After The New York Times reported that a female executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed International was under investigation for allegedly conducting espionage activities for China, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said the company's dealings with Megaspeed were normal and involved no irregularities.
Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Jae-yong visited the company's Advanced Package Lab (APL) in Yokohama, Japan, on November 1, as the chipmaker looks to Japan's semiconductor materials and equipment industry to strengthen its advanced packaging capabilities for AI processors.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman met with executives from Samsung Group and SK Group during a brief visit to South Korea on October 31, as tightening memory supplies and growing commitments to major AI customers raise the stakes for the company's semiconductor and data center partnerships.
China's leading electronic design automation (EDA) supplier, Empyrean Technology, plans to acquire a controlling stake in Easy-Logic Technology, a specialist in digital logic optimization, for about CNY219 million (≈ US$32.9 million). The acquisition will address a gap in Empyrean's digital chip design tools and support its development of next-generation solutions for AI chips and 3D integrated circuits (3DIC).
China's leading DRAM manufacturer CXMT expects revenue to continue growing through 2027, supported by tight memory supply, AI server demand and an expanding portfolio of higher-value DDR5 and LPDDR6 products. The company is also negotiating long-term supply agreements with major customers, reflecting efforts to secure demand beyond the current memory market upswing.
Dixon Technologies is pursuing separate partnerships for servers, optical communications, and advanced semiconductor packaging as it seeks a role in AI infrastructure manufacturing, although its most ambitious silicon-photonics plans remain at the evaluation stage.
Dixon Technologies is counting on smartphone joint ventures, expanding IT hardware production, and locally made components to turn a sharp sales increase into stronger earnings, as rising memory costs inflate revenue without a corresponding rise in manufacturing volumes.
Nvidia will invest US$1 billion (KRW1.34 trillion) in South Korean internet company Naver, acquiring an approximately 4.54% stake and surpassing Naver founder and board chairman Hae-jin Lee to become its third-largest shareholder.
Tata Sons has put INR11 billion (US$115.71 million) into Tata Electronics through a rights issue, according to regulatory filings, adding capital to a business that has quickly become one of the largest in the Tata group.
South Korean AI chip startup FuriosaAI has raised US$620 million in its latest funding round, quadrupling its valuation from the previous round to US$2.9 billion and strengthening its challenge to Nvidia.
As AI and unmanned systems see wider adoption, the military's reliance on electricity continues to grow, making energy transition critical to maintaining combat capabilities. The South Korean Army made its debut at Smart Energy Plus (SEP) 2026, showcasing microgrids integrating solar power, energy storage systems (ESS), and hydrogen fuel cells, along with hydrogen-powered tactical vehicles and hydrogen fuel-cell drones to reduce dependence on external power grids.
Indian consumer electronics brand Mivi has inaugurated an INR2 billion (approx. US$21.05 million) research, development, and manufacturing facility at E-City in Tukkuguda, Hyderabad, giving the audio-focused company a monthly capacity of 500,000 earbuds and 75,000 soundbars as it pushes into smartphones.
Iluvatar CoreX has reported benchmark results showing its Tiangai 300 AI accelerator outperforming Nvidia's H200 on selected metrics, drawing renewed attention to China's progress in developing domestic alternatives to high-end GPUs. Yet the broader competition extends beyond raw processing power, as Chinese chipmakers seek to narrow the gap with leading international AI computing platforms through chip design, software optimisation and system integration.
Master’s degree holders remain the backbone of Taiwan’s technology R&D workforce, while locally trained PhD students generally show weaker research capabilities, according to academic sources. The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) said on October 30 that Taiwan’s total R&D investment reached NT$1.13 trillion (US$34.79 billion) in 2025, up 8.5% year-over-year, including NT$981 billion from the private sector and NT$157 billion from the government.
Foxconn chairman Young Liu said at a media briefing following Hon Hai Tech Day (HHTD 26) on October 30 that the long-term AI industry trend remains intact, but the overall market will develop in a K-shaped pattern in 2027, with AI data center-related industries on the upswing and other sectors moving in the opposite direction. Foxconn expects to continue growing at a double-digit rate next year.
This week’s coverage highlights intensifying competition and capacity constraints across the global semiconductor industry. Taiwan faces debate over whether public R&D funding should prioritize universities and talent development. Micron workers receive unusually large bonuses amid unresolved labor negotiations. India is expanding state-level semiconductor incentives, while KLA reportedly considers local manufacturing. Memory shortages may persist through 2030, and SK Hynix is investing beyond memory. Server CPU demand is projected to surge, with AMD potentially surpassing Intel in revenue.
