Meta’s Sept. 8 launch of Muse, a personal AI agent built around a dedicated cloud virtual machine for each user, has pushed CPU demand back into focus. ABMedia, citing a CPU industry map compiled by LIWEI_TW Capital, reviewed where dozens of listed Taiwanese companies sit across the AMD, Arm and Intel camps and their related supply chains. The report says AMD currently has the clearest public partner list. The company said on May 21 that it would invest more than $10 billion in Taiwan’s semiconductor ecosystem, expand advanced packaging capacity and partnerships, and start deploying its rack-scale Helios platform in the second half of 2026. Arm’s first in-house data center processor, the Arm AGI CPU, was developed with Meta and is made on TSMC’s 3 nm process. Intel’s Taiwan links are less fully disclosed, though public information points to partners in foundry, packaging, substrates and server manufacturing. The article also stresses that public supply-chain links do not automatically translate into revenue or profit contribution. It breaks the sector into ABF substrates, advanced packaging and server ODMs, noting that each segment has a different earnings profile and risk set. It adds that Muse’s eventual impact on CPU demand still depends on parallel workloads and server procurement details that Meta has not disclosed.

Advanced Micro Devices used its Advancing AI 2026 event in San Francisco on July 22-23 to roll out three major products at once: the Instinct MI400 accelerator family, the EPYC "Venice" server CPU, and the Helios rack-scale AI platform. The release, as described by MSX Research Institute, shows AMD shifting its pitch from being an alternative GPU supplier to Nvidia toward becoming a full-stack AI infrastructure provider spanning chips, systems, networking and software. CEO Lisa Su also laid out a broader market thesis, saying the total computing market could reach $2 trillion by 2030, including $1.4 trillion for AI accelerators and $200 billion for data-center CPUs. AMD claimed Helios, built around MI455X accelerators, can outperform Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin platform on some key metrics, while Venice can deliver up to 3.4x the performance of Intel Xeon and about 20% more than Nvidia’s Vera CPU. On the customer side, Meta, OpenAI and Anthropic have all committed gigawatt-scale orders. MSX said Meta and OpenAI each secured warrants for as many as 160 million AMD shares, equivalent to about 10% of AMD equity each, while AMD may invest up to $5 billion in Anthropic. Still, MSX noted the performance claims are AMD’s own and said investors are now watching whether MI400, Venice and Helios can turn into sustained revenue.

Rising DDR5 and DDR4 prices are pushing Chinese PC builders toward older DDR3 platforms. Channel data shows weekly DDR3 motherboard sales have doubled or tripled over the past three months.

Intel reported revenue of $16.1 billion for the second quarter of 2026, up 25% year over year and ahead of the $14.42 billion analyst consensus tracked by LSEG. On a non-GAAP basis, the company posted net income of $2.2 billion, or $0.42 per share, compared with a loss a year earlier and above the $0.21 per-share estimate. The standout segment was Data Center and AI, which generated $6.3 billion in revenue, up 59% from a year ago, as CEO Lip-Bu Tan said CPU demand in data centers is "taking off" and running ahead of supply. Intel also said it has signed 10 long-term agreements of that kind while operating under supply constraints. Foundry revenue rose 31% to $5.8 billion, though the unit remained in an operating loss due in part to internal manufacturing activity. Intel also disclosed Fortinet as the first publicly named customer for its foundry business. Looking ahead, the company raised its 2026 capital spending plan to $20 billion from $18 billion and issued third-quarter guidance above Wall Street expectations, including revenue of $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion, non-GAAP EPS of $0.38, and gross margin of about 42%.

Intel reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter 2026 results after the U.S. market closed on July 23, with revenue reaching $16.1 billion and non-GAAP diluted EPS coming in at $0.42, both ahead of market expectations. The company said the quarter marked its strongest year-over-year revenue growth in 15 years, helped by accelerating demand for AI data center chips. Net income swung to a $2.2 billion profit from a loss a year earlier, and the stock rose in after-hours trading following the release. The Data Center and AI segment was the standout business line, posting $6.3 billion in quarterly revenue, up 59% from a year earlier and above analyst estimates of $5.6 billion. Intel also said its foundry business generated $5.8 billion in revenue, up 31% year over year, while yield on its 18A process node improved from 65% to 85%. The company raised its 2026 capital spending plan to $20 billion from $18 billion and projected third-quarter revenue of $15.8 billion to $16.8 billion, a range that also topped prior Wall Street expectations.

Intel and Advanced Micro Devices are negotiating long-term purchasing commitments with Chinese server customers as AI data center demand tightens server CPU supply, according to Reuters, which cited people familiar with the matter. The report said such agreements usually lock in one year of supply, while some discussions have already extended to two years or longer. Demand has spread beyond AI accelerators to mainstream processors as data center buildouts continue. Reuters said prices for some server CPU products in China have risen more than 40% so far this year, with the biggest month-on-month increase topping 10%. Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said in April that demand for Xeon server CPUs continued to outstrip supply, and that the company signed multiple long-term contracts in the first quarter, including a multi-year deal with Google. AMD, for its part, has raised its forecast for the server CPU market to more than $120 billion by 2030. Reuters added that Intel is due to report quarterly results on Thursday, with CPU shortages expected to be a key focus for the market.

U.S. stocks closed higher after June CPI came in softer than expected, cutting the market’s bets on a July rate hike and pushing investors back into rate-sensitive growth trades. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.02%, the S&P 500 gained 0.38%, and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.90%. The move was not broad-based. Instead, money rotated heavily into AI hardware, semiconductors, memory, and optical networking, while parts of software and traditional IT services lagged. CPI slowed to 3.5% year over year from 4.2% in May, while monthly CPI fell 0.4%, the first monthly decline in six years. CME FedWatch showed the implied probability of the Federal Reserve holding rates steady in July jumped to 83.4% from 58.3% a day earlier. Treasury yields eased, with the 10-year yield falling to 4.58%, and the VIX dropped to 16.50. Semiconductor and memory names led the rebound. SK Hynix ADR surged 27.29%, Micron rose 4.92%, Nvidia gained 4.06%, and Intel added 4.50%. Large banks also supported sentiment as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan posted strong results. IBM moved the other way, plunging 25.21% after preliminary second-quarter results missed expectations, marking the biggest one-day drop in the company’s 115-year history.

Intel said on July 13 that it will invest €5 billion, or about $5.7 billion, to expand its Leixlip site in Ireland, adding capacity for advanced silicon production tied to Intel 3 and next-generation Xeon processors. The company said the project will upgrade existing fab facilities, install advanced manufacturing equipment, and expand automated track systems to connect modules across the campus into a more efficient production setup. Intel also plans to use existing cleanroom space to ramp volume production of Intel Xeon 6 and future Xeon chips built on Intel 3, while continuing core research and development work. The company said the investment is aimed at meeting demand from artificial intelligence and high-performance computing markets, with output intended to support future “AI factories.” Intel added that it has invested more than €30 billion in Ireland since entering the country in 1989. The Leixlip site now employs about 4,900 people and is one of the company’s most advanced manufacturing bases globally. Intel Foundry executive vice president and chief technology and operations officer Naga Chandrasekaran said the spending reflects a long-term commitment to expand capacity and serve foundry customers. Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin and IDA Ireland CEO Michael Lohan also backed the move.