290 satellites will beam down Internet to Europeans by the end of this decade
Why it matters: After two years of negotiations with the private sector, the European Union has signed a deal to develop and operate a homegrown alternative to satellite Internet connectivity solutions like Elon Musk's Starlink and Amazon's Project Kuiper. While smaller in scale, the IRIS² constellation is expected to spark a competitive web of suppliers for space technologies in Europe.
Hot Chips: The European Court of Justice, which is the European Union's version of the US Supreme Court, has upheld a previous decision to cancel a billion-dollar fine against Intel. The company didn't infringe EU antitrust laws with conditional rebates for CPU resellers; at least, there is no definitive proof it did.
Forward-looking: In its effort to become a global tech company, TSMC has long planned to open new plants outside of its Taiwan base. The chip foundry has now confirmed that it will soon begin constructing its first European fab, with support and funding from third-party manufacturers.
Tick tick tick: SiPearl is the French company selected by the European supercomputer consortium (EuroHPC JU) to develop a chip for the first exascale-class supercomputer in the region. The organization recently released updated specifications for the Rhea1 microchip, indicating that the first samples will be available later than initially expected.