LIVE · SAT, JUN 27, 2026 --:--:-- ET

Issue Nº 67 COST TOTAL $14579.84 ARTICLES TODAY 7 TOKENS TOTAL 9.19B

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Funding Broadcom locks multi-year TPU deal with Alphabet, Anthropic; 3.5 GW capacity from 2027 Research OpenAI launches GPT-5.6 Sol family with government-gated access; leads TerminalBench at 91.9% Policy Apple lobbies US government for exemption to buy cheaper Chinese memory chips Chips Intel Nova Lake flagship reaches 474W power limit; boards may need three 8-pin CPU connectors Market Google's TPUs emerge as viable NVIDIA alternative; Google Cloud revenue seen surging 64% to $96B Chips onsemi to acquire Synaptics for $7B to expand physical AI edge compute Chips Commodore drops Callback flip phone to $399 by using recycled memory amid crunch Market GE Vernova turbine order book full through 2029 as AI data centers line up Market Memory shortage hits Apple, Microsoft; existential crisis for smaller players Breaking Andrej Karpathy joins Anthropic's pre-training team, signal of talent competition Market Amazon custom silicon crosses $20B run rate; CEO estimates standalone $50B opportunity Market Samsung commits $648B to chips, AI, memory over decade in South Korea bet Funding Onsemi acquires Synaptics for $7B in all-stock deal, bet on physical AI edge Research GLM-5.2 from Chinese startup Z.ai beats GPT-5.5 on coding at 1/6th cost Funding Baseten hits $13B valuation on $1.5B Series F for AI inference Policy OpenAI limits GPT-5.6 (Sol, Terra, Luna) to select government-approved partners; broader rollout in coming weeks Research Zhipu GLM 5.2 closes gap on Claude Opus 4.8; open-weight coding enters frontier tier Chips Cerebras and OpenAI sign $20B+ deal for 750MW high-speed AI inference capacity deployment Funding Mirendil raises $200M seed at $1B valuation: ex-Anthropic researchers build AI for AI R&D Market Tech mega-caps lose $2.7T in June as AI capex concerns mount Funding Broadcom locks multi-year TPU deal with Alphabet, Anthropic; 3.5 GW capacity from 2027 Research OpenAI launches GPT-5.6 Sol family with government-gated access; leads TerminalBench at 91.9% Policy Apple lobbies US government for exemption to buy cheaper Chinese memory chips Chips Intel Nova Lake flagship reaches 474W power limit; boards may need three 8-pin CPU connectors Market Google's TPUs emerge as viable NVIDIA alternative; Google Cloud revenue seen surging 64% to $96B Chips onsemi to acquire Synaptics for $7B to expand physical AI edge compute Chips Commodore drops Callback flip phone to $399 by using recycled memory amid crunch Market GE Vernova turbine order book full through 2029 as AI data centers line up Market Memory shortage hits Apple, Microsoft; existential crisis for smaller players Breaking Andrej Karpathy joins Anthropic's pre-training team, signal of talent competition Market Amazon custom silicon crosses $20B run rate; CEO estimates standalone $50B opportunity Market Samsung commits $648B to chips, AI, memory over decade in South Korea bet Funding Onsemi acquires Synaptics for $7B in all-stock deal, bet on physical AI edge Research GLM-5.2 from Chinese startup Z.ai beats GPT-5.5 on coding at 1/6th cost Funding Baseten hits $13B valuation on $1.5B Series F for AI inference Policy OpenAI limits GPT-5.6 (Sol, Terra, Luna) to select government-approved partners; broader rollout in coming weeks Research Zhipu GLM 5.2 closes gap on Claude Opus 4.8; open-weight coding enters frontier tier Chips Cerebras and OpenAI sign $20B+ deal for 750MW high-speed AI inference capacity deployment Funding Mirendil raises $200M seed at $1B valuation: ex-Anthropic researchers build AI for AI R&D Market Tech mega-caps lose $2.7T in June as AI capex concerns mount

Chips Saturday, June 27, 2026 at 02:34 PM

Intel Nova Lake flagship reaches 474W power limit; boards may need three 8-pin CPU connectors

Intel's upcoming Nova Lake series is expected to feature aggressive power specifications, with the flagship 52-core desktop variant targeting a PL2 (Power Limit 2) of 474W during boost periods. Previous leaks suggest a PL4 emergency power ceiling above 700W. The leak, confirmed by reliable hardware sources, reveals Intel's ambition to deliver massive core counts—up to 52 cores with 16 performance and 32 efficiency cores—on a new LGA1954 socket.

High-end motherboards will need to accommodate the power draw. Enthusiast-class Z990 boards are expected to feature three EPS 8-pin CPU power connectors instead of the traditional two, allowing full power delivery for extreme overclocking scenarios. The third connector would be optional for standard rated performance, but signifies the shift in platform requirements. Nova Lake-S will carry the Core Ultra 400S branding and represents Intel's largest desktop CPU overhaul in years.

For system builders and OEMs: these power figures demand robust PSU design and careful thermal planning. A 474W CPU alone requires a 1200W+ system PSU. The announcement also signals Intel's strategy post-Nvidia dominance—maxing out core counts and efficiency to compete in a market where AMD has held clock-per-watt advantages. Expect detailed power management profiles and efficiency/performance tradeoff discussions when detailed specs land.

Sources

Primary source
Intel's next-gen 52-core Nova Lake CPU could pull up to 474W
“According to newly leaked information, the flagship 52-core desktop variant is expected to feature a dual-compute tile architecture with a massive PL2 limit of 474W. A PL2 target of 474W remains quite demanding, although a previous rumor suggests Intel may also have a PL4 emergency power limit over 700W. Enthusiast-grade motherboards, likely the Z990 series, are also rumored to feature three EPS 8-pin CPU power connectors instead of the traditional two.”