Embodied AI is moving out of the lab and into real-world environments at increasing speed. The humanoid robot half-marathon scheduled for April 19 in Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (E-Town) is framed as a public race, but functions more as an industry stress test, compressing a full stack of technologies into a 21-kilometer trial.
The 2026 International Symposium on VLSI Technology, Systems and Applications (VLSI TSA) kicked off on April 14, gathering over 800 semiconductor professionals worldwide. The conference focused on next-generation core areas including GenAI inference acceleration, wafer-level computing, and terahertz wireless communication, while also delving into quantum computer system architectures and extending the reach of semiconductors to AI-driven cardiac analysis and other smart healthcare applications.
Leading optical lens manufacturer Largan Precision held its first-quarter 2026 earnings call on April 16, reporting consolidated revenue of NT$15.54 billion (approx. US$492.37 million) for the quarter. The company cited seasonal factors and market fluctuations for the roughly 10% decline from the fourth quarter of 2025, while noting 7% year-over-year growth.
The global AI boom is shifting infrastructure bottlenecks from GPUs to CPUs, as inference-heavy and agentic AI workloads push compute demands beyond accelerator capacity into system-level constraints.
Taiwan-based startup Fortune AI will attend the Plug and Play Silicon Valley Summit in May, one of five Taiwanese startups selected for this year's cohort. Its flagship product, SAFE SWIM, uses computer vision with a large language model (LLM) backend to detect drowning risks in real time, delivered as a B2B SaaS subscription to aquatic facilities. Founder and CEO Andrew Chen spoke with DIGITIMES Asia ahead of the event, discussing the product's commercial logic, technical moat, and the realities of entering the US market.
Taiwan's Fortune Electric Value Company (Evalue) has launched a 640kW ultra-fast DC charger capable of charging 800V EVs in 15–20 minutes, with support for up to five simultaneous charging guns. The launch could accelerate the buildout of charging infrastructure capacity globally as operators prioritize fast-slow charging mixes and scale partnerships to meet rising EV demand and reduce emissions.
Google is in talks with the US Department of Defense that would allow the Pentagon to use the company's Gemini AI models for classified purposes, according to The Information. If the deal comes to fruition, it could represent a deepening of ties between Google and the Pentagon, which is seeking AI partners after its falling out with Anthropic in recent months.
In an era where AI systems are rapidly scaling beyond the limits of traditional silicon, new experimental companies are beginning to question what "compute" itself should look like. One of the most unusual entrants is The Biological Computing Company (TBC), which proposes a hybrid model integrating living neurons with modern machine learning systems to enhance performance, efficiency, and adaptability. The idea sits at the intersection of neuroscience and computing.
Stellantis and Microsoft announced a five-year strategic partnership on April 16 to co-develop AI, cybersecurity, and engineering capabilities.
Aurotek's unveiling of three new intelligent robots on April 16, developed with partner Pudu Robotics, signals broader options for global industries seeking automation. The system targets cleaning, inspection, and material handling, promising faster deployment, improved operational resilience, and potential labor-cost mitigation for manufacturers, logistics, and facility managers worldwide.
Foxconn's industrial arm, Foxconn Industrial Internet (FII), has ridden the AI server boom to become a revenue leader, illustrating to global manufacturers how advanced production capability and supply‑chain control can translate surging AI demand into market share, influence capacity-location decisions, and strengthen bargaining power across international technology supply chains and investment strategies.
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