Articles by Luke James, Contributor

Luke is a freelance technology journalist who has been covering hardware and semiconductors since 2020. He began his career at All About Circuits and has since contributed to EE Power and Laptop Mag. Luke has a particular interest in semiconductors, microelectronics, and the industry shifts that shape the devices we use every day. Above all, he loves making complex technology accessible to experts and enthusiasts alike. Luke's interest in hardcore computing can be traced back to his university studies, when he responsibly spent his very first student loan payment on a custom-built gaming rig equipped with a GTX 780 Ti.

Articles by: Luke James

Former Samsung engineer accused of giving 10nm DRAM data to China's CXMT, handwritten notes detailed over 600 process steps — gas flow ratios, photoresist settings and more critical stages detailed

By Luke James published 29 December 25

Prosecutors allege handwritten notebooks detailed hundreds of optimized manufacturing steps developed over five years.

Nvidia's $20 billion Groq IP deal bolsters AI market domination — hardware stack and key engineer behind Google TPUs included in bombshell agreement

By Luke James published 29 December 25

Premium Nvidia has announced a $20 billion deal to acquire Groq’s intellectual property, though not the company itself, and absorb key members of its engineering team.

Fujifilm to begin shipping 40TB Ultrium tape cartridges in January 2026 — updated LTO Ultrium 10 archival storage can hold 100TB of compressed data in 0.8-inch thick cartridge

By Luke James published 29 December 25

Fujifilm has confirmed that its new LTO Ultrium 10 data cartridges with 40TB native capacity will begin shipping in January 2026.

FBI issues wanted notice for alleged North Korean remote IT workers accused of $900,000 crypto theft — $5 million reward up for grabs for information on DPRK-linked suspects

By Luke James published 29 December 25

The FBI has published a public wanted notice naming four individuals accused of operating as fraudulent remote IT workers on behalf of North Korea.

Nexperia China seeks new wafer suppliers amid legal standoff with Dutch parent, could take 6 months for qualification — chip shortages have suspended some automotive production lines as Nexperia faces wafer shortage

By Luke James published 28 December 25

Nexperia’s China unit is moving to line up new wafer suppliers over the next six to nine months amid a deepening legal and operational dispute with its Dutch parent company.

Nvidia reportedly backs away from its effort to make its own public cloud, team reorg eases friction with customers — chipmaker shifts unit's focus to internal R&D

By Luke James published 26 December 25

Premium Nvidia has reorganized its cloud computing group, further scaling back its ambitions to operate a public cloud service that would directly compete with Amazon Web Services.

A Tesla Megapack cluster deployed in a desert environment.

How China’s control of battery supply chains is becoming a critical risk for U.S. military power and AI initiatives — reducing reliance will take nearly a decade

By Luke James published 26 December 25

From AI data centers to military drones, the U.S. is increasingly dependent on battery technologies and materials dominated by Chinese firms.

China chipmaker SMIC raises wafer prices by about 10% as memory demand tightens capacity

By Luke James published 25 December 25

The adjustment comes as China’s largest foundry runs near full utilization and faces sustained demand from domestic customers building inventories of memory and logic chips.

SK hynix expands U.S. presence with new Bellevue, Seattle office in efforts to get closer to its largest customers — offices near Nvidia, Amazon, and Microsoft highlight co-designed HBM efforts

By Luke James published 24 December 25

Premium SK hynix is expanding its U.S. presence with a new office in the Seattle metropolitan area, placing the world’s leading HBM supplier within minutes of Nvidia, Amazon, and Microsoft.

Donald Trump and Jensen Huang speaking at a press conference.

Former Chinese gaming company with China govt ties accused of smuggling banned AI GPUs — Nvidia’s biggest Southeast Asia customer exposes the limits of U.S. AI export controls (Updated)

By Luke James published 23 December 25

U.S. export policy is colliding with the realities of globalized supply chains, reseller-driven distribution models, and explosive demand for AI accelerators in China.

Nvidia prepares shipment of 82,000 AI GPUs to China as chip war lines blur — H200 shipments with 25% tax to begin as US loosens restrictions

By Luke James published 23 December 25

U.S. policy reversal opens the door for mid-February exports.

Chinese fabs are reportedly upgrading older ASML DUV lithography chipmaking machines — secondary channels and independent engineers used to soup up Twinscan NXT series

By Luke James published 22 December 25

Premium Chinese fabs are quietly extending the useful life and performance of older ASML deep ultraviolet lithography systems by upgrading key subsystems, as Beijing pushes to sustain advanced chip output.

A Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti 20GB engineering sample.

Another unreleased Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti 20GB Founders Edition engineering sample surfaces on the second-hand market — a previous sample sold for $1,999 on eBay earlier this year

By Luke James published 22 December 25

An engineering sample of an RTX 3080 Ti has surfaced in the secondhand market, according to a post on the Nvidia subreddit.

China's premier GPU maker Biren kicks off Hong Kong IPO — GPU startups vying for Nvidia's crown race to fund AI chip development

By Luke James published 22 December 25

Shanghai Biren Technology has begun bookbuilding for a Hong Kong initial public offering aimed at raising as much ad US$624 million as Chinese AI chipmakers accelerate listings to fund expansion.

NIST warns several of its Internet Time Service servers may be inaccurate due to a power outage — Boulder servers 'no longer have an accurate time reference'

By Luke James published 21 December 25

NIST has warned that several of its Internet Time Service servers could be providing inaccurate time following a failure of the primary atomic time scale at its Boulder, Colorado campus.

Steam app is now 64-bit only on systems that support it, 32-bit support enters final countdown — 32-bit users will stop receiving updates in 2026

By Luke James published 20 December 25

Valve has begun the final phase of its plan to end Steam support for 32-bit versions of Windows, with a December Steam client update that changes how the platform runs on modern systems.

China's new nation-spanning network eclipses 100 Gbps transferring 72 terabytes across 1,000km — experimental research network designed to connect thousands of virtualized networks across the country

By Luke James published 20 December 25

China has brought online a national experimental research network designed to support experimentation on future network designs and to improve data transmission quality.

Samsung introduces SOCAMM2 LPDDR5X memory module for AI data centers — new standard set to offer reduced power consumption and double the bandwidth versus DDR5 RDIMMs

By Luke James published 19 December 25

Premium The LPDDR5X-based module is being positioned as a standardized, serviceable alternative to soldered memory as AI servers chase higher bandwidth.

Here's why HBM is coming for your PC's RAM — HBM consumes around three times the wafer capacity of DDR5 per gigabyte, as AI supercharges demand for chips and advanced packaging

By Luke James published 19 December 25

Premium Surging prices, diverted wafer capacity, and multi-year delays in relief are pushing memory out of reach for consumers.

Microsoft Copilot bar on a nature scene.

LG responds swiftly to user backlash, will allow users to remove Microsoft Copilot link from TVs — clarifies service is not an app, future update will include tile removal option from WebOS

By Luke James published 19 December 25

LG has clarified how Microsoft Copilot appears on its webOS smart TVs following recent coverage that described the feature as a non-removable app bundled into the operating system.

An Italian ferry, operated by GNV, docked in the South of France

French authorities arrest man for installing malware on a passenger ferry on behalf of 'a foreign power' — could have enabled external control of systems, including navigation

By Luke James published 19 December 25

French authorities have arrested a Latvian national suspected of installing malware aboard an Italian passenger ferry while it was docked in southern France.

LG TV users baffled by unremovable Microsoft Copilot installation — surprise forced update shows app pinned to the home screen (Updated)

By Luke James last updated 19 December 25

LG smart TV owners are reporting that a recent webOS software update has added Microsoft Copilot to their TVs, with no apparent way to remove it.

Huawei's AI chip capabilities still pale in comparison to American silicon — report from U.S. council details that despite fears, Nvidia continues to lead by a wide margin

By Luke James published 18 December 25

Premium A new report from the Council on Foreign Relations concludes that Huawei’s AI chip capabilities lag behind Nvidia’s by a wide margin, and that the gap is growing exponentially.

Microsoft data center in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin

Nearly 7,000 of the world’s 8,808 data centers are built in the wrong climate, analysis find — vast majority located outside optimal temperature range for cooling, 600 in locations considered too hot

By Luke James published 17 December 25

Nearly 7,000 of the world’s operational data centers are located in climates that fall outside the temperature range recommended for efficient operation, according to a new analysis.

A DDR5 package shipped with metal ballast plate to fake its weight.

Devastated PC builder orders DDR5 RAM from Amazon, receives DDR2 and some weights — counterfeit 32GB kit a worrying sign of rising return and sales fraud

By Luke James published 17 December 25

A buyer in Spain has reported receiving a sealed DDR5 memory kit that contained counterfeit parts, raising fresh concerns about return fraud affecting high-value PC components.

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