SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won has defended Samsung and SK's combined KRW4,755 trillion (approx. US$3.52 trillion) investment plans, arguing that South Korea cannot keep pace in the global artificial intelligence (AI) race without committing unprecedented amounts of capital.

King Yuan Electronics (KYEC) president Gauss Chang said the AI era is creating new challenges for capacity expansion, as rapidly rising chip prices and shorter product cycles are reshaping the value of semiconductor testing. He also warned that demand can become increasingly distorted as it moves through the AI supply chain, making actual end-market demand difficult to assess.

Taiwanese semiconductor wafer testing solutions provider Hermes Testing Solution Inc. (HTSI) reported sustained revenue growth in October, supported by steady demand for high-power thermal management modules, cleaning materials and engineering services.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang appears to have become a target of Chinese intelligence activity, while his admission of an extramarital affair has drawn attention to his relationship with a former female executive at Singapore data-center operator Megaspeed. The episode highlights chip-transshipment risks and export-control loopholes in Singapore and Malaysia.

Doosan is moving ahead with a roughly KRW970 billion (approx. US$716 million) expansion of copper-clad laminate (CCL) production in South Korea and China as demand for AI accelerators, network switches and high-speed optical modules puts pressure on existing manufacturing capacity.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are competing to secure extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment from ASML as the Dutch supplier warns that its planned capacity will fall short of customer demand in 2027 and 2028, raising concerns about the availability of critical tools for advanced DRAM expansion.

Washington's case for letting Nvidia sell H200 chips to China rested on case-by-case national-security screening. A New York Times investigation published on November 7 suggests that the screening cleared companies whose listed offices stood empty and whose owners have ties to firms on the US trade blacklist. The findings sharpen doubts over whether the licensing channel can keep advanced AI hardware away from restricted entities.

Nvidia is pitching South Korea's factories as the proving ground for robots trained in simulation. At its AI Day Seoul 2026 event on November 9, the company detailed physical AI projects with Hyundai Motor Group, Doosan Robotics, LG Electronics, and SK Hynix, and signed an autonomous driving agreement with Kakao Mobility, even as a controversy surrounding chief executive Jensen Huang hung over the gathering.

Gallium oxide (Ga₂O₃) is approaching a pivotal industrial inflection point. On one hand, wafer sizes are scaling up to seamlessly integrate with existing semiconductor manufacturing lines. On the other hand, material prices are expected to decline substantially starting in 2027. The convergence of these two trends is unlocking commercial viability for this new high-voltage power material, which targets ultra-high-voltage applications above 3,000V and grid infrastructure in the 10kV class.

Paras Semiconductors, a subsidiary of Indian defense company Paras Defence & Space Technologies, announced a strategic technology partnership with US-based BroadPak Corporation on November 6 to build advanced semiconductor packaging capabilities in India, anchored by a planned INR62 billion (US$658.77 million) OSAT facility in Madhya Pradesh.

Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron are reportedly collaborating on charging standards for mobile robots used in semiconductor fabs, seeking to accelerate factory automation and lay the groundwork for unmanned manufacturing. The initiative is unusual as it brought together major industry rivals to standardise robotic components, equipment, communications and system interfaces, potentially drawing broader attention across the semiconductor industry.