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Feb 3, 10:01
Beijing officially lists 'future industries,' setting the stage for supply chain realignment
China has for the first time formally designated "future industries," with the framework for policy support now taking shape. The move signals a shift away from conceptual discussion, placing these sectors at the core of the country's upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is set to maintain a busy schedule following his recent Taiwan visit, with upcoming keynote appearances at Dassault Systèmes' "3DEXPERIENCE World 2026" and the Cisco AI Summit. As AI reshapes industries worldwide, Dassault Systèmes and Cisco are focusing their annual conferences on how AI transforms end-to-end design and manufacturing processes, as well as its impact on global economic systems and regulatory frameworks.
As the technology sector looks ahead in 2026 with expectations that AI agents will unlock new enterprise productivity gains, an experimental platform called Moltbook has drawn global attention by demonstrating large-scale, autonomous interaction among AI agents. The project has fueled both fascination and alarm, while prompting renewed discussion about the technical and societal implications of "agentic AI."

If the first revolution in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers was the move from air cooling to liquid cooling, the second is now unfolding: equipping cooling distribution units (CDUs) with on-board intelligence.

China is pushing ahead with its semiconductor materials strategy. Shanghai, one of the country's leading cities, has included brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) and fourth-generation semiconductors among its priority future industries, signaling early preparation for a new materials era beyond third-generation semiconductors.

Tencent CEO Pony Ma sharply criticized the Doubao phone as "extremely unsafe and irresponsible" at the company's year-end meeting in late January 2026. However, recent reports from China's supply chain reveal that ByteDance launched the official version project of its Doubao phone assistant at the end of 2025, aiming to release a next-generation model in the second quarter of 2026.
Memory packaging giant Powertech Technology is aggressively expanding into fan-out panel-level packaging (FOPLP), with chairman Duh-Kung Tsai optimistic about the AI industry. Amid ongoing memory shortages and rising demand for advanced packaging, Powertech aims to become the top partner outside the TSMC ecosystem, expecting a significant revenue surge in 2027-2028 as FOPLP capacity reaches full utilization, contributing NT$3 billion (US$95 million) monthly.
Salesforce has released its outlook on artificial intelligence (AI) trends for 2026, describing the year as a turning point for the emergence of what it calls the "agentic enterprise." Citing its latest research, the company said that AI adoption by chief information officers has increased by 282%. However, concerns around data reliability and governance remain the primary constraint on scaling enterprise automation.
Vacuum coating film maker Univacco Technology plans to begin mass production at its new Vietnam facility in the first half of 2027. The overseas factory is designed to take advantage of tariff benefits, lower manufacturing costs, and an ample labor supply, supporting the company's efforts to strengthen competitiveness in international markets.

Generative AI (GenAI) is driving a surge in computing demand, pushing data center competition beyond server performance toward infrastructure efficiency and deployment density, with power architecture emerging as a central focus of the next upgrade cycle.

ByteDance and Alibaba are intensifying their battle for AI dominance in China with planned releases of new flagship models around the 2026 Lunar New Year. This competition marks one of the most significant tech rivalries in the country's booming AI sector.
The year 2026 will be a critical year for large-scale rollout of edge AI. Supported by multinational firms and the Ten Major AI Infrastructure Projects initiative, IPC vendors are undergoing a transformation from hardware suppliers to edge AI solution providers. The Taiwanese government plans to support 1 million small- and medium-sized enterprises in digital transformation to enhance competitiveness. Policy measures include training 500,000 cross-disciplinary AI talents by 2040 and investing billions in venture capital.