ASML moving to U.S.- Nvidia to change name to AISi & acquire PSI Quantum

• Nvidia changing name to AISi (AI silicon) reflecting business focus
• Nvidia to buy PSI Quantum to combine AI & quantum efforts
• ASML to move to U.S. to reduce China & employee restrictions
• New Japanese consortia firms join Rapidus & IBM fab team

Nvidia renaming to reflect AI reality

Nvidia which is now clearly seen as the poster child and dominant leader in all things AI will change its name to AISi (pronounced “I See”) which reflects its current position as the dominant source of AI (artificial intelligence) Si (silicon).

In conjunction with the name change, the company will also move its stock trading to the NYSE under the new ticker symbol “AI”.

Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, will announce the changes at a scheduled news conference but his statements regarding the change were released earlier today.

“Nvidia and the world are entering a new era of pervasive, ubiquitous artificial intelligence. As the leader in AI based silicon, our new name, AISi, is more reflective of our business position and our focus going forward”, Jensen continued, ” We believe AI will be more impactful on society than the PC, the internet or mobile phones, and are dedicating the company, and its name, to it.”

Rumored acquisition of PsiQuantum likely to be announced at news conference

It is also speculated that Nvidia, the new “AISi”, will announce the acquisition of PsiQuantum, the leading start up in quantum computing, at the same news conference. Nvidia (AISi) has been working on a stealth quantum computing program to combine its 200 Billion transistor AI chips with PsiQuantums millions of optical quantum qubit quantum computer systems. The combination would likely be a superior competitor to Google’s Quantum AI project which is called Sycamore, as it would combine the two market leaders in AI and quantum computing.

Googles quantum AI project

We would add that the combined entity could easily be called AISiPI (I see pie…) if you added PSI Quantum to Nvidia’s new name…..just saying…..

ASML to move headquarters to US to reduce China and employee restrictions

There have been ongoing reports in the media regarding ASML’s unhappiness with its current restrictive position in the Netherlands. It has been hamstrung by limits of foreign employees and is in obvious conflict over exports to China as well as other restrictions.

The concerns have grown so strong that the Dutch government has launched a previously secret project called “operation Beethoven” aimed at keeping ASML in the Netherlands. It has been reported that operation Beethoven has offered 2.5 billion Euros in incentives and changes in laws to entice ASML to stay put.

News report on operation Beethoven

Previously unknown and unreported in the press is that there has been a secret effort in the US appropriately nicknamed “Roll Over Beethoven” to convince ASML to move to the U.S.

The secret effort has been spearheaded by the unusual combination of Sam Altman of AI fame and Elon Musk (strange bedfellows their opposing views). The target location in the U.S. for ASML to move to appears to be Austin Texas not far from Tesla’s headquarters. Altman has been very publicly calling for up to 7 Trillion dollars in spend on the semiconductor industry to support the AI industry. Musk has obviously been very vocal about AI in general and especially in Tesla’s products. So having the number one, premier, semiconductor equipment company in the world as a neighbor would be quite a coup and a bonus for both AI and semiconductor efforts in the U.S.

An unnamed source we spoke to at ASML commented that part of the “USA move package” would include assurances from the U.S. Department of Commerce to reduce China export restrictions to similar low levels currently enjoyed by other U.S. equipment makers, from ASML’s current more restrictive limits in the Netherlands, which ASML has long complained about. In addition ASML would more easily qualify for billions of dollars of CHIPS act funding as a US based company. Also, ASML moving to Austin would offset Applied Materials moving manufacturing jobs out of Texas to Singapore.

In a somewhat bizarre, counterintuitive move, Texas would open up restrictions on immigrants in order to supply ASML’s need for talent.

In our view this move makes sense as most ASML shareholders are in the U.S. anyway and Austin should prove very attractive with all the incentives…..we also find it somewhat poetic justice that Eindhoven means “last hooves” in english and ASML would be moving to the land of cattle (hooves) in Texas……

Rapidus adds Japanese Optimus & Megatron robotic makers to the team

Rapidus, the Japanese fab consortium that is racing to build a 2NM fab in Japan with the help of U.S. based IBM and many others in the industry continues to add to the team of experienced industry players involved in the effort.

With the goal of building one of the most advanced fabs in the world, the need for advanced automation and robotics is clear. In addition to the AMHS (automated material handling systems) which are the overhead fab mini railroads made by Daifuku and Murata the new Rapidus fab will feature robotic wafer handling and tool control automatons made by Optimus and Megatron. The Optimus robot will be called the “Optimus Prime” while the Megatron robots will be a series called “Decepticons” as they imitate human operators.

A spokeperson for Rapidus, Satsu Slayer, welcomed both Optimus and Megatron to the Rapidus consortium by saying ” We are certain that Optimus Prime and the Decepticons will play a key role in “transforming” the dream of Rapidus into the leading fab in the world”

We hope you enjoyed this April “First” issue of Semiwatch!!!!

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Semiconductor Advisors is an RIA (a Registered Investment Advisor),
specializing in technology companies with particular emphasis on semiconductor and semiconductor equipment companies.
We have been covering the space longer and been involved with more transactions than any other financial professional in the space.
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