Around the middle of March, GMKtec's EVO-X2 Mini PC design attracted international media attention—thanks to Dr. Lisa Su's autograph adorning a special presentation sample. During festivities, this relatively young Chinese brand—founded back in 2019—introduced the "world's first" AI mini PC equipped with AMD's Ryzen AI Max+ 395 APU. This flagship "Strix Halo" chip leverages Zen 5 and RDNA 3.5 technologies; the latter aspect forms the basis of an impressively potent Radeon 8060S iGPU. This integrated graphics solution has surpassed or matched some worthy (previous-gen) discrete competitors, and apparently performs admirably in LLM inference workload scenarios. At the tail end of March, GMKtec opened up pre-orders for its $2000+ headline product—starting off in China. Back then, potential international buyers were intrigued—many envisioned a pleasing wider distribution of EVO-X2 Mini PC retail stock. Given that GMKtec had semi-recently expanded its sales operation into Europe, hopes were elevated.

As reported by TechRadar last week, Eurozone tech enthusiast prayers were answered—their coverage outlined an intriguing pre-order campaign: "buyers can unlock a reduced pre-sale price of €1,499 for the base model by paying a $100 deposit. Those who want the higher configuration need to place a €200 deposit to qualify for a discounted €1,799 final price. All orders must be completed by May 7 to receive the full discount." Days later, VideoCardz and Notebookcheck noted a similar promotion—rolled out for North American audiences. Officially, the EVO-X2 Mini PC is (tentatively) set to launch on May 20—well ahead of Framework's projected "early Q3 2025" debut shipment of "tiny 4.5L Mini-ITX" Desktop units. Time limited promo prices are in effect until next week—the 64 GB and 128 GB RAM EVO-X2 package are currently discounted: $1399 and $1799 (respectively). As expected, GMKtec's official US webshop also requires pre-order deposits—refer to these details below.

Last Saturday, Scythe Group announced the closure of its European branch. This followed mid-April reports of unusually low stock numbers in Germany—at the time, ComputerBase.de and its community highlighted the complete absence of the manufacturer's flagship Mugen 6 CPU air cooler at regional retail outlets. The site published an investigative article on April 22; presenting an important Consumer Protection Forum filing. Apparently "economic difficulties" have warranted the initiation of "preliminary insolvency proceedings"—as a result, Scythe EU GmbH faced an uncertain future. Looking back in TechPowerUp's news archive, the last official introduction of brand-new products—Mugen 6 standard and Black Edition coolers—happened around early February. Also within the same month, TPU's crazyeyesreaper reviewed the brand's "highly-recommended" Fuma 3 model. Despite releasing consistently high-grade and top-performing products; Scythe has faced aggressive competition across Europe—Chinese brands have flooded regional markers with cheaper alternatives. In particular, Thermalright has gained plenty of attention and uptake—due to a rapid cadence and wide variety of highly-acclaimed new releases.

Scythe's April 26 official notice stated: "To All Valued Clients, we deeply regret to inform you that SCYTHE EU will be ceasing operations. Moving forward, SCYTHE-branded products and customer support will remain available through our European distributors and online e-commerce platforms. During the transition period with our distributors/e-commerce channels, there may be some unfinished matters, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. SCYTHE will continue to uphold the principles of responsibility and integrity, ensuring consumer rights are protected in accordance with the law. We sincerely thank you for your support and loyalty to the SCYTHE brand over the years."

If you're a fan of science fiction movies, you've probably seen the story where countries come together to avert or overcome a crisis. These films usually begin with some unexpected dangerous event—maybe an alien invasion, a pandemic or rogue robots. Earth's smartest scientists and engineers work non-stop to discover a solution. Governments pool their resources and, in the end—usually at the very last possible second—humanity triumphs. This might seem like a Hollywood fantasy, but believe it or not, this movie plot is playing out in real life right now. No, we aren't facing an alien invasion or fighting off AI overlords, but the earth does face some pretty serious crises. And nations of the world are working together to develop technology to help address those problems.

For example, the LUMI supercomputer, located in Kajaani, Finland receives a portion of its funding from the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU), an effort that pools EU resources to create/provide exascale computing platforms. Additional funding comes from LUMI consortium countries, which include Finland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland. According to the Top500 list published in November 2024, LUMI is the 8th fastest supercomputer in the world and the fastest supercomputer in Europe. The final configuration of the LUMI supercomputer can sustain 380 petaflops of performance, which is roughly the equivalent of 1.5 million high-end laptops. It's based on the HPE Cray EX platform with AMD EPYC CPUs and AMD Instinct MI250X GPUs. According to the Green500 list, LUMI is also the world's 25th most energy efficient supercomputer. It runs on 100% hydropower and the waste heat from the facility is recaptured to heat about 100 homes in Kajaani.

Sony has announced that it has increased its pricing for the Playstation 5 consoles by around 25 percent from today in several regions. For now, it's Europe, Middle East, Africa, Australia and New Zealand that are being affected, but there are reports of Sony also planning on increasing the price in the US by at least 30 percent. Sony's official reason behind the rather steep price increase is due to "a backdrop of a challenging economic environment, including high inflation and fluctuating exchange rates".

The new pricing for the PS5 Digital Edition will be €499.99 in the Eurozone, £429.99 in the UK, AU$749.95 in Australia and NZ$859.95 in New Zealand. Sony didn't reveal pricing in other currencies and instead says to check with your local retailer for the new pricing. For now, the EU and the UK avoid price hikes on the PS5 with Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive as Sony so elegantly calls it, whereas in Australia it'll increase to US$829.95 and in New Zealand it'll cost NZ$949.95. Sony will also announced a decrease in the price on the stand alone Blu-ray drive today and it will cost €79.99, £69.99, AU$124.95 and NZ$139.95. The PS5 Pro is not receiving a price hike for the time being.

Grab your satchel, sharpen your blade, and dust off your negotiating skills—Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault is officially set to open its doors in Summer 2025! The upcoming action-RPG from Digital Sun, creators of the beloved indie hit, Moonlighter, and published by 11 bit studios, returns with even grander adventures and deeper shopkeeping mastery. Step into the dual life of Wil—a shopkeeper-turned-hero—as he balances dangerous expeditions alongside the hustle of keeping his business thriving in a reality where fortune favors those bold enough to venture beyond the boundaries of what they know.

As you venture into the unknown, you'll clash with fearsome foes and gather precious loot in sprawling, dynamic dungeons. Take risks and reap rewards with the game's new layer of tactical depth—inventory management is no longer just about saving space. Relics carry special properties, adding tension and strategy to every expedition. On the shopkeeping side of things, you'll keep your store bustling by harnessing powerful boosts and charms to maximize sales and keep customers lining up at your door. And while you're stuck in Tresna for now—a brand-new location in the series, born from a dimensional mash-up—you might as well try to prosper together with the local townsfolk. Invest in the flourishing village of Tresna, shape its future, and unlock new opportunities for your own success.

Today, the European Commission unveiled its AI Continent Action Plan, establishing a framework to enhance the EU's artificial intelligence computing infrastructure. The plan centers on developing five "AI Gigafactories," each housing approximately 100,000 specialized AI accelerator chips, quadrupling the training throughput capacity of current infrastructure projects. The €20 billion commitment from the EU's InvestAI fund will finance data center construction and semiconductor procurement, supplementing the €10 billion allocated to thirteen smaller AI factories scheduled to become operational by 2026. Site selection remains pending, though Germany's incoming administration under Chancellor designate Friedrich Merz intends to secure a facility within German territory. The Action Plan addresses data infrastructure through Data Labs tasked with standardizing datasets from research institutions and industry partners.

An upcoming Data Union Strategy will establish protocols for cross-border information sharing, creating a unified market for AI-ready data resources across member states. With only 13.5 percent of EU enterprises currently using AI in production environments, the Commission will implement an "Apply AI" initiative focusing on deployment in strategic sectors. This program will utilize European Digital Innovation Hubs to provide implementation support. For talent development, the plan includes fellowship programs, visa pathways for specialized non-EU professionals, and an AI Skills Academy offering training in generative models and machine learning operations. An AI Act Service Desk will provide technical guidance on regulatory compliance. The AI arms race is currently being fought on the front between the US and China, where AI labs are acquiring more accelerators and outputting better models almost weekly. In the EU, the goal is to have AI development on par with the two superpowers, leading to more competition and advancements.

Yesterday, United States President Donald Trump announced a set of tariffs imposed on US trading partners, imposing a series of 10%+ tariffs on partners, calling it a "Liberation Day." Today, we are calculating how much these tariffs will impact consumers and what is most important at TechPowerUp: semiconductors powering our GPUs and CPUs. According to one of the top investment banks, Goldman Sachs, semiconductors are exempt from the reciprocal tariffs that Trump has imposed on Taiwan. However, the semiconductor manufacturing equipment used by makers like TSMC is not exempt and is expected to be hit with the 32% tariffs. This is only half of what Taiwan imposes on imports of US-made goods. For TSMC, the number one maker of GPUs and CPUs, tariffs can be tricky to navigate. While its existing manufacturing facilities use equipment sourced from Dutch ASML and a few US companies like Lam Research and KLA Corporation, it shouldn't be a problem to ship new silicon to the US.

However, if TSMC wants to expand its manufacturing facilities in any country that is not the US, it will have to deal with 32% tariffs on US-sourced silicon manufacturing equipment. For EU-based ASML, things are looking a little different. If over 20% of the equipment is made up of US content, a tariff exemption might apply, potentially reducing import costs. If more than one-fifth of a product's components or value originates from US sources, the equipment may be eligible for tariff relief. ASML's machines include some US components, so determining whether these machines meet the 20% threshold is crucial. If they do, the tariff exemption could help lower costs associated with importing these advanced machines, reaching up to $380 million. For non-US-injected goods, EU entities are subject to 20% tariffs.

After many rumors and supposed leaks claimed that Tencent was preparing a buyout of Ubisoft, it seems as though an alternative solution was reached, with Ubisoft today announcing that it has created a new subsidiary to house some of its biggest gaming franchises. According to the announcement, the new business entity is "based on its Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six brands," and it received initial funding from Tencent, which owns a 25% stake in the new business. Tencent's investment in the new subsidiary is to the tune of €1.16 billion.

The announcement also gives us an indication of what to expect from these game franchises going forward. For starters, Ubisoft mentions that the new subsidiary—and likely the capital injection from the Tencent investment—is part of a new business model that would allow it to invest more in increasing the quality of its creative outputs. Supposedly, it will focus on quality story-driven solo games and growing its multiplayer offerings with more frequent content updates, more social features, and introducing "free-to-play touchpoints." The acquisition comes after a series of delays marred the lead-up to the launch of the latest Assassin's Creed Shadows, which ultimately seems to have been a commercial success. In keeping with other trends, Ubisoft mentions in the press release that the move to split off these gaming IPs will also help accelerate its recent moves to make these gaming franchises multi-platform. Recently, Ubisoft has repeatedly stated that its strategy moving forward would include more multi-platform day-one launches, as opposed to console exclusives and timed exclusives.

Amazon Luna, the online game streaming service, has officially announced that it will be expanding further into Europe, introducing availability in Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Sweden. The launch includes both the free-to-play games available via Amazon Prime Gaming and the standalone Luna+ subscription service. Along with that announcement, it was also revealed that Amazon Luna has entered into a multi-year partnership with EA to bring some of the game studio's AAA hits to Luna+ members. EA joins GOG, Ubisoft, and Jackbox Games as publishers and game studios whose games are now available on Luna.

Kicking off the EA partnership are Star Ward: Jedi Survivor, Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, and Dead Space. Unlike the Ubisoft and Jackbox games, which require an additional subscription tier to access, EA's games are available in the basic Luna+ subscription. Amazon says that more EA games will be coming to Luna soon, specifically mentioning the EA Sports portfolio, although it did not specify which games or say when they would be coming to the platform. With Luna's expansion into more European countries, Amazon is also increasing the availability of the Luna controller, which connects directly to the cloud game streaming servers for reduced latency. The Luna controller will now be available in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Sweden for €69.99 MSRP or 799.99 SEK, with introductory sales bringing prices down to €44.99 and 519.99 SEK, respectively. The Luna controller is not yet available in Portugal, but it will launch there later this year. Luna+ subscribers can play on a variety of devices, including Mac, Windows, iOS/iPadOS, Android, and ChromeOS devices (via Chrome or Safari web browsers), as well as Amazon Fire tablets and TVs and Samsung and LG TVs.

At CES 2025, ASUS unveiled their elite-tier ROG Crosshair X870E Apex motherboard design. Additionally, early January press material teased another top contender: "ROG Crosshair X870E Extreme is also waiting in the wings, with details to be shared on the way to its expected release in the first quarter (of 2025)." As reported by VideoCardz, the Taiwanese manufacturer seems to be readying its mysterious ultra-premium model for an imminent launch. Last week, HWiNFO v8.23-5685 Beta release notes turned up—revealing the existence of "enhanced sensor monitoring on ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Extreme." Concurrently, a smattering of retail/e-tail listings have turned up in Europe. The lowest observed asking price (including VAT) was €1202.80, courtesy of Max ICT's (Netherlands) premature publishing of a product page.

Hopping across the Atlantic, industry watchdogs noted that Newegg was demanding a cool $749 for ASUS ROG Crosshair X870E Apex pre-orders. Potential European customers will likely be greeted by a ~€827 (inc. VAT) price point. Since January, the Republic of Gamers marketing team has kept quiet on the X870E Extreme front. Their fancily-appointed board is still an unknown quantity in many regards; recent retail leaks lack technical information and visual representation. As noted by VideoCardz, time is running out for a Q1 2025 launch. As we head into April, Q2 looms in the near distance.

Graphics card price watchers have highlighted refreshing downward motion in Europe, apparently affecting three out of the four GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards. VideoCardz received a couple of email tip-offs from its pan-European audience, prompting the publication of a short investigative piece. NVIDIA's slight adjustment of official pricing for GeForce RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and RTX 5070 models is the result of a strengthened Euro. The US dollar's value has dropped by roughly 3.9 %; according to recent detective work, focusing on German trends. Team Green's "generous" reductions have arrived roughly two weeks after a stabilization of the USD-EUR exchange rate.

Curiously, the GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is an outlier here—NVIDIA did not reduce its German guide price (€879 + VAT) for this upper-mid-range offer. A Founders Edition does not exist at this GPU level, so Team Green has tasked its board partners with the creation of so-called "MSRP conformant" alternatives. One of VideoCardz's tipsters has observed various GeForce RTX 50 series models simply "rotting on shelves," due to potential buyers balking at unreasonable retailer-implemented price hikes. NVIDIA's minor changes (4.3 to 4.6 %) are unlikely to make a noticeable impact across the Euro zone.

China's domestic extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography development is far from a distant dream. The newest system, now undergoing testing at Huawei's Dongguan facility, leverages laser-induced discharge plasma (LDP) technology, representing a potentially disruptive approach to EUV light generation. The system is scheduled for trial production in Q3 2025, with mass manufacturing targeted for 2026, potentially positioning China to break ASML's technical monopoly in advanced lithography. The LDP approach employed in the Chinese system generates 13.5 nm EUV radiation by vaporizing tin between electrodes and converting it to plasma via high-voltage discharge, where electron-ion collisions produce the required wavelength. This methodology offers several technical advantages over ASML's laser-produced plasma (LPP) technique, including simplified architecture, reduced footprint, improved energy efficiency, and potentially lower production costs.

The LPP method relies on high-energy lasers and complex FPGA-based real-time control electronics to achieve the same result. While ASML has refined its LPP-based systems over decades, the inherent efficiency advantages of the LDP approach could accelerate China's catch-up timeline in this critical semiconductor manufacturing technology. When the US imposed sanctions on EUV shipments to Chinese companies, the Chinese semiconductor development was basically limited as standard deep ultraviolet (DUV) wave lithography systems utilize 248 nm (KrF) and 193 nm (ArF) wavelengths for semiconductor patterning, with 193 nm immersion technology representing the most advanced pre-EUV production technique. These longer wavelengths contrast with EUV's 13.5 nm radiation, requiring multiple patterning techniques to achieve advanced nodes.

Codasip, the European RISC-V leader, announced that it has been selected to provide a general purpose, high-end processor as part of the large-scale European supercomputing project Digital Autonomy with RISC-V in Europe (DARE).

DARE is set to build a supercomputing compute stack, featuring high-performance and energy-efficient RISC-V-based processors and accelerators designed and developed in Europe. The European Union has committed 240 million Euros in funding for the first 3-year program phase. The selected partners will leverage hardware/software co-design to achieve competitive performance and efficiency.

The EU could influence the mobile phone industry to ditch bundling wall chargers with their phones, and got them to standardize the USB-C connector, with the goal of minimizing the number of wall chargers people would have to own, which could last years, spanning many phones. It even got Apple to ditch its proprietary Lightning connector in favor of USB-C. The European Commission could be turning its attention to the way products such as desktop PC processors are sold in the retail channel. In the OEM channel, things are golden—processors are sold by the 1,000 units in trays that aren't all that different from the way eggs are sold to restaurants. In the retail channel, these processors put on elaborate packaging material that includes boxes that are about 20 times the size of the processor itself, and include stock cooling solutions that can run the processors at stock settings.

This could change, as the EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) came into effect on February 11, 2025. This regulation gives manufacturers an 18-month grace period for compliance, and it affects desktop processor packaging in the retail channel. The first casualty will be special edition or flagship SKUs that come with swanky acrylic packaging, like Intel's large dodecahedron that shipped with the Core i9-9900K. Intel has already made the switch, and its current flagship, the Core Ultra 9 285K, comes in much simpler paperboard boxes. AMD's flagship processors also comply, as they come in compact paperboard boxes even for the top Ryzen 9 9950X. Then there's the issue of stock CPU coolers included in these boxes, at least for the 65 W processor models.

The European Commission has paid Intel €515.55 million ($536 million) in interest following the partial annulment of a 2009 antitrust fine. The payment comes after the General Court of the European Union overturned most of the original €1.06 billion penalty in 2022, leaving only €376 million of the fine intact. The court's ruling found significant flaws in the Commission's economic analysis of Intel's market practices between 2002 and 2007. At issue were Intel's volume-based rebates to computer manufacturers, which the Commission had claimed prevented fair competition with AMD in the x86 processor market. The General Court determined that regulators failed to adequately demonstrate the anti-competitive effects of these pricing strategies. EU antitrust commissioner Teresa Ribera confirmed the interest payment, which reimburses Intel for capital held by regulators during the 13-year legal proceedings.

The case began in 2009, with the Commission ruling that Intel had used its market position to restrict competitor access through targeted rebate programs in years prior. Intel challenged this decision in 2014, leading to multiple appeals before the 2022 judgment. The resolution establishes new parameters for proving anti-competitive behavior in the EU's tech sector oversight. The court's emphasis on rigorous economic analysis impacts ongoing and future competition cases, particularly regarding evaluating complex pricing mechanisms in the technology sector. The payment concludes one of the EU's longest-running competition law cases, though Intel continues to face regulatory scrutiny in multiple jurisdictions. The case's outcome has prompted discussion about the Commission's approach to economic evidence in competition proceedings and the duration of EU antitrust investigations. At the time of financial issues, more than half a billion US Dollars will help Intel resolve internal crises significantly.

New technology from Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, is helping the EU establish its own competitive computer manufacturing industry. Researchers have developed components critical for optimising on-chip memory, a key factor in enhancing the performance of next-generation computers.

The research leader, Professor Per Stenström, along with colleagues, has discovered new ways to make cache memory work smarter. A cache is a local memory that temporarily stores frequently accessed data, improving a computer's speed and performance. "Our solution enables computers to retrieve data significantly faster than before, as the cache can manage far more processing elements (PEs) than most existing systems. This makes it possible to meet the demands of tomorrow's powerful computers," says Per Stenström, Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg.

Earlier today, reports pointed to an intriguingly discounted Intel "Battlemage" GPU-based graphics card on the Mindfactory.de webstore—ASRock's Arc B570 Challenger OC 10 GB model was priced at €249. European retailers would normally charge €279 for this specific SKU, but the Germany-headquartered PC hardware retail outlet offered a discount of €30, albeit briefly. VideoCardz noted that the fairly new Arc B570 Challenger OC model has been listed on Mindfactory's site since late last year—following Team Blue's early December unveiling of second wave Battlemage GPUs.

The timing of this special offer is a tad surprising, given that Arc B570-based graphics cards only reached global markets late last week. A compelling discount could have been implemented to entice buyers away from more expensive (€299 MSRP) Arc B580-equipped products, but Team Blue and its board partners have struggled—as-of-late—to keep these items in stock. Budget-minded gamers have seemingly embraced the slightly less potent B570 GPU family, and German customers surely had a great opportunity to save some Euros (over the past day or two). Mindfactory's time-limited sale produced a €50 gulf between the ASRock custom design and Intel's Limited Edition B580 model.

Silicon Box, a global leader in advanced semiconductor packaging and system integration, welcomes the European Commission's approval of approximately €1.3 billion for its new manufacturing facility in Italy. The project, representing a total investment of €3.2 billion, will create 1,600 high-skilled jobs and establish Europe's most advanced semiconductor packaging facilities.

The investment supports the EU's strategic goal to produce 20% of the world's semiconductors by 2030 and marks Silicon Box's first expansion beyond Singapore. With its proprietary large format panel-level process lines, the factory can scale up the packaging of chips 6 to 8 times more than traditional wafer-level packaging.

Mozilla says that "many sites do not respect" Do Not Track requests, as they rely on voluntary compliance, adding that the feature may actually harm user privacy—likely alluding to the fact that it makes it easier for sites to fingerprint and track you. As such, as of Firefox version 135, Mozilla will disable the Do Not Track feature. As a replacement for the feature, Mozilla recommends using the more advanced "Tell websites not to sell or share my data" toggle built into Global Privacy Control, which it says is more widely respected and backed by law in some regions.

This is also just the latest in a long line of changes to both Firefox and web privacy, at large. For one, Google recently completely removed third-party cookies from its Chrome browser—a move it claims is in support of user privacy but has been widely criticized for putting Google in something of a monopoly position when it comes to tracking the data of Chrome users. Overall, the community feedback on Reddit seems to be either positive or indifferent, although one criticism of the new reliance on Global Privacy Control is that GPC doesn't block Google Analytics tracking requests, although the reasoning behind leaving Google Analytics in-tact is that many sites don't function correctly when it is blocked or disabled.

TechPowerUp partners with PC case, cooling, and power brand Chieftec to announce the Winter 2024 Mega Giveaway, for our readers in the EU. Chieftec has been in the industry for over 30 years, specializing in server, workstation, and commercial desktop hardware, but is now looking to expand in the DIY gaming PC space. The company brings its expertise in case design, power, and cooling, to the gaming PC space, and has a comprehensive lineup of cases, CPU coolers, fans, and power supplies, catering to a broad range of prices. Today, we have as many as six prizes from the Chieftec lineup, open to our readers in the European Union.

Up for grabs are a Chieftec Iceberg 360 RGB AIO liquid CPU cooler; a Chieftec Iceberg 360 Black AIO liquid CPU cooler; a Chieftec APEX E-ATX mid-tower case, a Chieftec M2 Micro-ATX tower case; a Chieftec PowerPlay 1200 W power supply; and a Chieftec Atmos 850 W power supply.

For more information, and to participate, visit this page.

Germany is set to invest €2 billion in the semiconductor industry after recent setbacks, according to TrendForce via Liberty Times citing Bloomberg. The German government's new funding is in response to the chip sector's problems, including Intel's delay of the Magdeburg factory and global disruptions in the semiconductor supply chain. The investment will support 10 to 15 projects from wafer production to microchip assembly to strengthen Germany's and Europe's microelectronics ecosystem. This is in line with the European Chips Act which aims to increase the EU's global production capacity to 20% by 2030.

Intel's €30 billion Magdeburg factory delay and other cancelled chip projects from Wolfspeed and ZF Friedrichshafen AG have created uncertainty in the German market. The Ministry of Economic Affairs is now calling for new applications for funding, with up to €3 billion available. The timing of the semiconductor investment follows the global supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic and the increasing geopolitical tensions between the US, China and Taiwan. Germany is following a broader trend of governments investing in local semiconductor production to increase technological independence and economic resilience. The funding is subject to budget reallocation with the new government after February 2025 elections. In the first round of subsidies from the European Chips Act, Germany allocated resources to two key initiatives: Intel's investment and a collaborative project between Infineon and TSMC in Dresden.

Microsoft's Office suite is the staple in productivity tools, with millions of users entering sensitive personal and company data into Excel and Word. According to @nixCraft, an author from Cyberciti.biz, Microsoft left its "Connected Experiences" feature enabled by default, reportedly using user-generated content to train the company's AI models. This feature is enabled by default, meaning data from Word and Excel files may be used in AI development unless users manually opt-out. As a default option, this setting raises security concerns, especially from businesses and government workers relying on Microsoft Office for proprietary work. The feature allows documents such as articles, government data, and other confidential files to be included in AI training, creating ethical and legal challenges regarding consent and intellectual property.

Disabling the feature requires going to: File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Privacy Options > Privacy Settings > Optional Connected Experiences, and unchecking the box. Even with an unnecessary long opt-out steps, the European Union's GPDR agreement, which Microsoft complies with, requires all settings to be opt-in rather than opt-out by default. This directly contradicts EU GDPR laws, which could prompt an investigation from the EU. Microsoft has yet to confirm whether user content is actively being used to train its AI models. However, its Services Agreement includes a clause granting the company a "worldwide and royalty-free intellectual property license" to use user-generated content for purposes such as improving Microsoft products. The controversy raised from this is not new, especially where more companies leverage user data for AI development, often without explicit consent.

We are excited to announce the European release of the TRYX LUCA L70. Continuing with the launch of our highly anticipated products showcased at Computex, European PC enthusiasts can finally join the revolution, customers from Germany and UK can place the order on caseking.de and overclockers UK now, pre-orders are available for other regions in Europe.

Product Lineup for Europe
The European release of the TRYX LUCA L70 will feature two color options of black and white.

RISC-V is an industry standard instruction set architecture (ISA) born in UC Berkeley. RISC-V is the fifth iteration in the lineage of historic RISC processors. The core value of the RISC-V ISA is the freedom of usage it offers. Any organization can leverage the ISA to design the best possible core for their specific needs, with no regional restrictions or licensing costs. It attracts a massive ecosystem of developers and companies building systems using the RISC-V ISA. To support these efforts and grow the ecosystem, the brains behind RISC decided to form RISC-V International—a non-profit foundation that governs the ISA and guides the ecosystem.

We had the privilege of talking with Andrea Gallo, Vice President of Technology at RISC-V International. Andrea oversees the technological advancement of RISC-V, collaborating with vendors and institutions to overcome challenges and expand its global presence. Andrea's career in technology spans several influential roles at major companies. Before joining RISC-V International, he worked at Linaro, where he pioneered Arm data center engineering initiatives, later overseeing diverse technological sectors as Vice President of Segment Groups, and ultimately managing crucial business development activities as executive Vice President. During his earlier tenure as a Fellow at ST-Ericsson, he focused on smartphone and application processor technology, and at STMicroelectronics he optimized hardware-software architectures and established international development teams.

Today, ASML Holding NV (ASML) has published its 2024 third-quarter results.

• Q3 total net sales of €7.5 billion, gross margin of 50.8%, net income of €2.1 billion
• Quarterly net bookings in Q3 of €2.6 billion of which €1.4 billion is EUV
• ASML expects Q4 2024 total net sales between €8.8 billion and €9.2 billion, and a gross margin between 49% and 50%
• ASML expects 2024 total net sales of around €28 billion
• ASML expects 2025 total net sales to be between €30 billion and €35 billion, with a gross margin between 51% and 53%

CEO statement and outlook
"Our third-quarter total net sales came in at €7.5 billion, above our guidance, driven by more DUV and Installed Base Management sales. The gross margin came in at 50.8%, within guidance. While there continue to be strong developments and upside potential in AI, other market segments are taking longer to recover. It now appears the recovery is more gradual than previously expected. This is expected to continue in 2025, which is leading to customer cautiousness. Regarding Logic, the competitive foundry dynamics have resulted in a slower ramp of new nodes at certain customers, leading to several fab push outs and resulting changes in litho demand timing, in particular EUV. In Memory, we see limited capacity additions, with the focus still on technology transitions supporting the HBM and DDR5 AI-related demand."