Infineon packs a week of AI power launches: OptiMOS 7 in production, €1.1 billion GaN bet

German chipmaker Infineon spent the week rolling out a cluster of products and partnerships aimed at artificial intelligence infrastructure and software-defined vehicles, from a power chip already in mass production to automotive microcontrollers, backed by a €1.1 billion gallium nitride fab investment — the Munich company's latest push in the AI era.

OptiMOS 7 in production, aimed at AI server power

The OptiMOS 7 40V MOSFET portfolio, launched on Tuesday, targets AI servers, data centres and telecom infrastructure and is already in mass production. Designed for high-frequency DC-DC conversion, the devices aim to cut conduction and switching losses at the same time and raise power density, supporting intermediate bus conversion in 48V architectures and the low-voltage secondary side of emerging 800V DC architectures, with switching frequencies beyond 1 MHz in suitable topologies. Infineon says the parts let designers raise power density in the very limited space of an AI server.

Vertiv and SOLUM deals target high-voltage DC for data centres

According to media reports, Infineon signed a three-year power semiconductor supply agreement with data-centre infrastructure provider Vertiv this week, and signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea's SOLUM to jointly develop high-voltage DC power solutions for AI data centres, covering interbus converters, battery backup units and power supplies. Both sit alongside the Nvidia collaboration announced on October 21 to develop GaN-based power conversion systems for 800V DC AI data centres.

Car chips: Qualcomm deal and a first RISC-V microcontroller

On the automotive side, Infineon agreed a microcontroller-based design with Qualcomm Technologies on Monday for Qualcomm's Snapdragon Ride reference platforms, aimed at high-performance computing and AI in vehicles. The AURIX RC1 family unveiled midweek is Infineon's first microcontroller platform built on RISC-V, aimed at real-time processing and control in software-defined cars as well as physical-AI applications, with samples slated for the first half of 2027.

€1.1 billion GaN bet; results due November 10

Underpinning the push is a manufacturing commitment announced on October 27: roughly €1.1 billion of investment through 2034 in Villach, Austria, to host what the company describes as the world's first high-volume production of GaN power semiconductors on 300-millimetre wafers, with production slated to begin by the end of 2027. On the market side, Jefferies kept its Buy rating and JPMorgan its Overweight rating, both with a €96 price target. Infineon will publish fourth-quarter and full-year 2026 results on November 10, when hard numbers will test a week dominated by product launches.

(Sources: Infineon, TimesTech, Industrial News, ad-hoc-news.)