Global interest is rising rapidly in Chinese lab-grown diamonds, which have found a use beyond the jewelry industry—in cooling microchips for artificial-intelligence systems. Bloomberg reports.
Synthetic diamonds, best known as an alternative to natural gemstones, are now being considered as a material for drawing heat away from microchips. That could make it possible to build denser and more powerful semiconductors needed for AI systems.
Interest in the field has grown after several Chinese manufacturers said their customers had confirmed the effectiveness of diamonds as heat sinks and that the companies had begun commercial shipments.
Shares of specialist manufacturers have surged against that backdrop. Zhecheng Huifeng Diamond Technology Co. and SF Diamond Co. gained 51% and 40%, respectively, last week and continued rising this week. Their performance far outpaced the CSI 300 index, which rose by 1%.