Webinars have re-emerged as one of the most effective formats in B2B marketing. As buyers increasingly seek educational content they can consume on their own schedule, webinars have evolved beyond one-time presentations into long-term business assets. For business leaders, this changes how webinar success should be measured. Rather than serving only as live events, webinars … [More]
Echoes of the Boom: Arizona’s Fab Explosion Brings Suppliers in Tow
TSMC’s $265 billion commitment is accelerating the supplier network taking shape around Arizona’s semiconductor industry
Arizona’s semiconductor boom has long been measured by its biggest numbers. Billions in investment. New fabrication plants. Thousands of jobs. TSMC’s latest expansion pushes those numbers to another level, but some of the clearest signs of its impact are showing up in the smaller facilities and industry connections forming around those massive projects. In July, TSMC … [More]
Arizona’s Semiconductor Story Adds a Korean Chapter
Arizona’s international semiconductor work has focused largely on Taiwan and Japan. TSMC put the state’s connection to Taiwan at the center of its industry growth, and agreements signed earlier this year brought Arizona, Taiwan and Japan together around manufacturing, research and workforce development. State officials are now directing more attention to South Korea. The … [More]
The AI Problem Valley Business Leaders Don’t Know They Have
With AI, there’s no ‘one and done’
For those leading an Arizona-based business today, chances are very high their employees are already using AI. They’re using it to draft emails, summarize meetings, analyze data, create presentations, write code, review résumés and solve countless everyday problems. Whether the organization has formally rolled out AI tools or not, AI has already found its way into day-to-day … [More]
The ‘Loyalty Payroll’: Why Small Businesses Are Delaying AI
AI may promise lower costs, faster output and leaner teams, but small-business owners are not rushing to replace trusted employees with software. A new study of 3,022 small-business owners by Careerminds, a global workforce solutions provider, found that 67% believe AI could already perform a meaningful portion of the work handled by at least one employee. Applied to estimated … [More]
$1B Capital Commitment Launches Phoenix-Based Data Center Firm
Saragon, a new U.S. data center company built to serve the growing demand for colocation, high-density computing and AI inference infrastructure, announced its official launch. Backed by up to $1 billion in committed capital from I Squared Capital, a leading global infrastructure investor, Saragon begins operations with ten data centers across nine strategically located U.S. … [More]
$100M Arizona Facility to Shape Kimberly-Clark’s Next Generation of Products
The Greater Yuma Economic Development Corporation, in partnership with the City of Yuma and the Arizona Commerce Authority, announced that Kimberly-Clark Corporation is building one of its newest U.S. facilities in Yuma, Arizona, a 50,000-square-foot pilot facility representing a capital investment of over $100 million. The project is well under construction and expected to … [More]
Arizona Suppliers Pitch Boeing, Intel, Lockheed and Other Industry Leaders
Small manufacturers from across Arizona convened to forge new business relationships, showcasing their products and services at the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Supplier Matchmaking Expo, co-hosted with Intel. The event focused on growing aerospace and semiconductor supply chains. It was designed to help large companies and industrial producers connect with … [More]
How the Internet Disrupted Science
Scientific evidence affects policies, business, health outcomes, and economies worldwide. But is this stated scientific claim reliable? Or nonsense? More and more often, it’s unreliable. The global system managing scientific claims has been hacked by bad ideas, big money and bad incentives, and is being flooded by sketchy papers. How the Internet Disrupted Science reveals the … [More]
Fab Growth Pushes Foresight Past 1,000 Employees
Tempe-based Foresight Technologies has been part of the semiconductor supply chain since 1995. The company does not make chips. It makes the systems fabs need to run: high-purity components, chemical distribution systems, tool installation support and specialty fabrication for cleanroom environments through on- and off-site manufacturing. The company just recently passed … [More]
The AI Revolution That’s Redefining Software Budgets and Timelines
Everyone knew AI would alter the economics of software development. It’s happening now, but there’s still a bit of a plot twist: AI isn’t shaking things up in quite the way most people expected. Generative tools certainly speed up coding and testing, but the real breakthrough isn’t in spitting out workable code. It’s in the decreased time of each development cycle. Where … [More]
Arizona Farmers Look Skyward for Relief
Drones are not a silver bullet for farmers, but in some cases they sure can feel like it. In heat-stressed agricultural environments, such as those in Arizona, stretching every drop of resource (water and beyond) further is the name of the game, and drones are the king of that game. In the "upstream" sense, scouting drones can be utilized to detect heat stress more easily, … [More]
When AI ‘Goes Rogue,’ Who Is Accountable?
The OpenAI-Hugging Face breach was not a robot rebellion. It was a warning about what happens when machine capability outruns containment, governance and responsibility. “AI went rogue” is an irresistible headline. It suggests that a machine woke up, became sentient, formed an intention and disobeyed its creators. That is not what OpenAI says happened during its recent … [More]
McKinsey Study Puts New Numbers on U.S. Chip Workforce Challenge
The jobs are there – or are coming – but where’s the career interest?
The conversation around the semiconductor workforce can sound like a glass-half-empty story. The numbers are big, the gaps are real and the timeline is tight. But the same numbers point to one of the clearest career opportunities for students being told the job market is harder to break into. The New York Fed reported that labor market conditions remained challenging for … [More]
The Ripple Effect of Semiconductor Partnerships in Arizona
Arizona’s semiconductor expansion is beginning to reach beyond fabs and factory floors, creating ripple effects across workforce training, university research, business development and the state’s broader innovation economy. Partnerships between companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Amkor Technology are one example of how major industry investments can … [More]
AI Counter-Drone Platform Advances to Flight Testing in Mesa
ZenaTech, Inc., a technology solution provider specializing in AI drone, Drone as a Service (DaaS), enterprise SaaS, and Quantum Computing solutions, announced that its ZenaDrone subsidiary has commenced the initial flight testing phase of its Interceptor P-1, the Company’s low-cost, one-way autonomous counter-drone platform designed to physically intercept hostile unmanned … [More]
Chandler Chipmaker Expands into Edge AI with Acquisition
Microchip Technology Incorporated, a leading provider of smart, connected, and secure embedded control solutions, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Hailo, a provider of accelerated edge AI processors, advanced vision processing solutions, robotics processors and comprehensive AI software flows. The transaction is expected to close towards the end of … [More]
ASU, National Coalition Unveil Framework for Classroom AI
The EDSAFE AI Alliance and Arizona State University's Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation announced the release of their highly anticipated national paper and benchmark framework, "Future-Proofing Human Flourishing: The Case for a Learning Sciences Benchmark for AI." Developed in collaboration with over 100 edtech developers, learning scientists, and … [More]
