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May 29
Taiwan turns to AI and drones as defense demand rises
Former US Pacific Army commander Charles Flynn led a defense and aerospace industry delegation to Taiwan and attended the 2026 Taiwan-US Defense Industry Forum organized by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) on May 28. Relying heavily on US arms sales, Taiwan is stepping up its use of AI and unmanned systems to strengthen defense resilience in response to shifting Chinese military tactics.
AUO said its automotive business has entered a high-growth phase, with annual orders for in-vehicle products now exceeding current-year revenue. The company expects revenue benefits from orders secured over the past two years to begin in the second half of 2026 or 2027, supporting growth at AUO Mobility Solutions.
The Trump administration is in talks to provide funding to several US drone companies, in a move that would mark a stronger federal push to expand domestic drone manufacturing and reduce the cost of battlefield systems that have become central to modern warfare.
SpaceX's IPO prospectus details an early-stage "Terafab" initiative to build large-scale AI chip manufacturing capacity. Still, the company warns of significant execution uncertainty, unfinalized partnerships, and capital intensity risks. The plan, still in preliminary form, depends on future agreements and could face delays, cost overruns, and supply-chain constraints.
Dreame Technology, a Chinese consumer electronics maker, has formed nearly 1,000 affiliated companies in its ecosystem since the end of 2024. This breakneck pace of expansion signals the ambitions of its leadership to unearth growth opportunities across the broader Chinese tech sector, although some media outlets question the sustainability of the business model.
The global solar industry remains trapped in a low-price competition ruled by Chinese manufacturers, but geopolitical shifts are creating new opportunities for differentiated players. GlobalWafers Chairwoman Doris Hsu stated after the company's shareholder meeting on May 26 that the company has successfully expanded its solar products into diversified applications across marine, terrestrial, and aerospace sectors through specialized solar technologies. Hsu explained that three main factors give reason for a significant portion of GlobalWafers' solar cell shipments to be exported to the US market.
Taiwan-based Daxin Materials posted stronger revenue and profitability in 2025 as rapid growth in semiconductor materials offset a still-cautious display market recovery, with AI- and HPC-driven demand emerging as the company's primary growth engine.

China is building a more formal safety and regulatory framework for its low-altitude economy, as drones, electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, and other aerial services move closer to commercial use.

At the Plug and Play May Summit in Sunnyvale, a Taiwanese startup called Aegiverse quietly made its case to US defense and aerospace investors — not with flashy slides or moonshot promises, but with a 16-year track record and a business model built to last.

Thunder Tiger said on May 26 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Elan Microelectronics to jointly develop AI guidance, image-recognition, and communications technologies for drones, marking a step in the drone maker's shift beyond unmanned vehicle system integration.

Japanese space startup Axelspace has formally announced plans to launch up to seven next-generation GRUS-3 Earth-observation microsatellites in as early as July 2026 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket operated by SpaceX from Vandenberg Space Force Base, significantly expanding the company's commercial satellite constellation.
Blue Origin will expand its Rocket Park campus at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida with a US$600 million investment aimed at increasing manufacturing capacity and strengthening the state's role in space-related production, Governor Ron DeSantis has announced.