Former TSMC R&D vice president Jack Sun, who currently serves as senior vice president at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU), emphasized that semiconductors can no longer be replaced by other technologies. The TSMC Grand Alliance provides all participating companies with opportunities to profit. With AI now accelerating innovation, the combination of "semiconductor + AI" has become almost omnipotent, marking the starting point of the next major technological boom.

Below are the most-read DIGITIMES Asia stories from the week of September 8–September 14.

The technological rivalry between China and the US escalated further on September 12, when the US Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added 23 Chinese companies, including Fudan Microelectronics Group, to its entity list. Thirteen of these firms are related to semiconductors, with the US alleging the entities undermine national security or foreign policy interests.

On September 11, Chinese media reported that Huawei's semiconductor unit HiSilicon has entered a new leadership phase. Eric Xu resigned as chairman, with Jeffrey Gao assuming the role. Huawei senior executives Ken Hu, Guo Ping, and Steven Ren also stepped down from their directorships, leaving He Tingbo — HiSilicon's president and long-time steward — as the sole continuing board-level figure. He Tingbo also holds multiple senior posts at Huawei, serving as Director, Chair of the Huawei Scientist Committee, ITMT Director, and President of the Semiconductor Business Department.

At the recent Hot Chips 2025 conference, Nvidia detailed its latest GB10 system-on-chip (SoC) architecture, representing a miniaturized application of the Blackwell GPU architecture. Through collaboration with MediaTek, Nvidia integrated 20 Arm v9.2 CPU cores with a high-performance GPU into a single 2.5D package, creating a compact version of the Grace Blackwell platform.

Taiwan-based passive components manufacturer Yageo Corporation announced on September 11 that it plans to acquire up to 28.5% of power IC designer Anpec Electronics via a public tender offer set to commence shortly. The bid values Anpec shares at NT$229.8 (approx. US$7.6) each, a 20% premium over the current price, with the total investment estimated at around NT$4.8 billion.

At the OktoberTech Taipei event held on September 11, 2025, Infineon Technologies AG unveiled key developments in its automotive electronics portfolio, with CEO Jochen Hanebeck and senior executives attending in person. The company highlighted its future trajectory, notably its plan to introduce RISC-V-based automotive microcontroller units (MCUs) aimed at the evolving demands of software-defined vehicles (SDVs), with a full lineup expected by 2028.

At a SEMICON Taiwan forum on Quantum computing, IBM Japan CTO and Vice President Norishige Morimoto detailed how AI's growing complexity—estimated to have surged by more than 100 million times over 15 years due to LLM advancements—has outpaced the evolution of GPU hardware. This mismatch leads to exponentially higher energy usage, with one study forecasting that data center energy needs could rise 90-fold by 2050. To address this, IBM is advancing hybrid computing systems that combine classical semiconductors, neuromorphic chips, and qubits.

Manish Mehta, vice president of Marketing and Operations for Broadcom's Optical Systems Division, delivered a keynote address at SEMICON Taiwan 2025 focused on heterogeneous integration via co-packaged optics (CPO) technology. During the event, Mehta also held a press conference to discuss Broadcom's progress in advancing CPO and shared insights on market adoption and product developments.

China is accelerating its drive for homegrown AI semiconductors. JPMorgan forecasts Huawei will ship 600,000–650,000 AI chips in 2025, while Cambricon Technologies is on track to supply 125,000–150,000 units.

Huawei Technologies senior executive Eric Xu has stepped down as the legal representative and chairman of subsidiary HiSilicon Semiconductor. He will be succeeded by Jeffrey Gao.

Intel has confirmed to South Korean media that it will proceed with its semiconductor glass substrate commercialization plans as originally outlined, dismissing reports of potential withdrawal amid operational challenges. The company reaffirmed its commitment to developing glass substrates, key to next-generation semiconductor manufacturing, despite recent market speculation linked to financial setbacks and workforce reductions.

Since the beginning of 2025, despite disruptions from US President Donald Trump's trade protectionism, the AI wave has driven American cloud service providers (CSPs) to continuously purchase AI servers and high-end graphics cards manufactured in Taiwan. This surge has boosted Taiwan's exports to the US by 55%, with information and communication technology (ICT) product exports—primarily servers—increasing by 100%.

In 2024, the Taiwanese government announced the launch of a 10-year NT$300 billion (approx. US$9.89 billion) Taiwan Chip-based Industrial Innovation Program (Taiwan CbI), marking an unprecedented scale compared to earlier initiatives. National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) minister Cheng-Wen Wu stated that the Taiwan CbI program will comprehensively strengthen the global competitiveness and resilience of Taiwan's semiconductor industry supply chain.

The 26th China International Optoelectronic Exposition (CIOE 2025) opened in Shenzhen on September 10, attracting over 3,800 global companies across communications, optics, lasers, displays, and sensing technologies. Co-located with the Shenzhen International Semiconductor Exhibition (SEMI-e), the combined event covers 300,000 square meters, making it one of the largest showcases of integrated optoelectronic and semiconductor ecosystems.

In a keynote speech delivered at the SEMICON Taiwan 2025, NXP CEO Kurt Sievers stressed that AI has ushered the semiconductor industry into a period of exponential expansion. Addressing the future of the market, Sievers stated that despite varying estimates of the global semiconductor market value by 2030, edge AI will soon become the primary growth engine for the sector.

After securing orders from electric vehicle maker Tesla for autonomous driving AI chips, Samsung Electronics' foundry division is reportedly in talks with xAI, an artificial intelligence (AI) services company led by Elon Musk, to collaborate on new AI chips.

Competition among major US cloud service providers (CSPs) and AI firms is intensifying, with Google currently perceived as holding a leading position in the overall AI market. Its advancements in AI foundational models, applications, cloud infrastructure, and especially its proprietary Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) chips distinguish it from competitors.

The 26th China International Optoelectronic Expo (CIOE) and the Shenzhen International Semiconductor & IC Exhibition (SEMI-e 2025) are being held at the Shenzhen International Convention and Exhibition Center.

Nvidia has introduced Rubin CPX, a next-generation GPU designed for massive-context AI, enabling systems to handle million-token software coding and generative video at unprecedented speed and efficiency. The GPU, part of the new Vera Rubin NVL144 CPX platform, is expected to be available by the end of 2026.

NXP Semiconductors has appointed Sandy Hu, a 25-year semiconductor veteran and former TI China president, as senior vice president of sales and marketing for Greater China. She will report to Robert Li, NXP's executive vice president and head of China operations.

To break through the technical, mass production, and yield challenges in advanced packaging processes such as 3D IC and CoWoS, SEMI, together with TSMC and ASE Holdings, has established the "3DIC Advanced Manufacturing Alliance." The alliance gathers industry players from the equipment and materials sectors to build a globally competitive local supply chain, ensuring that backend processes no longer become growth bottlenecks for the artificial intelligence (AI) industry.

Czech Minister for Science, Research and Innovation Marek Ženíšek recently visited Taiwan to meet with National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) minister Cheng-wen Wu. In addition to in-depth discussions on their complementary strengths in laser technology, Wu also highlighted Taiwan's government initiatives in space and defense-related industries, with the hope of expanding collaboration with other countries.

Malaysia's IC design firm Oppstar has entered into two MoUs with Inventec to collaborate on next-generation AI chips and form a joint venture (JV), according to documents filed with Bursa Malaysia.