The neXt Curve reThink Podcast

Silicon Futures for May 2026 - Qualcomm hyperscale AI, Cerebras IPO, Huawei 1.4 nm

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1654726/fan_mail/new] Silicon Futures is a neXt Curve reThink Podcast series on AI and semiconductor tech and the industry topics that matter. This month, the AI narrative has rediscovered its mojo with hyperscalers continuing to double down on their CapExc on AI infrastructure, while realizing unrealized "other income" from their investments in AI startups and labs as the likes of Anthropic, OpenAI, and xAI prepare to go public. We didn't cover it in our discussion, but yes, Elon Musk lost his case against OpenAI. Too bad.  Regardless, another action packed month in May 2026.  In this episode, Leonard, Karl and Jim talk about some of the top headlines from May of 2026.  ➡️ Qualcomm's mystery hyperscaler customer? ➡️ The geopolitical risk of playing the AI game  ➡️ Huawei teases "1.4 nm" chip and novel architecture  ➡️ Cerebras finally IPOs!  ➡️ NVIDIA's Q1 FY27 results and new reporting structure  ➡️ Memory vendors are now $trillion market cap  ➡️ Will Apple use Intel Foundry for Apple Silicon? ➡️ The state of Intel Foundry business  ➡️ Alex Katouzian joins Intel to head up Client Computing Physical AI  ➡️ AMD proving they are more than AI accelerators  ➡️ Is the AI infrastructure boom driving IoT revival?  ➡️ AMD, Arm, NVIDIA, Intel, and the CPU boom ➡️ Dell's pivot toward warm-water cooling  ➡️ Dell leans into AI workstation!  ➡️ NVIDIA investments in Taiwanese AI startups  ➡️ "Other income" unrealized gains of AI investments  ➡️ All eyes on COMPUTEX 2026 Hit Leonard, Karl, and Jim up on LinkedIn and take part in their industry and tech insights. Check out Jim and his research at Tirias Research at www.tiriasresearch.com. Check out Karl and his research at Cambrian AI Research LLC at www.cambrian-ai.com. Check out Karl's Substack at: https://substack.com/@karlfreund429026 Please subscribe to our podcast which will be featured on the neXt Curve YouTube Channel. Check out the audio version on BuzzSprout or find us on your favorite Podcast platform. Also, subscribe to the neXt Curve research portal at www.next-curve.com and our Substack (https://substack.com/@nextcurve) for the tech and industry insights that matter. NOTE: The transcript is AI-generated and will contain errors. DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for informational purposes only.

Edge Continuum: Where AI belongs from sensors to cloud (with Azita Arvani)

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1654726/fan_mail/new] It was great to have a chance to share the stage with Azita Arvani, Stanford Sloan Fellow [https://www.linkedin.com/in/azitaarvani/] at Sensors Converge [https://www.linkedin.com/company/sensorsconverge/] 2026 to talk about the "Edge Continuum" as it relates to edge AI and what I call the Perception Edge (Sensors + Edge AI). Azita and I talk about what the edge continuum is, what is shaping the present and future of the perception edge, where AI makes sense across the edge, and what the role of sensors and edge AI will play in physical AI. Thanks to David Drain [https://www.linkedin.com/in/daviddrain/] and the Sensors Converge team for setting us up with this spot to share with this year's attendees! Congrats on another great event!

Edge AI Foundation at Sensors Converge 2026 (with Pete Bernard)

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1654726/fan_mail/new] I had a great time hanging out with Pete Bernard [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernardpete/], CEO of EDGE AI FOUNDATION [https://www.linkedin.com/company/edgeaifoundation/] at Sensors Converge [https://www.linkedin.com/company/sensorsconverge/] 2026 which took place at the Santa Clara Convention Center this week. We had a chance to chat about the key trends that we see shaping what I've been calling the Perception Edge. What is it? Simple. Sensors + Edge AI. Check out our brief conversation where we touch on the implications of this convergence of sensor technology with edge AI, the possibilities created, and the critical mindset shifts we need to make to appreciate and capitalize on the change and opportunity that is coming at the Perception Edge.

Silicon Futures for April 2026 - The AI CPU craze, Qualcomm's custom AI, Google TPU 8 explained

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1654726/fan_mail/new] Silicon Futures is a neXt Curve reThink Podcast series on AI and semiconductor tech and the industry topics that matter. This month shall be dubbed the month of specialization as the tide of AI compute make a hard turn toward inference and agentic AI. What is all this all this madness about CPUs about? The Silicon Futures Trio unpacks the mystery of the month.  In this episode, Leonard, Karl and Jim talk about some of the top headlines from April of 2026.  ➡️ What's up with the CPU mania in AI? ➡️ Why is everyone going custom, specialized AI systems?  ➡️ The diverse velocities of AI change & digestion.  ➡️ The many roles of CPU in an agentic AI system.  ➡️ Cloud demand driven by AI system complexity and speed.  ➡️ The AI narrative has graduated from the "chip".  ➡️ Is the AI boom sustainable?  ➡️ Clarifying the Google TPU 8 Enigma.  ➡️ How will AI system specialization and general purpose play out?  ➡️ The hyperscale red flag for NVIDIA.  ➡️ Where are the AI business model transformations?  ➡️ A quick thought on Terafab by Intel & Elon.  ➡️ Impressions on Qualcomm's custom AI silicon & systems.  Hit Leonard, Karl, and Jim up on LinkedIn and take part in their industry and tech insights. Check out Jim and his research at Tirias Research at www.tiriasresearch.com. Check out Karl and his research at Cambrian AI Research LLC at www.cambrian-ai.com. Check out Karl's Substack at: https://substack.com/@karlfreund429026 Please subscribe to our podcast which will be featured on the neXt Curve YouTube Channel. Check out the audio version on BuzzSprout or find us on your favorite Podcast platform. Also, subscribe to the neXt Curve research portal at www.next-curve.com and our Substack (https://substack.com/@nextcurve) for the tech and industry insights that matter. NOTE: The transcript is AI-generated and will contain errors. DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for informational purposes only.

The Blueprint for Agentic Security (with Raj Chopra)

Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1654726/fan_mail/new] The topic of agentic security was a very big one at RSAC Conference this year. The conversation was split between safe and secure agentic AI enablement for the enterprise (and consumers), and the agentic enablement of threat actors armed with a new generation of AI tools.  The second part of our conversation with Rajneesh Chopra, SVP and CPO of Cisco Security, touched on the crisis of trust that we face, and the framework that Cisco is contributing openly to help foster safe, enterprise grade GenAI and agentic AI applications.  Raj does a great job of outlining a holistic blueprint that Cisco is working off for safe agentic AI and enterprise GenAI.  Bottom line, Getting to safe agentic AI is a journey with many twists and chasms along the way. We are in the early rounds facing a threat environment that is highly fluid and moving at machine speed.  It will take a mindset of safe AI innovation that preemptively injects what Raj calls "common sense" in lieu of lagging best practices to meet the challenges and threats of fast-evolving AI-assisted cyberattacks. Please subscribe to our podcast which will be featured on the neXt Curve YouTube Channel. Check out the audio version on BuzzSprout or find us on your favorite Podcast platform. Also, subscribe to the neXt Curve research portal at www.next-curve.com and our Substack (https://substack.com/@nextcurve) for the tech and industry insights that matter. NOTE: The transcript is AI-generated and will contain errors. DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for informational purposes only.