IMC 2026 Opens, Marvell AI Strategy, Vinci Unicorn and More Tech News

AI

India Mobile Congress 2026 Opens in New Delhi

The 10th edition of India Mobile Congress, jointly organized by India’s Department of Telecommunications and COAI, opened on October 7 at the Yashobhoomi Convention Centre in New Delhi. The four-day event draws over 150,000 attendees from more than 100 countries.

This year’s theme is “Scale Without Boundaries.” Core topics include 6G, AI-native networks, autonomous networks, quantum communications, semiconductors, satellite communications, and cybersecurity. GSMA has joined as a co-partner, and more than 300 exhibitor booths are in operation.

India aims to lead 6G standardization following its 5G commercialization push. AI-native networks embed AI from the design phase, a fundamentally different approach from retrofitting AI onto existing infrastructure.

Marvell Unveils Custom Silicon AI Strategy at Investor Day

Marvell Technology held its Investor Day in New York on October 6. CEO Matt Murphy and the leadership team presented the company’s AI infrastructure custom silicon growth strategy and long-term roadmap.

The event followed Broadcom’s disclosure that Google’s TPU v8i entered production shipments in Q3 with high-volume ramp-up expected in Q4. Marvell expects its expanded partnership with Google to become a meaningful revenue contributor starting in calendar 2028.

Competition between Broadcom and Marvell in the custom AI chip market is intensifying. Major cloud providers are shifting away from general-purpose GPU dependence toward custom-designed silicon, driving growth for both companies.

Big Tech

T-Mobile US Cuts Over 4,500 Jobs in H1 2026

Deutsche Telekom’s U.S. subsidiary T-Mobile US reduced headcount by 4,671 in the first half of 2026. The cuts are part of a “2025-2026 workforce transformation” aimed at flattening organizational layers and eliminating duplicate roles.

T-Mobile US headcount dropped from 70,036 at the end of 2025 to 65,365 by mid-2026, a 6.7% reduction. The overlap created by 2025 acquisitions of UScellular, Lumos, and Metronet contributed to redundancies that were addressed in this restructuring.

Deutsche Telekom views AI as central to its plan to save roughly $1 billion in group costs by 2027. The company is applying AI to fiber rollout optimization, remote management of 75% of its routers, and automated RAN monitoring.

Samsung Breaks Ground on $1.5B Vietnam Chip Test Fab

Samsung Electronics is constructing a $1.5 billion semiconductor testing plant in Thai Nguyen province, Vietnam. Located at an industrial park 60 kilometers north of Hanoi, the facility targets operational launch in November 2027.

The plant is designed to process 153.3 billion GB of DRAM and 255.6 billion GB of NAND annually. Vietnamese authorities approved the investment in March, and Samsung is planning up to $2.5 billion in additional reinvestment for a potential second facility.

Samsung is already the largest foreign investor in Vietnam but has not operated chip testing facilities there until now. The move addresses test-stage bottlenecks amid a persistent global memory supply shortage.

Startups

Vinci Reaches Unicorn Status with $250M for AI Chip Simulation

AI-powered physics simulation startup Vinci raised $250 million, reaching a $1.5 billion valuation. The round comes just ten months after the company emerged from stealth with $46 million in seed and Series A funding led by Xora Innovation.

Vinci’s physics-driven AI software runs simulations up to 1,000 times faster than conventional FEA solvers. The system combines AI acceleration with established physics methods to match or exceed traditional solver accuracy without requiring customer data for training.

More than half of the world’s top 20 semiconductor companies have completed validation. The core value proposition is compressing design cycles from weeks to hours.

Micron and TSMC Partner on Custom HBM4E Memory

Micron has decided to outsource base logic die fabrication for its next-generation HBM4E memory to TSMC. Both standard and custom logic dies will be manufactured by TSMC, with volume production targeted for 2027.

At the KeyBanc Technology Leadership Forum, Micron EVP Sumit Sadana stated that “the shift toward custom HBM will begin with HBM4E.” The company plans to develop customer-specific SKUs optimized for AI workloads.

All three major HBM suppliers – Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix – are preparing HBM4 supply for NVIDIA’s Vera Rubin GPUs. As HBM transitions from commodity to custom, memory suppliers’ design capabilities become a new competitive differentiator.

Open Source

Cloudflare Open-Sources Its AI Agent Workspace

Cloudflare released its internal AI agent workspace platform as Cloudflare OS under the Apache-2.0 license. The release is a full v2 rewrite built on Workers and Durable Objects.

Three key components define the platform. Gadgets are private, sandboxed app instances that AI agents can safely modify. Code Mode is a built-in coding agent supporting multiple LLM providers. Gatekeepers is a capability-based security layer that controls agent access to external APIs like GitHub, Slack, and Notion through human-in-the-loop approval.

Organizations can deploy it into their own Cloudflare account or self-host it on workerd. It serves as a practical reference implementation for running AI agents securely in enterprise environments.

CircuitMess Launches MAKERphone 2.0 with ESP32-S3 and 4G

CircuitMess has released the MAKERphone 2.0, a solder-free DIY 4G mobile phone built on the ESP32-S3 platform. The device supports programming in MicroPython and C++ and features modular hardware expansion capabilities.

The latest product from the educational electronics kit maker adds 4G connectivity and a more capable processor compared to its predecessor. It targets the maker community as an open-source hardware project for learning embedded systems and telecommunications.

Gaming

Monster Hunter Outlanders Confirmed for October 29 Mobile Launch

Capcom and Tencent’s TiMi Studio Group have set October 29 as the global launch date for Monster Hunter Outlanders on Android and iOS. Pre-registration is open on both app stores.

The game is an open-world survival title where players explore unique regions, craft gear, and engage in cooperative hunts with up to four players. Capcom describes it as a “fully featured open-world survival game” delivering an authentic Monster Hunter experience on mobile.

The franchise’s mobile expansion reflects Capcom’s strategy to reach the Asian mobile market through its partnership with Tencent’s TiMi Studio.

Once Upon A Katamari Rolls onto Switch 2 on October 8

Bandai Namco will release the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Once Upon A Katamari on October 8. The Rolling LIVE Highlights DLC launches alongside, drawing content from the Apple Arcade title Katamari Damacy Rolling LIVE.

The DLC adds 10 new quests, 12 new songs, six new cousin characters, and 18 accessories. The Switch 2 version features exclusive mouse controls, improved framerate, and enhanced graphics as a free update. Save data transfer from the original Switch is supported.

References

1. India Mobile Congress 2026 - GSMA — GSMA
2. Marvell Investor Day Press Release — Marvell IR
3. Broadcom Google TPU v8i Production — Akrostec
4. T-Mobile US Job Cuts — SDXCentral
5. Deutsche Telekom AI Goals — Telco Titans
6. Samsung Vietnam Chip Testing Plant — DatacenterDynamics
7. Samsung Vietnam $2.5B Expansion — The Next Web
8. Vinci Funding Oct 6 — Tech Startups
9. Vinci Stealth Launch — BusinessWire
10. Vinci $46M Funding — SiliconANGLE
11. Micron HBM4E Custom Era — TrendForce
12. Micron TSMC HBM4E Partnership — Tom’s Hardware
13. Cloudflare OS GitHub — GitHub
14. Cloudflare OS Announcement — Baeke.info
15. CircuitMess — CircuitMess
16. Monster Hunter Outlanders Release Date — GosuGamers
17. Monster Hunter Outlanders Announcement — VGC
18. Once Upon A Katamari Switch 2 — Bandai Namco EU
19. Once Upon A Katamari DLC — Bandai Namco US