MILPITAS, Calif., Feb. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — In the second half of 2024, worldwide silicon wafer demand started to recover from the industry downcycle seen in 2023, the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) reported in its year-end analysis of the silicon wafer industry. Worldwide silicon wafer shipments in 2024 decreased 2.7% to 12,266 million square inches while wafer revenue contracted 6.5% to $11.5 billion over the same period.

In 2024, a broad-based inventory correction was slower due to the weak end demand from the higher volume segments impacting fab utilization rates and wafer shipments to specific applications. The recovery is expected to continue into 2025 with stronger improvements toward the second half of the year.

“Generative AI and new data-center construction has been a driver for the most advanced foundry and memory devices such as High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), but most other end markets are still recovering from excess inventory,” said Lee Chungwei (李崇偉), Chairman of SEMI SMG and Vice President and Chief Auditor at GlobalWafers. “As noted by many customers in their earnings statements, the industrial semiconductor market is still in a strong inventory correction, and this has impacted silicon wafer shipments worldwide.”

Silicon wafers are the fundamental building material for the majority of semiconductors, which are vital components of all electronic devices. The highly engineered thin disks, produced in diameters of up to 300 mm, serve as the substrate material on which most semiconductor devices, or chips, are fabricated.

The SMG is a sub-committee of the SEMI Electronic Materials Group (EMG) and is open to SEMI members involved in manufacturing polycrystalline silicon, monocrystalline silicon or silicon wafers (e.g., as cut, polished, epi). The SMG facilitates collective efforts on issues related to the silicon industry including the development of market information and statistics about the silicon industry and the semiconductor market.

For more information, visit SEMI Worldwide Silicon Wafer Shipment Statistics.

About SEMI

SEMI^® is the global industry association connecting over 3,000 member companies and 1.5 million professionals worldwide across the semiconductor and electronics design and manufacturing supply chain. We accelerate member collaboration on solutions to top industry challenges through Advocacy, Workforce Development, Sustainability, Supply Chain Management and other programs. Our SEMICON^® expositions and events, technology communities, standards and market intelligence help advance our members’ business growth and innovations in design, devices, equipment, materials, services and software, enabling smarter, faster, more secure electronics. Visit www.semi.org, contact a regional office, and connect with SEMI on LinkedIn and X to learn more.

Association Contact
Sherrie Gutierrez/SEMI
Phone: 1.831.889.3800
Email: sgutierrez@semi.org

Control Center Becomes Daily Companion, Sole Source of Truth, Streamlining Management of Clarifai Operations

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Clarifai, a global leader in AI and pioneer of the full-stack AI platform, today announced – the public preview of Control Center, a unified dashboard to enable users to make better decisions based on AI insights.

Enabling seamless visibility across all functions, Clarifai’s new Control Center transforms raw data, such as model predictions, search operations, stored inputs, and model training hours, into actionable insights. Customers can observe how teams function, how that impacts operations and spend, and also audit user-initiated events to trace their origin. The key functionalities include charts of different types, tables, date ranges, as well as filtering and sorting options.

“In today’s AI-powered world, time and precision are of the essence. By having all services provided by Clarifai in one comprehensive and intuitive platform section, our customers can quickly make more informed decisions,” said Artjom Shestajev, Sr. Product Manager at Clarifai. ” We will gradually add more data points and functionality to the Control Center, including crucial model metrics and smart alerts.”

The number of use cases is broad and will expand further. For example, it is already possible for:

• an Organization Manager to see which models are most popular among the ones being used.
• a Finance Manager to track spending and clearly match how specific operations or even exact models contribute to the invoice.
• an IT Admin to observe events via Audit Logging functionality and inspect who did what and when.

Clarifai’s industry-leading platform enables customers to maximize compute investments, better leverage their cloud commitments and hardware for AI, and seamlessly use Clarifai’s SaaS compute — all while centrally managing and monitoring costs, performance, and governance. As generative AI grows, the Clarifai platform will more easily enable customers to reduce complexity and seamlessly build and deploy AI in minutes, at a lower cost, with room to scale and flex to meet future business needs easily.

More feature information on Clarifai Control Center is available here.

About Clarifai
Clarifai is a global leader in AI and the pioneer of the full-stack AI platform that helps organizations, teams, and developers build, deploy, and operationalize AI at scale. Clarifai’s cutting-edge AI platform supports today’s modern AI technologies like Large Language Models (LLMs), Large Vision Models (LVMs), Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), automated data labeling, high-volume production inference, and more. Founded in 2013, Clarifai is available in cloud, on-premises, or hybrid environments and has been used to build more than 1.5 million AI models with more than 400,000 users in 170 countries. Learn more at www.clarifai.com.

For more information or media requests, contact: pr@clarifai.com.

Keysight’s EW solutions counter advanced and evolving threats and offer scalability and upgrade options, significantly enhancing operational planning, readiness, and effectiveness.

SAN ANTONIO, Feb. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Frost & Sullivan recently assessed the electronic warfare (EW) and spectrum management industry and based on its findings, recognizes Keysight with the 2024 North American Technology Innovation Leadership Award. The company is a leading electronic design and test solutions provider with over 80 years of expertise. Originally a part of Hewlett-Packard and later Agilent, Keysight carries forward a rich legacy of innovation and industry leadership. The company offers a broad spectrum of software, tools, and services integral to electronic system design, development, and validation. Keysight’s solutions encompass every stage of the product life cycle, from simulation and manufacturing to installation, deployment, and optimization. It also provides extensive customer support, including start-up assistance, application support, asset management, instrument calibration, and consulting. Keysight caters to a wide array of industries, including aerospace and defense, automotive, healthcare, energy, semiconductors, communications, and education.

Keysight leverages extensive R&D capabilities to develop innovative technologies that counter advanced and evolving threats, which is crucial in the rapidly evolving EW mission area. Its advanced EW threat simulators and analyzers compromise commercial off-the-shelf components, including radio frequency (RF) vector signal generators, RF analyzers, and open architecture software. Keysight’s advanced M9484C Vector Signal Generator supports connections up to 54 gigahertz and offers capabilities such as signal descriptor word streaming and virtual channel options. The company’s real-time radio frequency modeling platform, Simulation View Software, enables dynamic scenario control and detailed visualization. Designed for adaptability, the simulators can be upgraded with additional software and hardware components. By using commercial off-the-shelf technology, the company aims to reduce test costs, accelerate project timelines, and ensure high availability. These cutting-edge products enable comprehensive simulation, testing, and analysis of EW scenarios, significantly enhancing threat detection and response capabilities. They evaluate complex multi-emitters, electronic disruptors, and dynamic flight paths, enhancing warfighters’ operational planning and effectiveness.

Norazah Bachok, best practices research analyst at Frost & Sullivan, observed, “By repurposing advancements from diverse industries—such as automotive and telecommunications—Keysight stays ahead of market demands, providing adjustable and sophisticated solutions that address current and future EW needs.”

Keysight leverages its expertise and advanced technology to aid defense organizations in navigating the electromagnetic spectrum’s complexities and enhance their operational readiness. Its scalable, open-architecture solutions integrate legacy scenarios with new advanced systems, enabling customers to modernize their test and evaluation competencies while preserving existing investments’ value. Furthermore, its KeysightCare program offers technical support, warranty services, and upgrades to maintain operational effectiveness and minimize downtime. Keysight optimizes open software architectures, and the size, weight, and power of its EW products ensure that its solutions remain effective in increasingly complex environments, helping it adapt to a swiftly changing technological landscape and reinforcing its industry leadership.

“Keysight’s strategic focus on research and development and investing 16% of its revenue back into the business unit enable it to stay ahead of market demands and continually adapt its technologies for specialized defense applications. This commitment has led to a notable surge, particularly in the EW sector, where the company’s performance surpasses the market average,” added Wayne L. Shaw III, director of aerospace and defense at Frost & Sullivan and himself an EW expert and the former President/CEO of the Association of Old Crows. With its dedication to innovation, scalable and reusable solutions, and strong overall performance, Keysight earns Frost & Sullivan’s 2024 North American Technology Innovation Leadership Award in the EW and spectrum management industry.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has developed a product with innovative features and functionality that is gaining rapid acceptance in the market. The award recognizes the quality of the solution and the customer value enhancements it enables.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in various regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analyses, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.

About Frost & Sullivan

For six decades, Frost & Sullivan has been world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders, and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, megatrends, new business models, and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion. Contact us: Start the discussion.

Contact:

Ashley Shreve
E: Ashley.Shreve@frost.com

About Keysight

Keysight enables innovators to push the boundaries of engineering by quickly solving design, emulation, and test challenges to create the best product experiences. Through our fusion of technology knowledge, measurement science expertise, and tailored solutions, we deliver intelligent insights throughout the innovation workflow to ensure fast time-to-market with reduced risk.

NEW YORK, Feb. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is proud to offer a daily pre-market update directly from the NYSE Trading Floor. Access today’s NYSE Pre-market update for market insights before trading begins. 

Kristen Scholer delivers the pre-market update on February 13th

• Markets digest January’s Producer Price Index Data
• Pace of price gains remains above the Fed’s 2% target
• President Trump announces reciprocal tariffs ahead of meeting with India’s Modi

Watch NYSE TV Live every weekday 9:00-10:00am ET 

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Joico, known for its legacy of product performance and the joi(e) de vivre they bring to hair enthusiasts around the world, is celebrating an incredible milestone: 50 years of healthy hair innovations. Poised for an ultimate season of celebration, the joi-ful brand is excited to announce, actress, singer and entrepreneur, Kate Hudson has joined the brand as its Global Celebrity Spokesperson.

Building on a trusted heritage in salons, the healthy hair brand is now bringing that same salon-quality experience directly to consumers through multiple channels, making luxury hair care accessible and personal. With its 50-year history of creating haircare that delivers real results, the campaign with Hudson will highlight Redefining healthy hair. Since forever.

The brand’s campaign and partnership with Hudson will launch in February 2025 and last through the end of the first quarter of 2026. Hudson will be prominently featured throughout advertising for the brand in all digital mediums including social media globally, and in print and in-store advertising and merchandising for the brand’s North American markets.

The creative concept for the campaign, filmed on location in Southern California with Hudson, capitalizes on her innate playfulness. This concept, “joi lessons with Kate Hudson,” is the brand’s take on “finding joi” while staying authentic and delivering an easygoing-chic. The campaign will show a glimpse into Hudson’s world and how she finds “joi.”                                                           

The campaign will place the legacy brand front and center for many at-home consumers, while speaking to the professional hairdresser community and continuing its support and engagement with its primary audience.                                                 

From new product launches to hero products, both the campaign and the partnership with Hudson will have something to offer all those both new and old to the joi of healthy hair.                                                  

Find your joi at joico.com.au and follow Joico throughout its social media channels for all things Joico + Kate Hudson.

About Kate Hudson

Kate Hudson is a Golden Globe Award winner and Academy Award-nominated actress, singer/songwriter, producer, entrepreneur, and bestselling author. She is best known for her roles in “Almost Famous,” “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” and “Bride Wars,” which she also produced. She co-starred with Mark Wahlberg in “Deepwater Horizon,” “Marshall,” opposite Chadwick Boseman and Sterling K. Brown and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in “Music.” She co-starred opposite Octavia Spencer in the Apple TV+ series, “Truth Be Told,” and starred in Ana Lily Amirpour’s mystery thriller “Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon.” She was part of the all-star ensemble of the global smash hit, “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” streaming on Netflix. Kate’s critically-acclaimed debut album, “Glorious”, was released in May 2024 and the Deluxe Edition of the album is available now. She will star in the upcoming Netflix series, “Running Point”, which premieres in February. Her performance in Max Minghella’s “Shell,” which had its World Premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, garnered rave reviews and she stars opposite Hugh Jackman in Craig Brewer’s upcoming musical drama, “Song Sung Blue,” for Focus Features. In 2013, Kate co-founded Fabletics, a global lifestyle brand centered on inclusivity and community. She continued to expand her wellness empire with her new line of all-natural holistic nutritional supplements, INBLOOM, introduced in 2020. Kate became a New York Times bestselling author in 2013, with her first book Pretty Happy: Healthy Ways to Love Your Body, which was published by HarperCollins/Dey Street Books and her second book Pretty Fun: Creating & Celebrating a Lifetime of Tradition in 2017. She and her brother, Oliver Hudson, host the podcast, “Sibling Revelry,” which is available on iHeart Podcasts. Her many charitable and humanitarian affiliations include The Hawn Foundation’s MindUP program, the United Nations World Food Programme, Baby2Baby, Operation Smile, and numerous other organizations. Visit KateHudson.com for more information.                                             

About Joico                                                    

Joico, a Henkel brand, has been leading the healthy-hair revolution since 1975 and together with the latest innovations in hair care creating beautiful, healthy hair to lift your soul and inspire confidence. “Joi” is not only in our name, it runs through everything we do and every product we make. Each and every one of our product innovations are created to help return hair to its strongest, shiniest, healthiest state, even after one use, and with every use thereafter. Sharing the “‘JOI’ of Healthy Hair” is more than just a promise, it’s a guarantee. For more information please visit www.joico.com.au.                                                       

About Henkel                                      

With its brands, innovations and technologies, Henkel holds leading market positions worldwide in the industrial and consumer businesses. The business unit Adhesive Technologies is the global leader in the market for adhesives, sealants and functional coatings. With Consumer Brands, the company holds leading positions especially in laundry & home care and hair in many markets and categories around the world. The company’s three strongest brands are Loctite, Persil and Schwarzkopf. In fiscal 2023, Henkel reported sales of more than 21.5 billion euros and adjusted operating profit of around 2.6 billion euros. Henkel’s preferred shares are listed in the German stock index DAX. Sustainability has a long tradition at Henkel, and the company has a clear sustainability strategy with specific targets. Henkel was founded in 1876 and today employs a diverse team of about 48,000 people worldwide – united by a strong corporate culture, shared values and a common purpose: “Pioneers at heart for the good of generations.” More information at www.henkel.com.                                                

Henkel photo material is available at https://www.henkel.com/press-and-media

Joico Proudly Welcomes Our New Global Celebrity Spokesperson…Kate Hudson (Photo Credit: Heather Hazzan)

Photo – https://laotiantimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/joico_henkel_logo.jpg
Photo – https://laotiantimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/joicoxkate.jpg

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Feb. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — EDF Saudi Arabia and TAQA Geothermal Energy Company have signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on geothermal energy technologies including power generation and HVAC applications as well as Compressed Air Energy Storage in Saudi Arabia. The agreement was formalized during the third edition of the PIF Private Sector Forum, held at the King Abdul Aziz International Conference Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

EDF and TAQA Geothermal Sign Landmark MoU to Advance Geothermal Energy in Saudi Arabia

The MoU was signed by Omar Aldaweesh, CEO of EDF Saudi Arabia, and Meshary Al-Ayed, CEO of TAQA Geothermal Energy Company, reinforcing the commitment of both companies to advancing innovative and decarbonised energy technologies in the Kingdom.

The signing ceremony was attended by Gudmundur Thoroddsson, Chief Technology Officer of TAQA Geothermal and Chairman of Reykjavik Geothermal, the joint venture partner.

Commenting on the MoU, Omar Aldaweesh, CEO of EDF Saudi Arabia, said:
“This partnership is a natural progression of EDF’s longstanding commitment to Saudi Arabia’s energy sector. Over the past decade, we have been actively contributing to the Kingdom’s energy landscape through our expertise in sustainable solutions, and this MoU further strengthens our role in advancing innovative technologies. By collaborating with TAQA Geothermal, we are leveraging our extensive experience to explore new frontiers in geothermal energies and compressed air energy storage. This initiative is fully aligned with both Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and EDF’s Ambitions 2035, reinforcing our shared commitment to sustainability and to the country’s transition to a cleaner energy future.”

Meshary Alayed, CEO of TAQA Geothermal, added:
“Geothermal energy utilization whether via direct heat use or electricity generation is a critical and untapped resource to drive the global transition to clean energy, as it is a reliable, renewable base load resource. The partnership between EDF and TAQA Geothermal in the field of geothermal solutions redefining space cooling, will have tremendous positive impacts on efficiency and carbon footprint reduction. The combined strengths will demonstrate cutting-edge geothermal cooling systems for the Kingdom’s growing energy needs while supporting Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 in economic diversification and the Ministry of Energy’s renewable energy mandates.“

This collaboration sets the stage for pioneering geothermal energy solutions in Saudi Arabia, paving the way for cleaner and more efficient power and cooling technologies. By leveraging their combined expertise, TAQA Geothermal and EDF aim to unlock the full potential of geothermal resources, reinforcing the Kingdom’s leadership in renewable energy innovation.

About the EDF Group

The EDF Group is a key player in the energy transition, as an integrated energy operator engaged in all aspects of the energy business: power generation, distribution, trading, energy sales and energy services. The Group is a world leader in low-carbon energy, with a low carbon output of 434TWh, a diverse generation mix based mainly on nuclear and renewable energy (including hydropower). It is also investing in new technologies to support the energy transition. EDF’s raison d’être is to build a net zero energy future with electricity and innovative solutions and services, to help save the planet and drive well-being and economic development. The Group supplies energy and services to approximately 40.9 million customers (1) and generated consolidated sales of €139.7 billion in 2023.

(1) Customers are counted per delivery site. A customer may have two delivery points.

For more information: ksa.edf.com
Follow us on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/showcase/edf-middleeast

About TAQA Geothermal Energy Company

TAQA Geothermal is a joint venture between the PIF majority owned upstream Energy services and well engineering company TAQA and Reykjavik Geothermal, headquartered in Iceland and a leader in the field of geothermal resources and project development. The joint venture was established in 2023 and announced during the Public Investment Fund forum in March 2023. TAQA Geothermal is active in the regional and international geothermal consultancy and project management fields with ongoing projects in Saudi Arabia and internationally. Resource assessment consultancy, designing and executing exploration and development programs and pilot project developments are all aligned to deliver on it’s the vision of enabling clean, reliable and sustainable Geothermal Energy to the region.

For more information: https://www.tq.com/what-we-do/taqa-ventures/subsidiaries/taqa-geothermal/ 

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/taqa-geothermal/?viewAsMember=true