the International Trade Administration (ITA), under Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs, has announced a new export control measure under Article 13 of the Trade Act, effective immediately. Under the new rules, Taiwanese companies must now obtain an export license from the Bureau of Foreign Trade for products sold to Chinese companies such as Huawei and SMIC. This regulation comes as a surprise, as there was no prior notice, and customs officials will now be inspecting exports at Taiwan's borders. Goods without the necessary permits will not be allowed to pass through.

Naver announced plans to build a next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) data center in Morocco in partnership with Nvidia and other global firms, marking a major expansion into the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region.

While many chipmakers remain cautious about market conditions heading into 2025—especially those outside the booming cloud AI sector—companies in the analog IC space are striking a more optimistic tone. From global IDM giants in the US and Europe to smaller regional players, industry sentiment has markedly improved in recent months.