Tsinghua Unigroup's former "chip-to-cloud" expansion strategy unraveled after a debt crisis in 2020 and subsequent bankruptcy restructuring. Several projects originating in the group's earlier era have since entered disposal proceedings, and one of the former group's largest planned investments has now reached a formal end.
As AI infrastructure increasingly absorbs both capital and management attention across China's technology sector, even profitable businesses are finding themselves vulnerable when they sit outside the strategic core.
Baidu's second-quarter 2026 results confirm a business in the midst of a wrenching handover: an AI-powered core that is scaling faster than almost any other line item at the company, while the total revenue base is still shrinking. Group revenue fell 4% year-on-year to CNY31.3 billion (US$4.63 billion), the fifth straight quarter of annual decline, even as Baidu's AI-powered businesses grew 25% and accounted for half of Baidu General Business revenue for the second consecutive quarter, exceeding legacy-business revenue.
China has introduced five automotive chip certification and accreditation industry standards aimed at easing a key obstacle to domestic semiconductor adoption: getting locally designed chips qualified for production vehicles.
Rising chip and copper prices are rapidly increasing cost pressure on LG Electronics.
South Korea is looking beyond semiconductors and artificial intelligence for its next generation of strategic industries, naming seven technology fields it plans to cultivate over the next 10 to 20 years.
Amid a global shortage of AI semiconductor equipment, Hanmi Semiconductor announced on August 18 that it will acquire a factory owned by Mercury in the Juan National Industrial Complex in Incheon, South Korea. The site, covering 221,683 square feet, will become Hanmi Semiconductor's eighth and largest production base.
Mobile humanoids became Rainbow Robotics' biggest revenue source in the first half of 2026, while ROBOTIS posted rapid actuator growth and Doosan Robotics expanded its North American automation business, showing how South Korea's physical AI push is beginning to generate sales even as profitability remains uneven across robot makers.
LG Electronics has secured its first order for laser direct imaging (LDI) equipment used in semiconductor packaging, marking an early commercial milestone as it expands into chip packaging.
China AIoT chip designer Rockchip posted record first-half 2026 results, with revenue rising 40.6% year on year to CNY2.88 billion (US$427 million) and net profit surging 61.73% to CNY859 million, supported by accelerating edge AI adoption.
