Toggle light / dark theme

Rapidus Prototypes 2-nm Transistors for 2027 Ramp

Last month, Japanese startup foundry Rapidus began prototyping 2-nanometer gate-all-around (GAA) transistors at its new facility, a key step toward ramping up its first production in 2027.

The foundry, which aims to compete with TSMC and Samsung in leading-edge chips for AI, said in a press statement that in about three years, it has reached target milestones, including the fab groundbreaking in September 2023, clean room completion in 2024, and, in June this year, the installation of production equipment.

Rapidus and TSMC are two chipmakers that the Japanese government is relying on to revive the nation’s declining semiconductor industry. Rapidus, if successful, will make leading-edge 2-nm chips for companies like IBM. TSMC is producing 12-to 28-nanometer chips for image sensors and automotive applications at its base in Kumamoto, Japan.

Space Force MILNET constellation emerges as top ‘unfunded priority’

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force estimates it would need more than $4 billion to fund a proliferated low Earth orbit constellation known as MILNET that would provide global communications services, making it the largest item in the service’s fiscal year 2026 “unfunded priorities list” submitted to Congress last week.

Elon Just Made Tesla Unstoppable

Questions to inspire discussion.

🚀 Q: How might Elon Musk’s diverse projects contribute to Tesla’s value? A: Musk’s involvement in AI, energy, transportation, and communication through projects like Tesla, SpaceX, and Neuralink demonstrates his capacity to make progress on multiple fronts, potentially creating significant value for Tesla.

Political Involvement and Economic Strategy.

🏛️ Q: Why is Elon Musk getting involved in politics? A: Musk’s political involvement aims to create a better political system on Earth, addressing the unsustainability of US government spending and debt to avoid a fiscal doom loop.

📊 Q: What is Musk’s strategy to improve the US economy? A: Musk plans to accelerate GDP growth through AI-driven growth, humanoid bots, and reducing government spending and waste, potentially breaking free from the constant 7% growth line of the US stock market.

💰 Q: How could reducing government spending benefit the economy? A: By cutting wasteful spending and implementing a balanced budget requirement, the US could potentially grow its economy faster than its spending, reducing interest costs and freeing up money for other investments.

Rivian CEO Exposes Legacy Automaker EV Lies

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe claims that legacy automakers are intentionally slowing down electric vehicle adoption and hindering competition to protect their profits from gas-powered vehicles, which could threaten their survival and allow newer EV makers like Rivian and Tesla to dominate the market ## ## Questions to inspire discussion.

Legacy Automakers and EVs.

🚗 Q: Why are legacy automakers resistant to selling EVs? A: Legacy automakers don’t want to sell EVs because they make good margins on low-efficiency gas cars and can sell them at a premium price, preferring to see the EV market disappear.

🏛️ Q: How are legacy automakers fighting against EV policies? A: Legacy automakers are the biggest adversaries of EV policies, spending the most energy fighting against them in DC, reflecting their desire for the EV market to vanish. Rivian’s Challenges and Strategy.

💰 Q: What financial challenge does Rivian face? A: Rivian has a massive $23 billion debt, making it more indebted than any startup has ever been, requiring 10–20 years to become cash flow positive.

🛻 Q: How is Rivian addressing its product pricing? A: Rivian’s R2 electric truck, launching in 2025, will target a **$45,000 starting price, a strategic move to make their products more accessible.

Zombie fabs plague China’s chipmaking ambitions, failures burning tens of billions of dollars

Many Chinese semiconductor fab projects failed due to a lack of technical expertise amid overambitious goals: some startups aimed at advanced nodes like 14nm and 7nm without having experienced R&D teams or access to necessary wafer fab equipment. These efforts were often heavily reliant on provincial government funding, with little oversight or industry knowledge, which lead to collapse when finances dried up or scandals emerged. Some fab ventures were plagued by fraud or mismanagement, with executives vanishing or being arrested, sometimes with local officials involved.

To add to problems, U.S. export restrictions since 2019 blocked access of Chinese entities to critical chipmaking equipment required to make chips at 10nm-class nodes and below, effectively halting progress on advanced fabs. In addition, worsening U.S.-China tensions and global market shifts further undercut the viability of many of these projects.

So, let’s go over some of China’s most ambitious fab projects, many of which have fallen into oblivion, or have become a dreaded zombie fab.

NightEagle APT Exploits Microsoft Exchange Flaw to Target China’s Military and Tech Sectors

Cybersecurity researchers have shed light on a previously undocumented threat actor called NightEagle (aka APT-Q-95) that has been observed targeting Microsoft Exchange servers as a part of a zero-day exploit chain designed to target government, defense, and technology sectors in China.

According to QiAnXin’s RedDrip Team, the threat actor has been active since 2023 and has switched network infrastructure at an extremely fast rate. The findings were presented at CYDES 2025, the third edition of Malaysia’s National Cyber Defence & Security Exhibition and Conference held between July 1 and 3, 2025.

/* */