CES 2026 is right around the corner, which means it might only be a matter of days before we find out the official specs for AMD's new Ryzen 9000 series processors. The company is reportedly planning at least two refreshed X3D SKUs: a dual-cache Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 and
SoftBank stakes $4B on securing AI data center power and capacity — DigitalBridge purchase indicative of AI industry's increasing investments in energy supply
SoftBank has agreed to acquire DigitalBridge in a deal valuing the digital infrastructure investor at roughly $4 billion, including debt. The transaction, if it closes, would take DigitalBridge private at $16 per share in cash.
SoftBank says the acquisition is intended to accelerate its global AI infrastructure strategy by giving it direct access to data center development pipelines, financing mechanisms,
U.S. grants Samsung and SK hynix 2026 licenses for chipmaking tool shipments to China — annual approvals replace dated waiver system
The U.S. government has approved annual export licenses allowing Samsung Electronics and SK hynix to ship chipmaking equipment to their manufacturing facilities in China throughout 2026, according to people familiar with the decision cited by Reuters . The approvals arrive just one day before a long-standing waiver system expires on December 31, forcing foreign-owned fabs in
Chinese firms Bytedance and Tencent reportedly offer massive 150% pay increases and 35% bonuses to entice AI talent — salaries and increases also expected to balloon in 2026
Chinese tech companies ByteDance and Tencent are spending massive amounts on bonuses and salaries to attract and retain AI talent. According to South China Morning Post , the former has increased its budget for employee bonuses by 35% over the previous year, while also allocating 150% more for future salary increases. On the other hand, the latter is reportedly hiring senior
MSI B850 MPower Motherboard Review: Micro ATX made for overclocking memory
Tom's Hardware Verdict
The $229.99 MSI B850 MPower offers ample M.2 storage and fast networking. But to get the most out of this BN850 board, you should be overclocking, or look at other, less expensive options.
Pros
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Supports up to DDR5-10200 (w/8000 series APU)
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OC engine/BCLK generator
- +
Four M.2 sockets (two PCIe 5.0)
- +
100,000-Watt Iron Beam laser becomes world’s first drone defense zapper to be operationally deployed — it can also shoot down rockets, mortars, and other aerial threats
The first Iron Beam laser defense system was deployed by Israel on Sunday. This 100kW laser weapon thus became the world’s first high-power drone defense zapper to be operationally deployed. Iron Beam lasers will fortify Israel’s multi-layered defense, complementing the existing Iron Dome , David’s Sling, and Arrow system architecture
Another 16-pin GPU power connector gets scorched, but this time it's not an RTX 5090 — User finds their Sapphire Nitro+ 9070 XT with scorched pins
A few months ago, we covered the first reported case of a 16-pin power connector meltdown for AMD's RX 9070 XT. Usually, it's Nvidia's RTX 4090 and 5090s that face the fire, but Sapphire has adopted the same 16-pin power
China tells chipmakers to use homegrown chipmaking tools for 50% of new capacity — decree designed to squeeze foreign suppliers out of supply chain
China has quietly introduced a rule under which chipmakers must use at least 50% domestically produced equipment when adding new semiconductor manufacturing capacity, reports Reuters . The move could potentially reshape procurement decisions, accelerate local tool adoption, and squeeze foreign suppliers out of the Chinese market.
However, there are a number of catches with this requirement: firstly, authorities grant waivers for
Open source project brings 53-year-old interface to USB — GPIB adapter v3 adds integrated Ethernet port with PoE
An open source USB to GPIB adapter will soon reach version 3, bringing an integrated Ethernet port with PoE support to the design. Project originator Kai Gossner (Xyphro) recently contacted CNX Software about the impending milestone. Regular readers will have moderately fresh GPIB imprints on their brains, as we recently reported on this ancient (53-year-old
Grab this 4K gaming PC with an RTX 5080 and 9800X3D for just $2,499 before prices skyrocket — $200 saving on powerful Skytech rig with 32GB of DDR5 RAM and 1TB SSD
A 4K-capable gaming PC needs top-tier components, but in a pre-built machine, you can often expect to pay a hefty premium for the privilege. That isn't the case with this Skytech gaming PC, on sale at Newegg ahead of the new year with a very respectable $200 discount that pushes it under