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Jun 2
AI PCs and low-end MacBooks stir weak notebook market
The global notebook market is entering a new phase of competition as AI-driven products reshape demand, even as the broader recovery has fallen short of expectations. Apple is pressuring the low end with the MacBook Neo, while Nvidia is moving upmarket with the RTX Spark high-end AI PC.
Quanta Computer executive vice president and Quanta Cloud Technology (QCT) president Mike Yang said GPU applications are expanding across training, edge computing, and storage, as well as in the development of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). In response to future demand, the company is preparing for power needs and production capacity, planning to add three more plants in the US by the end of 2026.

xMEMS Labs is preparing to move its MEMS-based µCooling technology toward commercial production in 2027, with AI glasses and data-center SSDs expected to be among the first applications as sustained AI workloads push thermal constraints beyond GPUs.

OpenAI is weighing whether to publicly release software designed to make advanced AI workloads run more easily across chips from multiple providers, a move that could weaken one of Nvidia's most durable advantages: the CUDA software ecosystem that has helped lock developers into its GPUs.
Lightmatter has joined Nvidia's NVLink Fusion ecosystem, a move that could accelerate the rollout of high-performance optical links for AI infrastructure worldwide. The collaboration is aimed at easing data-center bottlenecks, improving bandwidth, and giving global customers more options for building energy-efficient AI systems at scale.
At the opening day of Computex 2026, Lite-On Technology hosted an AI industry summit under the theme "Powering the AI-driven Future," where DIGITIMES chairman Colley Hwang moderated a cross-industry panel with Nvidia, Infineon Technologies, and Gigabyte subsidiary Giga Computing at the exhibition venue.
Strong demand for AI server cooling is extending visibility for the industry, with Asia Vital Components (AVC) and Auras Technology both forecasting sustained growth through 2029. Nvidia is driving a shift from air cooling to liquid cooling in AI servers, boosting both revenue and profits for cooling module makers.
SK Group is reportedly placing AI and semiconductors at the center of its next round of business restructuring, prompting a fresh internal review of the strategic value of SK Siltron, a major global silicon wafer maker. The planned sale of SK Siltron, once seen as a move to improve SK Group's financial structure, now faces uncertainty as the group reconsiders whether to push ahead with the deal.
The latest funding round for Anthropic produced a headline-grabbing figure: a US$65 billion capital raise that pushed the artificial intelligence (AI) startup's valuation to $965 billion, surpassing OpenAI and making Anthropic the world's most valuable AI startup.
Computex 2026 showcased the industry's latest innovations with its usual fanfare. Yet beneath the spectacle, the event revealed something far more consequential: artificial intelligence is rewriting not only the rules of competition but also the relationships that have long defined the global semiconductor industry.
COMPUTEX drew major AI supply chain players to Taiwan, and industry sources said SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won was set for a private meeting with Foxconn chairman Young Liu, alongside his meetings with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. The reported talks could signal broader cooperation on AI infrastructure.
The European Union's (EU) plan to mobilize EUR20 billion (US$23.3 billion) for a network of large-scale AI "gigafactories" is running into delays and funding uncertainty, stoking concerns about Europe's ability to compete in the global AI infrastructure race.