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Thursday 23 July 2026
In-depth: Alibaba builds three-layer AI empire across chips, memory and models
Competition in China's AI industry is moving beyond large language models into chips, memory and computing infrastructure. CXMT's planned IPO on Shanghai's STAR Market has put renewed attention on Alibaba, the Chinese DRAM maker's largest industry investor.
Thursday 23 July 2026
ASEAN AI data center power demand seen at 6-7GW
ASEAN countries have become a battleground for global cloud service providers and infrastructure developers. After visiting the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) in mid-2025, DIGITIMES returned to Singapore in 2026 to examine how rapid changes in the AI supply chain are affecting ASEAN.
Thursday 23 July 2026
OpenAI faces backlash over Kimi K3 open source criticism
OpenAI's new strategy chief Dean Ball has drawn sharp criticism from Trump administration officials and advisers after posting a lengthy commentary on Moonshot AI's Kimi K3 model. The dispute has intensified debate over open source versus closed AI models and deepened concerns about how the US should respond to China's rapid AI progress.
Wednesday 22 July 2026
Sumitomo Chemical eyes 2028 production of lower-cost solid-state battery electrolyte

Sumitomo Chemical plans to begin mass production of a halide-based solid electrolyte in Japan as early as fiscal 2028, positioning the material as a potentially lower-cost option for all-solid-state batteries while seeking performance comparable with leading sulfide-based electrolytes, Nikkei reported.

Wednesday 22 July 2026
Samsung sounds out suppliers on four new fabs by 2030, report says
Samsung Electronics is sounding out major suppliers about whether they can support four proposed new semiconductor fabrication plants through 2030, as South Korea's chipmakers prepare for a concentrated cycle of factory construction.
Wednesday 22 July 2026
China ends decade-old battery tax break, signaling a coordinated squeeze on clean-energy overcapacity

China is dismantling the tax shelter that helped build the world's largest battery industry, and the move looks less like a one-off revenue measure than the opening of a broad campaign to force consolidation across its clean-energy supply chains — with consequences that reach from Chinese carmakers to global energy-storage buyers.

Wednesday 22 July 2026
LG Display eyes tandem OLED for smartphones as AI drives demand for power-efficient screens
LG Display plans to expand tandem OLED technology beyond TVs, monitors and automotive displays into smartphones and wearables as on-device artificial intelligence (AI) raises power-efficiency requirements for mobile devices.
Wednesday 22 July 2026
HKC invests US$590M in advanced chip packaging to escape the LCD cycle

HKC, the world's third-largest LCD panel supplier, plans to invest CNY4 billion (approx. US$590 million) in a 12-inch chip packaging and testing project, joining BOE and other Chinese display makers in expanding upstream into semiconductors.

Wednesday 22 July 2026
Commentary: Gulf state's Sovereign Wealth Fund pours into ASEAN, eyeing stake in AI infrastructure supply chains

ASEAN's AI boom is taking on a dual role as both a "no-man's land" and an international hub from Singapore's perspective, while investors from the Middle East and China are also pushing into the region. According to industry sources, ASEAN's AI industry will be driven not only by local demand, but also by China's market.

Wednesday 22 July 2026
US-China AI rivalry, part 2: Beijing weighs controls on model weights, training data, chip designs

The forthcoming AI dialogue between Washington and Beijing is less a sign of easing tensions than of a changing rivalry. Both governments are tightening their grip on frontier AI, extending competition beyond model development into the rules governing the technology.

Wednesday 22 July 2026
US-China AI rivalry, part 1: September talks to confront frontier models, IP theft, open-source risks

The US and China are preparing to hold their first official artificial intelligence (AI) dialogue under President Donald Trump, a notable diplomatic milestone after years of escalating technology tensions. Yet the significance of the meeting lies less in whether it produces tangible agreements than in what it reveals about how both countries increasingly view AI: not as another fast-growing industry, but as strategic infrastructure requiring tighter state oversight and national control, according to Reuters.

Wednesday 22 July 2026
Nvidia's Huang to meet Samsung, SK and Naver chiefs in Silicon Valley, reports say
Samsung Electronics executive chairman Lee Jae-yong, SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won and Naver founder and board chairman Lee Hae-jin are reportedly preparing to meet Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang near Silicon Valley, with a roundtable tentatively planned for July 24.
Wednesday 22 July 2026
LG Electronics to halt production at Huizhou plant in China after three decades

LG Electronics plans to stop production at its Huizhou plant in China after October, ending manufacturing at the group's first production subsidiary in the country after more than three decades.

Wednesday 22 July 2026
Samsung's next Galaxy phones may deepen Qualcomm reliance, underscoring the limits of Exynos revival
Samsung Electronics is expected to rely heavily on Qualcomm chips in its next Galaxy phones, according to market reports, a sign that the company is still prioritizing flagship performance and AI features over wider use of its in-house Exynos processors. The expected shift comes as memory prices rise and pressure builds on smartphone costs.
Wednesday 22 July 2026
GigaDevice injects another CNY500M into DRAM subsidiary as memory market boom lifts performance

Chinese chip designer GigaDevice is investing another CNY500 million (approx. US$73.9 million) into its wholly owned subsidiary to support its DRAM research and industrialization project, continuing a series of capital injections aimed at expanding its memory business.