Analog Devices $ADI has agreed to acquire Alif Semiconductor for $1.35 billion in cash - WSJ "Alif’s microcontrollers and fusion processors enable real-time sensor fusion, low-latency inference and on-device AI, bringing advanced intelligence to demanding physical systems"

Analogs speak loud There is a strong history among commodities that parabolic advances, once violated, produce 80% declines. That would be Gold to $1,120. Don't think that will happen, but a 50% decline brings price back to $2,800 or so

Analog Devices said it uncovered unauthorized access to its systems last month and that, after an investigation, it found that some files were “exfiltrated” from the affected systems

Analogs- Mizuho: "we see as many as 6 OEMs implementing price hikes into 2H26E as demand for select components remains very tight. We see $NXPI, $TXN, IFX, Molex, $STM and Shanghai Belling all noting price increases with some noting price increases of up 5-30% as AI servers drive increased demand. We believe some analog suppliers are having to absorb some of the cost increases being handed out by wafer suppliers. Additionally, we continue to see suppliers of memory and MLCC raising prices, further straining the supply chain and increasing the cost for end consumers across auto and industrial end markets. We believe memory/storage component and AI DC power price increases will be able to be passed on to customers, with only high-end MCUs and HV MOSFET/IGBTs seeing higher prices passed on." Evercore: Our $ON checks remain positive, and SYNA accelerates ON’s development of edge-AI processors and accelerates its push into edge and physical AI."

Analog vs. digital. Which is actually better? As AI systems hit efficiency limits, it might be time to rethink the abstractions we’ve taken for granted and focus on using the right tool for the job. Explore the case for a mixed-signal future in our latest blog post “Analog is dead, long live analog.”

I like the analogy between the frontier labs and movie studios. Lot of similarities including the relative nature of model intelligence monetization vs blockbuster slates having to compete during peak seasons but also pulling net-new demand if novel enough, the de-risking nature of successive models vs movie franchises, the tail monetization of older IP, the scaled capital moat etc. Just something to play around with in your head. Lots of important differences too obviously.