GXTrust, a well-established European brand in gaming accessories, and THX Ltd., a world-class high-fidelity audio and video tuning, certification, and technology company, today announced a strategic partnership to elevate gaming audio across GXTrust product offerings. Representing a shared commitment to providing premium sound quality, immersion, and performance to gamers, this collaboration marks an advance in audio immersion for gaming fans across Europe and beyond.

High-quality audio has become a priority in modern gaming - from competitive gameplay where clear communication and directional cues are key, to immersive titles that demand rich, detailed soundscapes to transport players to brand-new worlds. This GXTrust x THX partnership comes at this critical time in the market to deliver consumer electronics products that deliver audio with a wide soundstage with emotional realism and cinematic sound.

Noctua, the Austrian manufacturer of premium quality quiet cooling components, and Forced Physics DCT today announced a joint research partnership to explore how Forced Physics' patented JouleForce micro-channel array technology can be brought to desktop PCs and workstations. The collaboration is a long-term research and development effort that is not tied to a specific product or release date.

JouleForce arrays leverage geometry-driven molecular collisions at the channel walls: the boundary layer that limits conventional air cooling never fully forms, so heat is extracted along the entire length of each micro-channel. This allows large amounts of heat to be removed using air alone, without the pumps, tubing and liquid loops of water cooling, at power levels that are becoming difficult to manage with conventional air coolers.

GameSir, a global leader in gaming peripherals, announced its collaboration with Fortnite, introducing an all-new collection of officially licensed mobile controllers that combine GameSir's award-winning technology with one of the world's most iconic games.Launching with the GameSir G8 Plus Fortnite Edition and GameSir X5 Lite for XBOX Fortnite Edition, the collection is designed for mobile players who demand more from every match. Featuring premium controller technology that delivers console inspired performance, authentic Fortnite-inspired designs, and an in-game bonus item with every controller, the collection delivers an experience that extends well beyond the hardware.

Facilitated by IMG Licensing, the collaboration brings console-quality precision, comfort, and customization to mobile gaming—whether players are dropping into Battle Royale, Zero Build, Reload, or developer-made games.

GL.iNet, a global provider of secure and customizable networking solutions, today announced the launch of Fortify (GL-MT6000), a high-performance Wi-Fi 6 VPN router developed in collaboration with ExpressVPN.

Built on GL.iNet's established Flint 2 hardware and networking platform, Fortify combines high-performance home networking with ExpressVPN's VPN and privacy technology to provide a simpler way to manage VPN protection across the home.

Physint is an upcoming stealth action game by Kojima Productions and written by Hideo Kojima, originally slated to be published by PlayStation. It was originally announced at a 2024 PlayStation State of Play, but as of a recent announcement on the Kojima Productions site, Physint will now be published in partnership with Xbox.

As explained in a follow-up post by Hideo Kojima on X, PlayStation had decided to cancel Physint in mid-June 2026, although no reason was publicly disclosed for the cancellation. Following Sony pulling out of the project, Kojima Productions searched for a new publishing partner for three months, ultimately landing on Xbox, citing that the two companies "share a common vision for the future."

Samsung Electronics today announced it has entered into a strategic partnership with Mistral AI to enhance its semiconductor engineering and manufacturing capabilities that will reinforce its leadership in AI chip technologies. The announcement of the partnership was made during the state summit held in Paris between South Korea and France. Under the agreement, Samsung will integrate Mistral's AI services and solutions—including its flagship large language model, Mistral Large—across its semiconductor operations to develop customized on-premises AI models optimized for intelligence-driven infrastructure.

Mistral's powerful AI platform is expected to provide Samsung with a unique stack of tools that will transform how semiconductors are designed and manufactured. The on-premises enterprise solutions will especially ensure security and flexibility required to process highly sensitive technologies and operational data entirely within the boundaries of Samsung's semiconductor infrastructure, maintaining total control over its mission-critical technologies.

Logitech (SIX: LOGN) (NASDAQ: LOGI) today announced MX Keypad, the AI control center designed for multi-app, multi-agent coding to put developers in command of their evolving workflows.

Unlike other solutions on the market, MX Keypad offers cross-app compatibility with major coding platforms, allowing for unlimited customization tailored to each individual workflow. This unique level of versatility and personalization allows coders to unify their AI workflows, complex prompts, and dev tools, for a continuous, uninterrupted flow across their entire stack. MX Keypad includes a selection of plugins, created and tested by developers, for GitHub Copilot and Claude Code.

Samsung Electronics today announced an exclusive partnership with Activision as the official TV, monitor, soundbar, and Wi-Fi speaker of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, the latest title in one of the world's largest first-person shooter (FPS) franchises. The collaboration brings Call of Duty together with Samsung's premium display and connected gaming technologies to give players more ways to experience the title before its official launch.

Call of Duty is a critically acclaimed and award-winning franchise that has become one of gaming's most recognized intellectual properties. The collaboration marks another step in Samsung's efforts to expand next-generation gaming experiences across TVs, monitors, soundbars, Wi-Fi speakers, and connected gaming services.

Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation ("Sony") and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited ("TSMC") (TWSE: 2330, NYSE: TSM) today announced the execution of a legally binding definitive agreement for the establishment of Advanced Vision Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation as a joint venture ("JV") in Koshi City, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. The JV will serve as a core hub for the development and manufacturing activities required for the volume production of image sensors for smartphones utilizing advanced manufacturing process technology. The JV is expected to commence volume production in 2029.

Sony will be the sole controlling shareholder and the JV is planned to operate as a consolidated subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. The Representative Director of the JV is planned to be appointed by Sony.

NVIDIA is reportedly working with a group of major Wall Street firms to put together a $500 billion funding package for AI infrastructure, according to Reuters. The group includes some of the biggest Wall Street names such as Apollo Global, Blackstone, BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners, Brookfield Asset Management, Goldman Sachs, and KKR. The Financial Times reported the development first, and soon after that, NVIDIA shares fell over 3%. In June, the company tapped the debt market with a $25 billion bond issuance, its first since 2021. This latest move suggests the capital requirements for AI infrastructure are growing faster than any single player can fund alone. For this year alone, big tech combined AI spending is on track to surpass $730 billion. Across the board, the biggest names in semiconductors and AI infrastructure are posting record revenues while simultaneously raising fresh capital for future projects, another confirming sign that demand expectations for the next few years are running well ahead of current capacity.

Two other notable developments landed today alongside the NVIDIA news. Intel announced a $15 billion underwritten public offering of common stock to fund its foundry expansion, a significant capital raise for a company in the middle of an expensive manufacturing transformation. And TSMC reported July revenue of NT$467.58 billion (around $14.49 billion), up 5.6% from June and 44.7% year over year. The scale of that growth is worth noting, TSMC was already selling essentially all available wafer capacity, so the revenue increase reflects rising customer commitments and pricing rather than idle or new capacity coming online. Going back to NVIDIA, this July we reported that the company was in talks to provide roughly $250 billion in financing guarantees for OpenAI's planned data center campus in southern Ohio. Moreover, NVIDIA is reportedly also in talks to help fund OpenAI's with $350 billion for chip purchases.

Fanatec, a brand of Corsair (NASDAQ: CRSR) and global leader in sim racing hardware, today announced a new licensing partnership with Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. to develop officially licensed sim racing steering wheels inspired by the brand's performance driving heritage.

Developed for driving simulation enthusiasts, the products will deliver an authentic experience for racers, adding to Fanatec's diverse portfolio of steering wheels. Further details regarding the design and features will be revealed at a later date.

Branch, the office furniture company on a mission to make a great workspace accessible to everyone, today announced a first-of-its-kind collaboration with SEGA: a collection of three ergonomic gaming chairs inspired by the worlds, consoles, and characters that have defined generations of play. The Branch x SEGA Gaming Chair Collection—featuring the Sonic Chair, the Genesis Chair, and the Dreamcast Chair—launches in May 2026 on branchfurniture.com, with prices starting at $569 USD.

These are the first gaming chairs ever launched under the SEGA brand. Each chair builds on the acclaimed Ergonomic Chair Pro platform by Branch, reimagined with subtle, sophisticated design details drawn from SEGA's most beloved properties. Branch's design team translated the visual language of SEGA's most iconic properties into considered details: custom fabrics, textured armrests, branded casters, checkerboard accents, and console-inspired finishes that reward a closer look without overwhelming a room.

Today, we reported that GALAX is ending its operations as an independent company and integrating into its parent company, Palit. However, users were left wondering whether Palit would stop offering GALAX-branded products, which have significant recognition among gamers. The official company response is that the branding will continue to be active. This means that GALAX-branded Hall-of-Fame (HOF) GPUs for extreme overclocking, the KFA2 brand for Europe, and other GALAX-branded products will remain available on the market. In simple terms, this is just a corporate structure change, with Palit consolidating its ventures under one roof as the parent company. Ongoing customer commitments, including RMA, warranty claims, and general support, will now be handled by Palit, while the design and development of new GPUs under the GALAX brand will continue.Below is a complete statement from Palit, followed by a statement from GALAX.

At Slimbook, we continue working to take our systems to the next level. That's why we are pleased to announce a new partnership agreement with PNY Technologies, one of the most internationally recognized manufacturers of memory, storage solutions, and graphics cards. Since 2015, Slimbook has established itself as a leading Spanish brand in the design and development of optimized computers, especially valued for their compatibility with Linux distributions and their focus on performance and reliability.

Thanks to this new collaboration, PNY becomes a technology partner and key component supplier for Slimbook systems, including:

• High-performance NVMe SSDs
• DRAM memory modules
• NVIDIA GeForce and NVIDIA RTX graphics cards

Elon Musk announced today on X that Tesla has completed the design of a new generation of its AI chips for Full Self-Driving (FSD). The CEO also mentioned earlier that the AI5 chip will offer performance comparable to NVIDIA's "Hopper" architecture, with two AI5 units matching the power of a single "Blackwell" processor. In late 2025, reports indicated that Samsung had achieved a significant win for its previously struggling foundry business, as Tesla decided to split the manufacturing of its new AI5 accelerator between Samsung and TSMC. The chips will be produced at Samsung's plant in Taylor, Texas, and TSMC's facility in Arizona. This decision is part of a strategy to keep the supply chain diversified and maintain chip supply under control for any demand scenario.

Samsung and TSMC are not the only partners in this project. Tesla is also sourcing DRAM chips from SK hynix, which appear to be LPDDR5X memory integrated into the package. On both the left and right sides, there are two rows of SK hynix LPDDR5X memory modules, each with three modules. This totals 12 LPDDR5X memory modules per AI5 chip. With 16 GB per module, this results in 192 GB of LPDDR5X memory per single AI5 SoC.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a strategic collaboration with Arm to develop new dual-architecture hardware that helps enterprises run future AI and data intensive workloads with greater flexibility, reliability, and security.

IBM's leadership in system design, from silicon to software and security, has helped enterprises adopt emerging technologies with the scale and reliability required for mission-critical workloads. As AI moves deeper into core business operations, IBM continues to invest in hardware platforms such as the Telum II processor and Spyre Accelerator, which are designed to bring AI from experimentation into everyday enterprise use.

NVIDIA and Marvell Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL) today announced a strategic partnership to connect Marvell to the NVIDIA AI factory and AI-RAN ecosystem through NVIDIA NVLink Fusion offering customers building on NVIDIA architectures greater choice and flexibility in developing next-generation infrastructure. The companies will also collaborate on silicon photonics technology.

In addition, NVIDIA has invested $2 billion in Marvell.

Sony Corporation ("Sony") and TCL Electronics Holdings Limited (together with its subsidiaries, "TCL") today announced that Sony and TCL have entered into legally binding definitive agreements for a strategic partnership in the home entertainment field. This follows the memorandum of understanding announced on January 20, 2026, pursuant to which both parties have been conducting discussions.

Under this partnership, Sony will establish a wholly owned subsidiary (the "Preparatory Company") to assume its home entertainment business, and TCL will subscribe to a portion of the Preparatory Company's shares, forming a joint venture (the "New Company") with TCL holding 51% and Sony holding 49% of the shares. The New Company will succeed to Sony's home entertainment business, which includes product development and design, manufacturing, sales and logistics, and customer service for products such as Consumer TVs (BRAVIA), B2B Flat Panel Displays (B2B BRAVIA), B2B LED Displays, projectors, and home audio equipment such as home theater systems and audio components. The New Company is expected to operate this integrated business globally.

OpenAI and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced a multi-year strategic partnership to accelerate AI innovation for enterprises, startups, and end consumers around the world. Amazon will also invest $50 billion in OpenAI, starting with an initial $15 billion investment and followed by another $35 billion in the coming months when certain conditions are met.

Partnering to bring new advanced AI capabilities to enterprises worldwide
OpenAI and Amazon are jointly developing a Stateful Runtime Environment powered by OpenAI's models, which will be available through Amazon Bedrock.
Stateful developer environments are the next generation of how frontier models will be used, seamlessly enabling models to access elements like compute, memory, and identity. A Stateful Runtime Environment allows developers to keep context, remember prior work, work across software tools and data sources, and access compute. They're designed to handle ongoing projects and workflows.

AMD and Nutanix today announced a multi-year strategic partnership to jointly develop an open, full-stack AI infrastructure platform designed to power agentic AI applications everywhere. This agreement aligns to both companies' commitment to an open ecosystem for AI, providing customers with choice and easy-to-deploy, production ready, high-performance and efficient solutions that are optimized for Agentic AI, at the edge, inside enterprises, and across the cloud.

The partnership aligns silicon innovation, open runtime software and enterprise cloud orchestration technologies for AI to deliver scalable, production-ready agentic AI platforms across data centers, hybrid and edge environments. By optimizing the Nutanix Cloud and Nutanix Kubernetes Platforms on AMD EPYC CPUs and AMD Instinct GPUs and integrating the AMD ROCm software ecosystem and the AMD Enterprise AI platform into Nutanix AI full-stack solutions, the companies are developing an open solution for Agentic AI platforms using high-performance infrastructure and supported by a broad set of OEM partners.

NVIDIA today announced a multiyear, multigenerational strategic partnership with Meta spanning on-premises, cloud and AI infrastructure. Meta will build hyperscale data centers optimized for both training and inference in support of the company's long-term AI infrastructure roadmap. This partnership will enable the large-scale deployment of NVIDIA CPUs and millions of NVIDIA Blackwell and Rubin GPUs, as well as the integration of NVIDIA Spectrum-X Ethernet switches for Meta's Facebook Open Switching System platform.

"No one deploys AI at Meta's scale—integrating frontier research with industrial-scale infrastructure to power the world's largest personalization and recommendation systems for billions of users," said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. "Through deep codesign across CPUs, GPUs, networking and software, we are bringing the full NVIDIA platform to Meta's researchers and engineers as they build the foundation for the next AI frontier."

Step into the brutal world of Nioh 3 with the GameSir G7 Pro 8K PC, a high-performance controller built for fast reactions, precise inputs, and uncompromising control. Designed to meet the demands of high-intensity action combat, it delivers the speed and accuracy required to survive every clash. In collaboration with Nioh 3, the latest installment in the epic action RPG series, Nioh, this controller draws inspiration from the iconic Living Weapon state. The deep black armor on the grips evokes the awakened battle form, while radiant gold accents capture the surge of spiritual energy.

With an 8000 Hz polling rate over both wired and 2.4G wireless connections, the G7 Pro 8K PC ensures every parry, dodge, and counterattack is registered instantly. In battles where timing defines victory, ultra-low latency gives you the edge you need. Designed for pro-level performance, the G7 Pro 8K PC features second-generation GameSir Mag-Res TMR sticks. Compared to the first generation, the Gen-2 TMR sticks continue to use magnetic technology to eliminate physical contact, delivering long-lasting anti-stick drift reliability. At the same time, with 8K Hz polling, they provide smoother, more linear control and ultra-low power consumption, ensuring precise and responsive control for high-intensity action combat.

Kuroutoshikou's GALAKURO gaming graphics card range continues to grow in early 2026—lately, the Japanese PC hardware brand has added three new SKUs to this custom GeForce RTX 50-series lineup. So far, this regional specialist has launched the vast majority of NVIDIA's "Blackwell" era of hardware, barring the flagship GeForce RTX 5090 32 GB model. The latest additions are all GeForce RTX 5060 Ti SKUs, starting with a lone 16 GB special edition. Once more, GALAKURO has partnered up with NCSoft—this collaboration has produced the Lineage II-themed GALAKURO GeForce RTX 5060 Ti Dual Fan OC 16 GB black model. A previous licensing deal resulted in the Blade and Soul NEO Radeon RX 7600 8 GB collab card. As expected, Kuroutoshikou's latest special edition retail packaging features Lineage II artwork, but the actual card is devoid of any fantasy MMORPG sequel-themed prints or stickers.

In fact, Kuroutoshikou has simply rebranded GALAX's Dual Fan 1-Click OC card design—the closest equivalent in TechPowerUp's GPU database is the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 1-Click OC V2 16 GB model. As covered in the past, the aforementioned Blade and Soul NEO collaboration edition is just a re-stickered plus re-boxed PowerColor Fighter RX 7600 8 GB card. The much newer Kuroutoshikou x NCSoft Collaboration Edition is due to launch later this week (February 20). Buyers will be gifted a free Lineage II in-game "summoning ticket." This promotion starts on release day, and ends on November 30.

The Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP) and the Illinois Economic Development Corporation announced that Quantum Machines will establish a flagship hub at the Park. Quantum Machines, the leading provider of hybrid control solutions, will operate a state-of-the-art lab at the IQMP, for research and development on a hardware-control co-design approach to align quantum processors, classical infrastructure, and control software. While the Park is under development, Quantum Machines will be situated at the IQMP's On-Ramp facilities in Chicago. On-Ramp is supported by grant funding from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

"Illinois is building the future of quantum technology, and Quantum Machines' decision to establish a presence at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park is further proof that our state is the premier destination for next-generation innovation," said Governor JB Pritzker. "Quantum Machines is a global leader in quantum control technology, providing the critical systems that enable quantum computers to operate at scale. They will join a growing roster of companies that will be housed at the IQMP and strengthen Illinois' position as a global leader in this cutting-edge industry."

AMD enables Hollywood's most demanding creators as they stretch the boundaries of visual storytelling. On Feb. 9, 2026, the Advanced Imaging Society (AIS) presented AMD with its Production Technology Lumiere Award to recognize the capabilities of its latest generation of "Zen 5"-based EPYC Server and Ryzen Threadripper Pro workstation processors. During the ceremony, the award presenter, Evan Jacobs, Vice Chair of AIS from Marvel Studios, underscored how dramatically computing technology has reshaped filmmaking. "Using a 2005 vintage workstation to render next year's "Toy Story 5," the team at Pixar would need 131 years to get Woody and Buzz Lightyear to the screen." Today, that same level of work can be completed in hours thanks to the newest architecture from AMD.

AMD Current-gen Processors Power a New Era of Filmmaking
AMD processors deliver compute-dense architecture, exceptional throughput, and leadership energy efficiency. With up to 192 cores on EPYC and up to 96 cores on Threadripper Pro, AMD processors give studios the power to consolidate demanding workloads, accelerate creative iteration, and keep production timelines on track. Studios are increasingly turning to high-density, energy-efficient compute to meet the demands of real-time rendering, complex simulations, and AI-driven workflows. AMD EPYC and Threadripper Pro platforms enable that shift, giving directors and artists the power to hit their creative and production goals without compromise.