autonomous AI agents
The Edge Singapore · May 8 TSMC's sales grow slowest in months even as AI buildout persists
TSMC · Announcement · May 8 TSMC announces April 2026 revenue
TSMC · Announcement · May 8 TSMC and Sony sign MOU for image sensor partnership
Digitimes · May 7 TSMC eyes bigger US investment; Arizona chip expansion accelerates
TSMC · LinkedIn post · May 7 TSMC celebrates topping ceremony for third Arizona fab
The Indianapolis Star · May 6 Here are 3 ways that TSMC is transforming north Phoenix
Ars Technica · May 6 TSMC taps wind power as AI chip demand soars, Taiwan feels energy crunch
Reuters · May 8 US suspects Nvidia chips smuggled to Alibaba via Thailand, Bloomberg News reports
SiliconANGLE · May 6 Nvidia’s MRC: When 'just Ethernet' isn’t enough for gigascale AI - SiliconANGLE
NVIDIA · Announcement · May 6 NVIDIA announces Spectrum-X Ethernet with MRC
AMD · Announcement · May 6 AMD advances AI networking with MRC
Broadcom · Announcement · May 6 Broadcom announces Multi-path Reliable Connections (MRC) for AI networking
Yahoo Finance · May 7 ASML CEO Says Jensen Huang Totally Right On Exporting Products With An Eight-Generation Gap— Denies Top Chip ...
NewsBytes · May 5 ASML's exclusive EUV machines make it Europe's most valuable firm
Dutch It Channel · May 5 ASML top man rings the alarm bell: only 1% of our revenue comes from Europe
ASML · Blog post · May 5 ASML CEO co-signs opinion piece urging European tech action
AMD · Announcement · May 7 AMD launches Instinct MI350P PCIe GPUs
Network World · May 7 AMD launches AI-targeted PCIe cards for current servers
The Register · May 7 AMD puts out new slottable GPU for AI-curious enterprises
heise online · May 7 AMD Instinct MI350P: ultra-fast AI accelerator as a PCI Express card
Arm · Announcement · May 6 Arm delivers record Q4 FYE26 revenue
Samsung · Announcement · May 6 Samsung and Qualcomm validate 5G Power Class 1 on vRAN