Z.ai co-founder Tang Jie has identified recursive self-improvement (RSI) as a critical pathway towards artificial general intelligence (AGI), arguing that AI systems capable of improving their own development processes could transform research while creating new risks for human oversight.

Taiwan became Thailand's third-largest trade partner in the first half of 2026 as AI growth and geopolitical shifts accelerate Taiwanese investment in the country, Taiwan Representative to Thailand Peter Lan said. Around 200,000 Taiwanese businesspeople are now based in Thailand, with the pace accelerating under the China+1 trend.

JPP Holding's Thai operating arm, Jinpao Precision Industry, joined Praksa subdistrict authorities in Samut Prakan Province, Thailand, on October 31 to hold the finals of the Jinpao–Praksa automation and robotics innovation competition, strengthening its efforts to develop AI and smart-manufacturing talent locally. Chairman Chung Kuo-sung said corporate philanthropy should involve long-term engagement with local communities rather than one-time donations.

Murata Manufacturing announced plans to invest around JPY1 trillion (US$6.3 billion) in expanding multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) capacity by 2030. Booming demand from data centers and AI applications has pushed up orders for MLCC makers. MLCCs are a crucial component in managing power demand.

Tong Hsing Electronic Industries (THEIL) outlined the latest developments and market trends across its four major product lines of optical communications, ceramic substrates, new semiconductor materials, and image sensors, during an earnings call on October 30.

As AI data centers expand, Taiwan is facing challenges in securing power supply, battery backup, and cooling systems, with the state-run Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) requiring about two years to build dedicated 161 kV high-voltage lines. The island's limited land and growing industrial and population demand in northern Taiwan are raising concerns over whether electricity availability will keep pace with the expansion of AI computing capacity.

South Korean energy and engineering companies are positioning themselves for the emerging small modular reactor (SMR) market, with SK Innovation (SKI) seeking to build expertise through US demonstration and early commercial projects before pursuing domestic deployment, while Samsung C&T is focusing on modular construction to shorten project timelines, reduce costs, and accelerate commercialization.

Chinese AI chipmaker Iluvatar CoreX has released benchmarks showing its next-generation Tiangai 300 general-purpose GPU outperforming Nvidia's H200 in selected large language model (LLM) inference, long-context processing and multimodal generation workloads.

Foxconn is expanding its AI capabilities into clinical workflows, medical robotics and healthcare manufacturing, working with hospitals, equipment makers and technology partners to build an integrated smart healthcare ecosystem. Its strategy follows an ecosystem-to-clinical deployment framework spanning products, edge-cloud computing and software-hardware integration, reflecting Nvidia's five-layer AI architecture.

MediaTek's latest earnings call focused heavily on its data-center ASIC business, as CEO Rick Tsai and CFO David Ku addressed market rumors about delays to its second AI accelerator ASIC project, EMIB packaging yields, and the identity of its second customer. The company said its major customer's second-generation project remains on track for mass production in the first quarter of 2028, while the second customer will also begin contributing revenue in 2028.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly expanding global semiconductor demand, prompting Taiwan and South Korea to shift from straightforward competition toward cooperation as the AI chip supply chain grows more complex. Colley Hwang, chairman and CEO of DIGITIMES, said Taiwan's semiconductor success stems not only from TSMC, but also from an ecosystem built on specialization, industrial clusters, talent, and capital markets.