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In his December 27, 2024 year-end diary for EE Times, executive editor Nitin Dahad identified AI-driven edge intelligence, RISC-V and chiplets as three prominent themes in his reporting calendar. His account links those themes to a wider set of developments: AI data-center infrastructure, advanced packaging, high-bandwidth memory, power delivery and cooling, alongside edge computing in embedded, automotive and IoT settings. It is a journalist’s retrospective on the year’s events and coverage, not a market forecast or product comparison.
What Dahad saw as the defining themes of 2024
Dahad wrote that he had been “quite close” when he identified “AI driving more edge intelligence, RISC-V and chiplets” as key trends for 2024. He explicitly did not present the three as an exhaustive list. Across his diary, they serve as a way to connect developments in computing systems, semiconductor design and manufacturing, and the places where AI workloads run.
AI moves across the edge and the data center
Edge intelligence was visible in embedded systems, automotive technology and IoT. At the other end of the computing spectrum, AI drove attention to data-center infrastructure, including custom high-bandwidth memory (HBM), power delivery and cooling. The diary’s through-line is not that one location replaces another: it is that AI raises different system questions depending on where computation happens, from real-time decisions at the edge to the infrastructure supporting large-scale workloads.
RISC-V and chiplets join the wider design conversation
RISC-V and chiplets recur among the year’s semiconductor themes. Dahad’s coverage included design-automation discussions of AI and chiplets, the launch of a chiplets marketplace at the OCP Global Summit, and the North America RISC-V Summit. The diary records these as signs of industry activity, rather than making claims about which architecture or packaging approach will prevail.
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How the reporting year unfolded
The diary is arranged around events and reporting milestones, from HiPEAC Vision in January to electronica and year-end coverage in November and December. This calendar shows how the AI, HPC and edge themes appeared in different settings throughout the year.
January: computing beyond a single layer
At HiPEAC Vision 2024 in Munich, discussions considered a “next computing paradigm” bringing together the web, cloud, cyber-physical systems, IoT, digital twins, the metaverse and AI. Dahad also reported on AI in defense electronics, including the challenge of balancing real-time decisions at the edge with retaining data that could help refine future models. His January coverage also began following India’s semiconductor ecosystem.
February: foundry ambitions and 6G research
Intel Foundry’s ecosystem event and the first customers for its 18A process were among the month’s subjects. Dahad described the event at San Jose’s McEnery Convention Center as a place that “could easily come close” to a Disneyland for the semiconductor industry; that was his characterization of the gathering. At Mobile World Congress, he covered a joint statement on shared 6G research and development principles endorsed by ten countries, and interviewed University of Oulu professor Mehdi Bennis about 6G research and network visions.
March: AI hardware, design and photonics
March brought coverage of SEMI’s Industry Strategy Symposium, software-defined vehicles, the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA), Nvidia GTC, AI in electronic-design automation, chip design and silicon photonics. Dahad reported that 11,000 people attended Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s two-hour GTC keynote at San Jose’s SAP Center. Around the Optical Fiber Communications Conference (OFC), a workshop considered silicon photonics for data transport and processing in AI-heavy cloud, enterprise and telecom networks.
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April and May: edge AI and India’s ecosystem
At embedded world, edge AI was a central topic. Dahad’s reporting in India included interviews spanning wearables, manufacturing, system design, optical electronics, recruitment and investing. Automotive coverage also examined software-defined vehicles and the connected-vehicle experience.
June: AI PCs, supply chains and autonomous racing
Computex coverage focused on AI PCs and Taiwan’s role in electronics supply chains. The diary also described a semi-autonomous race car using an Nvidia module, stereo vision and custom-trained models for head tracking. Design-automation coverage continued to explore AI and chiplets.
September: semiconductor growth in India and GaN
Semicon India and the development of India’s semiconductor ecosystem were prominent. Dahad relayed Infineon’s description of its 300-mm gallium nitride (GaN) wafer technology as a major achievement, as well as the company’s observation that customers were seeking information about possible AI applications. Those are company claims and characterizations as reported in the diary, not independent assessments of the technology.
October: edge systems, open hardware and data-center cooling
The first U.S. embedded world event drew some 3,500 visitors, according to Dahad. The OCP Global Summit drew some 7,000, by his account, and featured discussion of sustainability and data-center cooling alongside the launch of a chiplets marketplace. Dahad also covered technology events from Infineon and Synaptics and the North America RISC-V Summit.
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November and December: edge computing and AI infrastructure
The final stretch of the diary included edge-compute discussion at the Global CEO Summit, electronica and Silicon Catalyst’s ChipStart EU program. In December, Dahad covered Marvell’s focus on AI data-center infrastructure and custom HBM. The GSA awards ceremony in Santa Clara drew around 2,000 attendees, according to his account.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the diary’s attendance figures tell you
The attendance counts give a sense of the scale Dahad associated with several events, but they should be read as figures reported in his diary, not as independently verified totals.
| Event | Attendance reported by Dahad |
|---|---|
| Nvidia GTC 2024 keynote at San Jose’s SAP Center | 11,000 attendees at Jensen Huang’s two-hour keynote |
| First U.S. embedded world event | Some 3,500 visitors |
| OCP Global Summit 2024 | Some 7,000 visitors |
| GSA 2024 awards ceremony in Santa Clara | Around 2,000 attendees |
These counts are attributed to Nitin Dahad’s December 27, 2024 EE Times diary. The diary does not establish separate official records for them.
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How to read this retrospective
The diary is most useful as a map of the year’s reporting: it shows where semiconductor and electronics conversations intersected, and how AI connected edge devices with data-center systems. It does not provide a common measurement framework for comparing technologies, products or vendors. Its event descriptions, attendance numbers and company characterizations are best understood as Dahad’s reported account of 2024, rather than independently corroborated findings or a recommendation to buy particular hardware.
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