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Monday 11 May 2026
Samsung strike talks resumed with US$29 billion on the line
Samsung Electronics' labor and management have returned to the negotiating table under South Korean government mediation, as the company faces a planned general strike and a widening dispute over how profits from its semiconductor rebound should be shared
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Tuesday 12 May 2026
China AI model boom pulls smartphone supply chain into ecosystem battle

China's generative AI sector is seeing another wave of aggressive fundraising, with leading large language model (LLM) developers rapidly securing capital while expanding ties with consumer electronics and device ecosystems

Tuesday 12 May 2026
Kuaishou targets US$20B Kling AI spin-off to tap video generation demand
Kuaishou is holding talks with potential investors to spin off its Kling AI video unit in a pre-IPO funding round valuing it at US$20 billion, according to The Information. The Chinese social media company aims to capture investors' growing interest in AI stocks as video generation platforms reshape the face of social media and entertainment
Tuesday 12 May 2026
Altos targets South Korean AI server market with software edge
Altos Computing, Acer's AI server subsidiary, is targeting South Korea's relatively mature demand for high-end computing with flagship systems based on Nvidia Blackwell architecture. The company is also leaning on its in-house Altos aiWorks software as a key differentiator, as it transitions from a hardware maker into an AI infrastructure solutions provider
Tuesday 12 May 2026
China NEV retail penetration tops 60% in April as oil prices dent gasoline car demand
China's retail penetration rate for new-energy vehicles, including battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, reached 61.4% in April, the highest on record and the first time it crossed 60%, according to the China Passenger Car Association. The surge from 52% in March coincided with rising international oil prices linked to the Middle East conflict, which supply chain sources said accelerated the shift away from gasoline cars
Tuesday 12 May 2026
Exclusive: China reportedly tightens solar equipment export reviews ahead of Trump's visit
China has stepped up export scrutiny of solar photovoltaic equipment, extending controls beyond heterojunction tools to most key production equipment and supply-chain sources, sources said. The tightened reviews, tied to preparations for US President Donald Trump's upcoming trip to China, are intended to increase Beijing's leverage in future negotiations, industry sources added
Tuesday 12 May 2026
Nvidia's copper-to-fiber AI shift boosts China's optical plays
Nvidia is deepening its partnership with US fiber-optics maker Corning, with plans to replace copper cable connections with optical fiber in next-generation rack-scale AI systems. The move is drawing renewed attention to China's role in the global optical communications supply chain
Tuesday 12 May 2026
Commentary: Trump-Xi summit may offer China a pause, not a truce

Ahead of the expected Trump-Xi summit in Beijing, the US and China are first holding preparatory talks in South Korea, placing trade, technology, and semiconductor export controls at the center of the negotiation track

Tuesday 12 May 2026
GaN patent fight between China and Europe extends beyond courtroom

As the global patent battle over gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors intensifies, a recent ruling by the US International Trade Commission has deepened the rivalry between Infineon Technologies and China's Innoscience while also underscoring how geopolitics is increasingly shaping the future of the power semiconductor industry

Tuesday 12 May 2026
Japan's diamond chip startups move toward production as factory and samples advance

Japan's diamond semiconductor sector is moving closer to practical use, as university-backed startups advance factory construction, sample production, and device demonstrations for high-frequency, high-power, and harsh-environment applications

Monday 11 May 2026
Samsung strike threat puts memory output at risk as 18-day walkout looms
A planned 18-day strike at Samsung Electronics is shifting investor attention from labor negotiations to the risk of memory-output disruption, as estimates from Korean media point to significant potential losses across the company's semiconductor operations
Monday 11 May 2026
China's cybersecurity AI charges ahead despite US model lockout
AI is upending the world of cybersecurity, as more capable models and agentic capabilities bring about new ways to exploit vulnerabilities, along with new ways to discover and patch them. While major US AI companies have so far led the race, Chinese firms are also using AI to stay competitive and create similarly powerful tools, even as they are officially shut out of the most advanced American models
Monday 11 May 2026
Alibaba's Qwen could push AI agents into the heart of e-commerce
Alibaba Group is preparing to more deeply integrate its artificial intelligence platform, Qwen, into its vast online shopping ecosystem, a move that could fundamentally reshape how consumers browse and purchase goods in China
Monday 11 May 2026
Chinese semiconductor suppliers expand SEA presence at SEMICON SEA 2026
At SEMICON Southeast Asia 2026 in Kuala Lumpur, China's semiconductor equipment makers are steadily "infiltrating" the Southeast Asian market, extending from back-end packaging and testing into front-end processes while setting up subsidiaries in Singapore and Malaysia and using localized branding to break through. The shift is reshaping the competitive landscape at the region's annual semiconductor showcase
Monday 11 May 2026
Unitree brings App Store ecosystem to humanoid robots

Unitree Robotics has launched what it calls the world's first humanoid robot motion App Store, allowing users to download and install robot skills in a manner similar to smartphone apps

Monday 11 May 2026
Gigabyte's Giga Computing bets on South Korea's sovereign AI boom

Gigabyte Technology subsidiary Giga Computing is expanding aggressively in South Korea, positioning itself to benefit from a surge in demand for AI servers driven by the country's sovereign AI ambitions and accelerating enterprise adoption of artificial intelligence (AI)