Meta's new AI agent, Muse, has leapt to the top of app charts roughly two weeks after its release. Its popularity has helped push up chip stocks by focusing attention on the importance of CPUs for agentic AI.
DeepSeek CEO Liang Wenfeng said during a call with investors that he aims to rely on Huawei chips to train the startup's models in the future, and that a batch of training chips from Huawei are set to begin arriving at his company as early as the fourth quarter of 2026.
MediaTek has introduced a new chip aimed at premium, ultra-portable Googlebook devices, underscoring how next-generation AI, battery life, and wireless performance could shape consumer computing worldwide. The Dimensity CX C10 Max is built for thinner systems, faster multitasking, and privacy-focused Gemini features in markets beyond Asia.
More technical details on 2026 mobile systems on a chip (SoCs) from major vendors are emerging, and the biggest changes in chips such as Apple's A20 Pro and MediaTek's Dimensity 9600 Pro are clearly concentrated in the neural processing unit (NPU). Qualcomm also published a technical article on NPU development on September 10, saying its next-generation NPU will expand shared memory capacity to improve access efficiency and speed for model data, helping mobile AI maintain fast response times.
As Nvidia gradually retreats from China's high-end AI accelerator market amid strict US export controls, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) is deepening its regional AI strategy. Rather than relying solely on traditional CPU and GPU sales, AMD is shifting its focus toward edge AI platforms, AI PCs, agent computers, local developer communities, and university partnerships.
Japanese autonomous driving developer Tier IV is developing an AI chip and will release its chip design and related toolchain as open source, allowing semiconductor manufacturers to use them to develop autonomous driving chips. The company aims to break Nvidia's dominant position in the autonomous driving chip market.
Memory shortages and pricing pressures are reshaping Samsung Electronics' foundry intellectual property (IP) development, as faster AI chip refresh cycles push customers to demand stronger process competitiveness, faster development, and better-prepared infrastructure including IP. Samsung is responding by expanding memory design options, IP, and development tools through its Samsung Advanced Foundry Ecosystem (SAFE) program.
Fast-moving advances in chip production have spurred a semiconductor boom, markedly altering the manufacturing scope of the broader high-tech industry.
Foreign commitments timed around SEMICON India are moving deeper into the supply chain. In the three days before the 2026 edition opened on September 17, Lam Research, Applied Materials, and Fujifilm announced India plans worth a combined INR144 billion (US$1.50 billion), covering silicon components, chip equipment, and process chemicals rather than chip production itself.
Onsemi is seeking to capture more value from AI, electrification, and automation by expanding from individual semiconductors into integrated power systems. Its strategy for the next decade centers on improving power density: delivering more power in less space while managing heat, efficiency, and reliability.
South Korea's semiconductor boom is spilling over from corporate profits into government tax revenue. Corporate tax revenue for fiscal 2027 is projected to reach KRW216.7 trillion (about US$160 billion), up 113.9% from the 2026 supplementary budget, topping KRW200 trillion for the first time and, after 15 years, overtaking income tax as the country's largest tax source.
