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Tuesday 24 February 2026
South Korean battery leaders ramp up LFP production for North American ESS market
The surge in demand for energy storage systems (ESS) in North America is fueling a competitive push among South Korea's three leading battery manufacturers—LG Energy Solution (LGES), Samsung SDI, and SK On—to expand lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) battery mass production. Industry insiders cited by Ddaily reveal that these companies are accelerating preparations to produce ESS-grade LFP batteries locally in the US
Tuesday 24 February 2026
Japan courts Samsung, SK Hynix with subsidies, but memory giants hold back
Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have in recent years received repeated invitations from Japan's central and local governments to build semiconductor fabs, but neither has advanced the proposals, citing South Korea's domestic political environment and public sentiment
Tuesday 24 February 2026
AI devours DRAM supply, SK’s Chey expands “monster chip” push

Artificial intelligence infrastructure spending is tightening global memory supply and reshaping the semiconductor cycle. Speaking at the 2026 Trans-Pacific Dialogue in Washington, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won said demand for AI memory is distorting supply chains and pledged to expand production of what he described as "monster chips.

Tuesday 24 February 2026
US Supreme Court ruling eases Apple's tariff burden but supply chain diversification continues
The US Supreme Court overturned President Donald Trump's Section 301 tariffs on January 20, a move that immediately promised relief to companies that had been paying the levies, including Apple Inc. Still, the administration responded with a new executive order imposing a 15% tariff on all imports for 150 days
Tuesday 24 February 2026
China adds Subaru, Mitsubishi, TDK and 17 other Japanese entities to export-control watchlist
Amid intensifying China–Japan bilateral tensions, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has placed 20 Japanese companies and institutions on a heightened export-control watchlist, citing concerns over unverifiable end users and potential military applications of dual-use items
Tuesday 24 February 2026
Anthropic warns of rising AI 'distillation' attacks, accuses Chinese firms of data siphoning

Anthropic has sounded the alarm over a surge in so-called "distillation" attacks, accusing several Chinese AI companies of improperly extracting knowledge from its Claude chatbot to enhance their own models. The claims highlight intensifying competition in the global AI race and growing concerns over intellectual property (IP) protection, data security, and national security risks

Tuesday 24 February 2026
Gemini 3.1 Pro raises the bar; when will DeepSeek respond?
After the Lunar New Year holidays, the global AI large model race accelerated again. Google DeepMind released Gemini 3.1 Pro, its new flagship model, posting record results across multiple advanced benchmarks. Shunyu Yao, a Tsinghua University alumnus, participated in the development, drawing attention within the AI community
Monday 23 February 2026
SenseTime's risks run deeper than consensus forecasts

SenseTime faces sustained financial and geopolitical pressure, and a recent Bloomberg Intelligence note says the market may still be underestimating the strain on its balance sheet and exposure to external restrictions, despite two fundraising rounds in 2024

Monday 23 February 2026
Samsung regains DRAM lead with 40% revenue jump in 4Q25, eyes HBM4 to strengthen edge
Samsung Electronics reclaimed the global DRAM market crown in 4Q25, just one year after losing it to SK Hynix. Industry watchers are closely monitoring whether Samsung can further solidify its leadership by being the first worldwide to mass-produce and ship sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4)
Monday 23 February 2026
Kioxia sells out 2026 NAND capacity as AI demand tightens global memory supply
As the global memory market tightens under the weight of artificial intelligence (AI) demand, Japanese NAND flash maker Kioxia Holdings has emerged as one of the clearest beneficiaries of the current upcycle, with its 2026 production capacity already fully booked and supply constraints expected to persist into 2027, according to KST Components, an electronic component distributor
Monday 23 February 2026
Samsung Foundry rebounds with utilization above 80% in 1Q26
Samsung Electronics' foundry utilization exceeded 80% in the first quarter of 2026, its highest level in over a year, increasing the probability of a quarterly profit turnaround this year
Monday 23 February 2026
SoftBank leads US-Japan alliance investing US$33.3B in Trump gas power plant
SoftBank Group (SBG) is spearheading an investment alliance to develop a US-based natural gas-fired power plant project valued at US$33.3 billion, aiming to support infrastructure demands driven by artificial intelligence (AI). This initiative is one of three projects launched under the US-Japan trade agreement signed with President Donald Trump in 2025
Monday 23 February 2026
Samsung brings forward P5 cleanroom timeline under 'Shell First' strategy
Samsung Electronics has accelerated cleanroom construction at its Pyeongtaek Fab 5 (P5), pushing forward capacity expansion for high-bandwidth memory and advanced-node semiconductor production under its "Shell First" strategy
Monday 23 February 2026
Jensen Huang's missed India summit and Valentine's dinner in Korea spotlight Nvidia's shifting priorities
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's absence from India's AI Impact Summit and his appearance at a late-night engineer gathering in California have drawn attention to the chipmaker's strategic priorities amid intensifying competition over next-generation memory and artificial intelligence hardware
Sunday 22 February 2026
Analysis: Trump's curtailed tariff powers strengthen Beijing's leverage and rattle Asian allies
In a dramatic escalation of global trade tensions, President Donald Trump abruptly raised his newly announced global tariff to 15% on Saturday, effective immediately