Seoul, October 1, 2025 - SK Group announced today that SK Chairman Chey Tae-won and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman met at SK headquarters in Seoul to sign a Letter of Intent (LOI) and a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to develop an AI Data Center in South Korea as part of the Stargate project.Chairman Chey Tae-won stated, "We are honored to participate as a core partner in the Stargate project, aimed at building future global AI infrastructure. By leveraging SK's integrated AI infrastructure capabilities from memory semiconductors to data centers, we will actively contribute to global AI infrastructure innovation and strengthen Korea's AI competitiveness at a national level."SK hynix signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with OpenAI to supply High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) for the construction of a global AI data center under the Stargate project. The signing of the LOI reflects recognition of SK hynix's technological leadership and supply capability in AI-optimized semiconductor memory, as the company ranked no.1 worldwide in DRAM revenue in the first half of this year. SK hynix will establish a production system capable of promptly meeting OpenAI's HBM demand for up to 900,000 DRAM wafers per month. It is more than double the current HBM industry capacity, underscoring the immense semiconductor demand driven by the Stargate project.Through this partnership, SK hynix will actively support OpenAI's GPU procurement strategy, while the two companies have agreed to further expand their collaboration. Specific supply volumes and arrangements will be determined through further discussions as the project moves forward.SK Telecom signed an MOU with OpenAI to collaborate on building the AI Data Center in the southwest region of Korea as part of 'Stargate Korea.' Leveraging its solid experience in data center construction and operation, SK Telecom and OpenAI will jointly develop next-generation computing and data center solutions. They will also explore various AI service use cases for consumers and enterprises.This government-backed collaboration signifies SK Group's strategic alliance with OpenAI and is expected to contribute positively to the development of Korea's AI ecosystem by combining SK's accumulated technology and infrastructure with the synergy of global cooperation. SK's involvement in the Stargate project is anticipated to solidify the AI economic alliance between South Korea and the United States. Korea's strengths in manufacturing and telecommunications complement the U.S.'s leadership in AI technology, forming a mutually beneficial and globally influential partnership.Since 2023, Chairman Chey and CEO Altman have built a mutual trust through multiple meetings, sharing a consensus on future directions in semiconductors, data centers, and other fields. They have discussed the development of dedicated semiconductors and infrastructure to cope with the global surge in AI training and inference workloads. They have discussed innovative joint development of next-generation AI infrastructure, including new memory-computing architectures to overcome hardware bottlenecks for AI models."Korea has the vision, technology, talent, and infrastructure to lead globally in AI," OpenAI CEO Altman said. "We're proud to partner with SK hynix as part of our Stargate initiative, supporting Korea's leadership in AI and contributing to its continued success.""This partnership marks the official beginning of comprehensive technological innovation cooperation spanning from chip development to data center construction and operation," SK Chairman Chey Tae-won added. "We are confident this collaboration will set a new paradigm in the global AI landscape and significantly advance the AI industry's future."Meanwhile, SK Group is advancing its portfolio by positioning AI as a key growth driver and strengthening alliances with global technology leaders. In August, the company held the groundbreaking ceremony for the SK Ulsan AI Data Center, reinforcing collaboration with global partners and reaffirming its commitment to AI innovation.Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO(left) and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won (right). SK hynix

Wise Integration, a pioneer in digital control for gallium nitride (GaN) and GaN IC-based power supplies, today announced the release to production of its first fully digital controller, WiseWare 1.1 (WIW1101) based on the MCU 32 bits. This milestone innovation enables high-frequency operation up to 2 MHz, unlocking new levels of power density, efficiency, and form factor in compact AC-DC power converters.The product is now available and ready for volume production in customer-validated designs."This release marks a strategic milestone for Wise Integration's roadmap," said Thierry Bouchet, CEO of Wise Integration. "WiseWare 1.1 represents more than a product-it's a key pillar in our vision to redefine power electronics through digital control. It strengthens our value proposition in high-density power conversion and reinforces our leadership as GaN technology scales to mass adoption."Digitally Driven, GaN OptimizedUnlike legacy analog solutions, WiseWare 1.1 leverages the speed and switching capabilities of GaN (gallium nitride) through a proprietary digital control algorithm in a MCU 32 bits, that enables zero voltage switching (ZVS) across all power transistors.Designed specifically for totem pole power-factor correction (PFC) architectures in critical-construction mode (CrCM), this controller allows engineers to dramatically reduce the size, weight, and thickness of magnetic components while maintaining>98 percent efficiency.Customer-Proven Performance and Global MomentumWiseWare 1.1 supports a broad power range from 100 W to 1.5 kW, making it suitable for a wide array of modern applications requiring both compactness and high energy efficiency.Designed with flexibility in mind, WiseWare 1.1 works seamlessly with standard GaN across the full RDS(on) spectrum (drain-source on-resistance), giving power designers the freedom to choose the optimal transistor for each application-without compromising performance.Typical applications include�GHigh-efficiency AC-DC power converters, High-power density designs, Power supplies for servers, USB power delivery adapters for laptops and notebooks, and Switch-mode power supplies for monitors and displays.The WiseWare 1.1 platform has already demonstrated robust market validation, with multiple customer design-ins and live demos at PCIM Europe, one of the industry's most prominent power- electronics exhibitions. These demonstrations showcased 300W totem pole PFC converter boards using WiseWare 1.1 and WiseGan WI71060A transistors (RDS(on)=60mohms),operating from 90–264 VAC input to a 400 VDC output. At the same time, technical collaborations are progressing in Asia, reinforcing the company's global reach.Technical Highlights of WiseWare 1.1 (WIW1101): Switching frequency�Gup to 2 MHz, Control mode: CrCM ensuring full ZVS, Integrated protections: OCP, OVP, OTP, OPP, Inrush management : no need for relay or thermistor, Standby power: as low as 18 mW, EMC-compliant demoboard with>98 percent efficiency.Credit: WISE

Co-hosted by the Shenzhen Memory Industry Association and the School of Integrated Circuits, Peking University and organized by JWinsights (Shanghai) Technology Co., Ltd., the Fourth GMIF2025 Innovation Summit (Global Memory Innovation Forum) was successfully concluded on September 25, 2025. Under the theme "AI Applications, Innovation Empowered", the GMIF2025 brought together leading representatives from across the memory industry value chain. Discussions centered on critical topics such as computing-storage convergence, AI deployment, and ecosystem collaboration.The 4th GMIF2025 Global Memory Innovation Forum concluded on Sept 25. Credit:GMIFThe GMIF2025 officially kicked off with the opening remarks from Rixin Sun, the President of Shenzhen Memory Industry Association (SMIA). Mr. Sun shared that with the rapid proliferation of AI technologies on the edge side in 2025, the memory and storage industry are stepping into the spotlight. The industry growth mode is shifting into a new structural phase characterized by high performance, high efficiency, and system collaboration. Since its inception, GMIF has upheld the vision of "connecting the memory ecosystem and fostering industry win-win collaboration," aiming to unite global industry forces, drive cross-sector cooperation, and accelerate the integration of China's memory sector into the global landscape.GMIF2025 opens with remarks from SMIA President Rixin Sun. Credit:GMIFIndustry leaders discuss AI-driven memory transformation and ecosystem integration. Credit:GMIFIndustry Leaders Gather to Discuss AI-Driven Transformation of Memory and Ecosystem IntegrationXiaomin Han, General Manager of Consulting Services from JWinsights, noted that the global memory market is entering an AI-driven upcycle, with smartphones, data centers, and new energy vehicles emerging as key growth drivers. In spite of the supply bottlenecks of high-end advanced chips, strong investment momentum from domestic internet companies is fueling faster-than-expected growth in the server market, which is projected to achieve large-scale commercialization by 2027. Meanwhile, Chinese players such as GigaDevice and UniIC are strengthening their presence in smartphones, servers, and edge AI through customized solutions, and are expected to make breakthroughs in emerging sectors by year-end.Guangyu Sun, Professor of School of Integrated Circuits, Peking University, highlighted that to improve computing efficiency, it is essential to optimize pathways, adopt hierarchical architectures, and implement fine-grained resource scheduling to balance bandwidth, capacity, and latency. In diverse scenarios such as smart devices and edge computing, system efficiency, security, and cost are the key factors determining technological deployment. As advanced packaging and related technologies become increasingly practical, the next phase of industry development should focus on precision control, heterogeneous integration, and ecosystem collaboration to enable large-scale commercialization.Kevin Yoon, VP and CTO, Memory Business Division, Samsung Electronics, pointed out that AI advancements are accelerating the shift in memory and storage toward higher performance, density, and energy efficiency. With data processing skyrocketing and system power nearing its ceiling, memory is now central to intelligent infrastructure. Leveraging interface upgrades, advanced packaging, and new materials, Samsung has rolled out products like GDDR7, delivering across-the-board gains in performance, capacity, and power efficiency.Maya Zhang underlined that data requirements in the AI era are characterized by high volumes, high performance and structural diversity. It's predicted that global data is expected to reach 200ZB by 2025, and unstructured data will account for about 80% of that total. The rise of multimodal data further increases complexity. The growing "heat" of data is accelerating the shift of storage architecture toward computing-storage convergence, with heightened demands on speed, capacity, and power efficiency.Wallace C. Kou, CEO, Silicon Motion, stressed that AI is fueling strong demand for large-capacity storage in both cloud and edge environments, with significant market growth expected next year. Industry players must strengthen collaboration in technology innovation, talent development, and ecosystem building.Benny Ni, GAR Sales VP, Solidigm, observed that AI is moving from model building to terminal applications. Edge computing and data security are becoming increasingly vital, and storage technologies need to meet the diverse demands spanning from large capacity to high performance.Storage and memory at the edge side emphasize more on intelligence, reliability and green innovation beyond performance. By adopting a "subtractive" approach, Maxio Technology achieves a significant balance between quality and cost, and is making more efforts to strengthen AI storage ecosystem through industry chain collaboration. Mr. Li summarized Maxio's vision as "One Chip, One Ecosystem, One Future", enabling the intelligent world with memory and co-creating a brighter future.Haibing Xie, Director, Application Design In Center, Intel China, introduced that Intel has taken a dual-pronged AI strategy of hardware (AIPC, data center) and software ecosystems. Intel is working with partners to build an open supply chain supporting over 900 large models and enhancing user experiences with voice control and other technologies to drive AIPC adoption.Xiaobing Wang, Director of Customer Projects from MediaTek, identified imbalances in edge AI computing power and efficiency as a major bottleneck, alongside thermal and bandwidth pressures. MediaTek is advancing its system through three key approaches: ensuring stable high-load performance with advanced cooling, reducing power consumption through process iteration, and lowering bandwidth dependency via algorithm and architectural collaboration, so as to achieve comprehensive breakthroughs through industry-wide cooperation.Industry leaders discuss AI-driven memory transformation and ecosystem integration. Credit:GMIFHan He, CEO of BIWIN, shared that BIWIN is transitioning from a module manufacturer to a solutions provider. With AI infrastructure investment projected to reach USD 3 trillion by 2030, BIWIN is leveraging its core expertise in media, controller and firmware R&D, and advanced packaging and testing. By continuously promoting its "Integrated Solution and Manufacturing (ISM)" strategy, BIWIN has established an all-around industry layout, aiming to deliver scenario-driven system solutions and accelerate computing-storage convergence.Zining Wu, Founder & Chairman, InnoGrit Corporation, highlighted that the surge of AI-generated data is forcing a radical shift in storage architecture. To match the processing power of GPUs, the industry is rolling out "AI SSDs" capable of hundreds of millions of IOPS and ultra-low latency. Technologies such as GPU Direct enable direct communication with GPU memory, extending HBM in data centers and delivering deterministic responses at the edge. Storage media are being divided into high-speed cache layers and large-capacity storage layers, forming a new generation of high-performance, hierarchical architectures that provide a solid foundation for computing breakthroughs.Matt Bromage, Head of Global Storage Business from Arm, projected that 70% of AI inference workloads will soon be processed at the edge. In response to the three key challenges of bandwidth, power cost, and software fragmentation faced by edge AI, the industry circle is making concrete efforts to comprehensively improve edge computing efficiency by innovating technologies including near-data computing, CXL high-speed interconnects, and chip-level security, combined with customized chip design, model quantization, and software-hardware co-optimization. These advances are expected to drive a thousand-fold leap in edge AI performance, accelerating the arrival of the Ambient Intelligence era.Xuewen Chen, Chief AI Scientist from GAC Group, showed that AI has moved beyond its role as a driver-assistance tool to become a central engine of industrial change. The intelligent technologies based on big data and Transformer architecture are reshaping industry competitiveness, which raises unprecedented new expectations for automotive storage in terms of capacity, speed and reliability, and creating a broad space for storage innovation and deployment in intelligent vehicles as well.Cheng Zhu, Product Director at China Greatwall, expressed that computing power, as a core productivity, is closely related with national economic development. Ranked as the 2nd largest computing capacity worldwide, China demonstrated a 30% growth rate in the past 5 years with over 10 million data center racks being deployed. AI computing has increased significantly. Underpinned by its full-stack technologies, China Greatwall has developed 120+ products and contributed to major national projects, providing secure computing foundations for government, finance, and other sectors.Shawn Xiao, Director of Ecosystem Partnerships and Field Applications from Montage Technology, considered CXL as an ideal solution for optimizing memory architecture, lowering data center costs, and improving AI computing efficiency. By enabling efficient sharing and pooling of memory resources, it breaks through the bottlenecks of the traditional memory wall and provides a more flexible and scalable solution for high-performance computing and large-scale AI applications.Shang Shang, General Manager of the Information Security from iFLYTEK, introduced iFLYTEK Spark AI PC, positioned as an AI office assistant for government and enterprises. Through integration of generation, summarization and insight capabilities, it fosters a new paradigm of human-machine collaboration, empowering users to focus on decision-making and innovation.Ming Zhao, General Manager from OKN Technology, pointed out that against the backdrop of surging storage demand driven by AI, requirements for capacity, speed, and power consumption are becoming increasingly stringent, and specialized testing technologies are essential to ensure high-quality industry development.Lucas Lu, Director of R&D Department from GreaTech Substrates, concluded that AI applications are driving semiconductor market growth, with a projected CAGR of 6.7% from 2025 to 2028. AI servers, smartphones, and PCs are the key drivers. Packaging technologies are rapidly evolving toward 2.5D and 3D, and heterogeneous integration solutions such as CoWoS are being widely adopted. This trend places higher demands on packaging substrates, including larger sizes, higher layers, thinner profiles, and finer wiring.GMIF2025 offered a full-spectrum view of the latest advances in technology. Credit: GMIFThe GMIF2025 of the year presented a full-spectrum view of the latest progresses in technological breakthroughs, product innovations and ecosystem co-building of the storage and memory industry within the AI era. With a particular focus on advanced industry trends such as AI applications, storage-compute convergence, advanced packaging, and edge intelligence, the summit served as a high-level platform for industry stakeholders to gain insights, exchange technology, and explore partnerships.By bringing together executives from leading global enterprises, academic experts from top universities, and professional attendees, GMIF2025 not only demonstrated the strong momentum of collaborative innovation in the industry, but also provided crucial support for the deep integration of storage technologies with AI, cloud computing, and smart devices. It further contributed to the creation of an open, collaborative, and sustainable global storage ecosystem, helping accelerate progress in the data-driven era.

In recent years, the automotive industry has shifted from traditional mechanical manufacturing to a new era of intelligence and connectivity. The introduction of technologies such as autonomous driving, connected vehicles, and OTA (Over-The-Air) software updates has transformed vehicles from simple means of transportation into vital nodes for information exchange. However, these advancements have also rapidly increased cybersecurity challenges and risks. From past incidents of remote vehicle hacking to increasingly stringent privacy and data security requirements, the entire industry is facing unprecedented tests.All vehicles aiming to enter the EU market must comply with R155 and R156. Credit: WinbondAgainst this backdrop, the European Union has established a series of regulations targeting automotive cybersecurity and software updates, most notably WP.29 under the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations-specifically, R155 (Cybersecurity Management System, CSMS) and R156 (Software Update Management System ; SUMS). These regulations require comprehensive information security and update management throughout the entire vehicle lifecycle, from design, manufacturing, testing, operation, to maintenance. In other words, any vehicle aiming to enter the EU market must comply with these regulations, or it will be denied entry.For automotive engineers and decision-makers, this is not just a matter of regulatory compliance, but a key issue concerning brand reputation and market survival. How to achieve compliance quickly and effectively with limited development resources has become the most urgent challenge across the industry.The Necessity of Compliance and Industry ConsensusThe establishment of R155 and R156 is not merely a unilateral requirement from the EU, but a global need shared by the automotive industry. The reason is simple: vehicles are no longer isolated products, but continuously connected, frequently updated, and potential targets for cyberattacks.Security Requirements: Once a vehicle system is breached, hackers can not only steal user privacy data but may also directly manipulate vehicle functions, causing traffic safety incidents. The core of R155 is to require manufacturers to establish a complete cybersecurity management mechanism from the early development stage, including threat modeling and risk analysis, with systematic countermeasures.Continuity Requirements: Modern vehicles are increasingly software-driven, with many functions relying on OTA updates. Without secure update mechanisms, malicious software could be injected during the upgrade process, potentially paralyzing entire fleets. R156 aims to ensure that the software update process is verifiable, complete, and traceable.Market Requirements: Consumer trust in vehicle safety directly affects brand image and sales. Failure to meet regulations not only results in losing access to the European market but may also erode consumer trust, impacting other regional markets.Therefore, compliance is no longer a question of "if," but "how to do it effectively." This is the common pain point across the automotive industry: how to meet complex compliance requirements within compressed development cycles and limited human resources.To learn the latest cybersecurity regulations and trends, download the hardware security whitepaper for free.Credit: WinbondWinbond W77Q/W77T Secure Flash Memory-Technical Highlights and ValueIn this challenging environment, Winbond's W77Q/ W77T Secure Flash Memory emerges as a crucial tool to help customers overcome compliance challenges. This solution enables OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to quickly meet R155 and R156 requirements while significantly reducing verification and development costs.1. Reduced Verification Time and Cost: Traditionally, to meet cybersecurity requirements, customers must design and verify a complete set of security mechanisms themselves, which is time-consuming and requires highly specialized talent. Winbond's W77Q/ W77T has already passed rigorous international security certifications, allowing customers to integrate proven solutions directly and greatly shorten verification time.2. Accelerated New Product Design: For new product development, time-to-market pressure is intense. Secure Flash Memory features built-in security mechanisms, enabling design teams to adopt pre-verified security modules instead of building from scratch, further shortening development time and speeding products to market.3. Support for Legacy Product Upgrades: Winbond's Secure Flash Memory is suitable not only for new designs but can also replace existing flash memory modules in legacy products, helping older vehicle models upgrade to meet WP.29 cybersecurity requirements. This ensures flexibility and competitiveness as regulations evolve.4. Technical Highlights: Hardware-Level Data Partitioning and Backup: Through built-in hardware logic circuits, Secure Flash Memory achieves data partitioning and backup, ensuring isolation between different security levels and preventing data leakage or tampering.Secure OTA Upgrade Mechanism: During OTA upgrades, Winbond's Secure Flash Memory provides encryption and authentication functions, ensuring confidentiality and integrity during data transmission and installation.System Resilience Protection: If anomalies occur during upgrades (such as interruptions), the system can automatically revert to a safe state, preventing vehicles from becoming inoperable.Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) Support: Winbond offers solutions equipped with the LMS (Leighton-Micali Signature) algorithm, providing stronger protection for OTA upgrades and forward-looking defense against future quantum computing security threats.With these technical features, Winbond's W77Q/ W77T Secure Flash Memory not only meets current regulations but also offers future scalability, supporting information security throughout the vehicle lifecycle.Credit: WinbondCertified Solutions Deliver Industry Value and DifferentiationIn summary, adopting Winbond's W77Q/ W77T Secure Flash Memory offers several clear advantages for automotive industry participants:1. Compliance Assurance: Winbond's Secure Flash Memory has passed relevant security certifications, directly helping customers meet R155 and R156 requirements and reducing regulatory risks.2. Cost Optimization: With built-in security verification mechanisms, customers can avoid significant additional verification costs, effectively reducing R&D expenditure.3. Design Flexibility: Whether for new vehicle development or legacy product upgrades, Winbond’s Secure Flash Memory can be quickly integrated, providing high flexibility for customers.4. Market Differentiation: Compared to products offering only single functions, Winbond's Secure Flash Memory integrates hardware security, OTA protection, and PQC support, giving customers a distinct competitive edge.5. Verification Convenience: Since Winbond's Secure Flash Memory is internationally certified, customers can reference existing certifications during product verification, greatly simplifying the process.In the future, competition in the automotive industry will be not only about speed and price but also about safety and trust. With Winbond's Secure Flash Memory, customers can achieve regulatory compliance quickly and establish unique market advantages. This is not just a response to regulations but a proactive strategy for the industry's future.In other words, Winbond's W77Q/ W77T Secure Flash Memory is not just a peripheral component, but a key partner for the automotive industry's sustainable cybersecurity development.To learn more about Winbond's advanced security solutions, visit Winbond's website or contact Winbond directly, or download the latest Hardware Security White Paper.

AT&S, a global leader in high-end IC substrates and printed circuit boards, took part in the 2025 Chongqing Mayor's International Economic Advisory Council (CMIA) conference, held under the theme "Building an AI Application Hub to Enable High-Quality Industrial Development."Credit: AT&SAT&S CEO Michael Mertin delivered a keynote speech titled "AT&S and Chongqing's Joint Path Toward AI-Driven, Sustainable Manufacturing." He reaffirmed the company's commitment to advancing intelligent, sustainable manufacturing in close partnership with Chongqing.In his address, Mertin highlighted AT&S's long-term commitment to strengthening Chongqing's position in the global industrial value chain. He stressed the importance of partnerships, talent development, and cutting-edge technology, noting that combining these strengths with Chongqing's unique advantages will accelerate the city's transformation into an AI-driven, sustainable manufacturing hub.Artificial intelligence is a driving force of digital transformation, and AT&S is positioning itself as a key enabler of this trend by delivering innovative technologies essential for AI applications. These include substrates for AI processors, energy management solutions for data centers, and embedding technologies for high-performance components. In particular, AT&S plays a vital role in enabling on-device AI, serving as an innovative partner for leading manufacturers of smartphones, notebooks, and other end devices.AT&S Highlights how AI accelerating industrial transformation of Chongqing. AT&SIn line with the conference theme, AT&S also released a white paper outlining how AI, combined with Chongqing's strategic policies, can accelerate industrial transformation and reinforce the city's global competitiveness.Chongqing is one of AT&S's most important global production bases. Since establishing operations there in 2011, the company has made continuous investments in advanced technologies and innovation. Today, AT&S Chongqing manufactures high-tech IC substrates and modules for high-performance processors, data centers, gaming, 5G, automotive, and AI applications. The rapid growth of the AI market creates significant opportunities for the site, with rising demand for high-performance infrastructure, energy-efficient components, and integrated AI solutions expected to drive continued growth. AT&S's strategic focus on"local-for-local" solutions further supports Chongqing's and China's digital transformation.Initiated in 2005 by the Chongqing municipal government, CMIA provides a platform for global business leaders to advise the Mayor and his leadership team on the city's development. The 2025 conference marks AT&S's tenth consecutive year of high-level participation in the council.Credit: AT&S

Global Unichip Corp. (GUC), theAdvanced ASIC Leader, today announced the launch of its next-generation 2.5D/3D Advanced Package Technology (APT) platform, developed to accelerate designcycles and reduce risk for high-performance, high-yield ASICs. The platform integrates TSMC's latest 3DFabric technologies and advanced process nodes, enable next-generation designs with a comprehensive solution that spans from silicon-proven IP to 2.5D/3D packaging.The new platform builds on GUC's first-generation 2.5D/3D APT platform introduced in 2022. Since then, GUC has closely collaborated with TSMC to incorporate major technological advancements of TSMC in both logic processes and 3DFabric technologies. TSMC's evolution from FinFET-based N5/N3 nodes to next-generation nanosheet nodes-N2 and A16-has enabled unprecedentedintegration density and performance scaling. Simultaneously, TSMC's 3DFabric innovations, including CoWoS, TSMC-SoIC , and System-on-Wafer (TSMCSoWTM), allow for advanced 2.5D/3D integration of multiple dies across larger package substrates.Industry standards have also evolved. The latest HBM4 memory interface doubles I/O to 2,048 pins, unlocking significantly higher bandwidth. Meanwhile, the UCIe die-to-die interface has gained industry-wide adoption, advancing from 16Gbps to 24Gbps and now 32Gbps-and beyond.GUC Milestones and Technology HighlightsUCIe Die-to-Die IP: GUC offers UCIe-A 32G/36G IP in TSMC N3 and N5 processes, with a 64G version under development and scheduled for tape-out in late 2025. The UCIe-A IP in TSMC 2nm technology is also planned for 2026.Integration with TSMC SoIC-X: GUC successfully taped out UCIe Face-Up IP in TSMC N5 using TSVs for bottom die applications-enabling vertical die stacking in future nodes.HBM4 IP: GUC taped out its HBM4 PHY IP on TSMC N3P, achieving 12Gbps speeds. The IP supports CoWoS-L/R and SoW platforms, with porting to TSMC N2P underway for a 2026 tape-out.GLink/UCIe-3D IP: Building on its GLink-3D 1.0 success, GUC now offers UCIe/GLink-3D 2.0 IP delivering 50 Tbps/mm? bandwidth, architecture proven via TSMC N2P. A customized version has already been taped out by a lead customer for an N3 over N5 ASIC.Deep Collaboration with TSMCGUC has long worked with TSMC closely to develop silicon-proven IP and platform technologies. This ongoing collaboration ensures alignment with TSMC's latest process and 3DFabric packaging advances, enabling customers to reduce design risk while accelerating time-to-market."TSMC has been working closely with our Open Innovation Platform (OIP) partners like GUC to develop IP solutions for our advanced process and 3DFabric technologies," said Aveek Sarkar, Director of Ecosystem and Alliance Management Division at TSMC. "Our latest collaboration with GUC in enabling its 2.5D/3D platform will help customers accelerate product development cycles and deliver next-generation silicon using our advanced packaging and process technologies.""We were industry-leading with HBM3 PHY and Controller, and again with HBM4 in 2025," said Aditya Raina, CMO of GUC. "Our UCIe IP has demonstrated unmatched 32Gbps speed and is now moving to 64Gbps era. Our Custom GLink-3D 2.0 IP has achieved 40 Tbps/mm² through a lead customer. These achievements mark the dawn of true 3D ASICs."GUC's next-generation APT platform combines cutting-edge IP, TSMC-certified design flows, and high-volume production experience to enable rapid, low-risk development of next-generation AI, HPC, and networking chips.To learn more about GUC's solutions, please contact GUC sales representative via email.

Wise Integration, a pioneer in digital control for gallium nitride�]GaN�^and GaN IC-based power supplies, today announced the appointment of Ghislain Kaiser as Chief Executive Officer. Kaiser succeeds CEO and co-founder, Thierry Bouchet, who will continue to serve as Chief Technology Officer and General Manager, leading the worldwide R&D and driving the technological vision.A seasoned high-tech leader with a proven track record in growing and leading global teams in the semiconductor industry, Kaiser brings deep experience in scaling deep-tech ventures. In 2006, he cofounded Docea Power, a French EDA startup pioneering full-chip, system-level power and thermal modelling, with the vision of addressing the growing power-consumption and thermal challenges in IC and platform design.As CEO, he led the company to domain leadership and its acquisition by Intel in 2015. He then joined Intel, where for the next decade he held senior director roles, most recently overseeing system-simulation engineering and worldwide customer-enablement organization. Those programs tackled the most critical power, thermal, and performance challenges in designing consumer, data-center, and AI systems. Kaiser began his career at STMicroelectronics, where he held technical and leadership positions across test and product engineering, design, and architecture teams.Targeting Fast-Growing MarketsWith Kaiser’s appointment, Wise Integration is positioning itself to scale globally and capitalize on booming markets such as data centers powering artificial intelligence (AI), and electric vehicles (EV)-which demand more efficient, compact, and digitally controlled power architectures."I'm thrilled to join Wise Integration and build on its success in providing customers differentiated solutions in power electronics to meet their biggest challenges," Kaiser said. "This talented team has created an R&D-driven culture and a robust foundation to lead the GaN power electronics transformation globally."The Next Chapter"On behalf of the board of directors, I am pleased to welcome Ghislain Kaiser as Wise Integration's new CEO, and to compliment the team for their exceptional work," said Board Chairman Patrick Boulaud. "This marks a major milestone for the company as it transitions from a CEA�HLeti spinout into a pioneering force in GaN and digital power management innovation with strong growth potential. Ghislain's background makes him a natural choice as the CEO to guide the company through this next stage of growth.""Ghislain's arrival begins a new chapter for Wise Integration," Bouchet added. "With our WiseGan devices and WiseWare digital control, we've built a strong foundation in consumer markets. Now it's time to scale our innovations and tackle the next big challenges-bringing unmatched efficiency and power density to AI servers, data centers, and tomorrow's automotive systems."Selected Highlights (2020–2025)Spun out from CEA-Leti in 2020 using the institute's GaN-on-silicon R&D platform. Developed proprietary WiseGan IC and WiseWare microcontroller. Launched its fully digital controller, WiseWare 1.1. Opened a design center in Canada and established an Asian subsidiary in Hong Kong.Wise Integration Appoints Ghislain Kaiser, Successful High-Tech Entrepreneur & Former Intel Executive, as CEO to Lead Global Growth.WISE

The modern digital supply chain is no longer a traditional linear sequence but a complex, interconnected ecosystem of suppliers, sellers, logistics providers, and customers. While digital transformation greatly improves efficiency, it also exponentially expands the overall attack surface. In this model, risks are no longer isolated but systemic and cascading. Supply chain efficiency is built on an implicit digital trust model between partners, which is manifested through application programming interfaces (APIs), shared portals, and integrated software. However, this trust structure, built in pursuit of efficiency, has become a primary attack vector. Cybercriminals are no longer just breaking through firewalls—they are exploiting the fundamental fabric of digital collaboration. As a result, the traditional perimeter defense model is outdated; The new perimeter of defense is the entire supply chain ecosystem, and its security must be built on a zero-trust model enforced with cryptography.Third-party or fourth-party vulnerabilitiesAttackers often use the weakest link in the chain—often smaller, poorly secured vendors—as a springboard to infiltrate the network of their ultimate high-value target. This highlights a stark reality: an organization's security posture is only as strong as its least secure partners. This risk stems from the pursuit of supply chain efficiency, as the smooth operation of business processes requires granting partners a considerable degree of access. This expansion of access rights, without corresponding strict security controls, constitutes a systemic vulnerability based on excessive trust.The fundamental role of traditional cryptography and its limitationsCurrent supply chain security relies heavily on traditional public key cryptography (such as RSA, ECC) to protect data in transit and at rest. Mitigation strategies such as data encryption (using AES), risk assessment, and incident response plans are crucial, but their effectiveness is built on the strength of these underlying cryptographic algorithms. While these methods are still effective against today's threats, the entire security foundation is fragile and faces an existential threat that will be the focus of the next section.Quantum Horizons: A Paradigm Shift in Cryptographic ThreatsQuantum computers use quantum mechanical principles such as superposition and entanglement to solve mathematical problems (e.g., integer factorization, discrete logarithms) that form the security basis of today's public key cryptography (RSA, ECC, Diffie-Hellman). This is not a purely theoretical deduction, but a major engineering challenge that is making rapid progress. Once a quantum computer with sufficient scale and stability comes out, the current encryption system that protects global digital communications will fail in an instant."Get First, Decrypt Later" (HNDL): An imminent dangerThe Harvest Now, Decrypt Later (HNDL) attack transforms the quantum threat from a futuristic problem to a present reality. The mechanism is that attackers, especially state-state actors, are actively intercepting and storing large amounts of today's encrypted data. These attacks target information with long-term value, such as intellectual property, government secrets, financial records, medical data, and personally identifiable information (PII).This means that by the time a "Cryptographically Relevant Quantum Computer" (CRQC) appears that can crack current encryption algorithms (known as "Q-Day", which is expected to arrive as early as 2035), these obtained data will be retroactively deciphered. Therefore, the security of any sensitive data transmitted today that requires long-term confidentiality is already at risk.This attack pattern transforms a company's data retention policy into a huge potential security liability. Regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) or the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) often require organizations to retain data for an extended period. The HNDL attack vector turns this legal compliance requirement into a potential ticking time bomb. Organizations are legally required to encrypt data stored for years, making it an ideal target for HNDL attacks. This creates a direct conflict between compliance and security: the act of adhering to data retention regulations inadvertently creates vulnerabilities for future quantum decryption threats. Therefore, risk management and legal teams must be immediately involved in the migration strategy of post-quantum cryptography. This is no longer just an IT issue, but a simmering corporate governance and compliance crisis.To learn the latest cybersecurity regulations and trends, download the hardware security whitepaper for free.Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC): Laying the foundation for quantum resilienceDefinition of post-quantum cryptographyPost-quantum cryptography (PQC) refers to traditional algorithms that are designed to run on today's classical computers but are resistant to attacks from both classical and quantum computers. This distinguishes PQC from quantum cryptography, which requires specialized hardware, such as quantum key distribution, or QKD. PQC's goal is to develop a new generation of public-key cryptographic systems based on mathematical problems that are equally difficult for quantum computers.NIST PQC Standardized Process: A globally recognized markThe National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has led a multi-year, transparent, and collaborative global process to select and standardize the next generation of public key algorithms. This process is crucial in building trust in the new standard. The process began in 2016 with a public call for proposals, receiving 82 proposals from 25 countries and undergoing multiple rounds of rigorous public review and analysis in the global cryptography community.The finalization of NIST standards is the starting gun that triggers a massive technology update cycle across the tech industry. This was not only an academic milestone but also a turning point in business and logistics. It directly prompted government agencies such as CISA and the National Security Agency (NSA) to issue migration directives, which in turn pushed major software vendors and hardware manufacturers such as Microsoft and Google to integrate these specific algorithms into their products. This ripple effect ultimately extends to enterprises, who must plan their migrations to maintain compatibility and security. NIST standards are the core domino that initiates PQC adoption worldwide.Secure the edge: Protect IoT and operational technology equipment in the supply chainInternet of Things (IoT) and operational technology (OT) devices face the biggest challenges in PQC migration for the following reasons:*Long life cycle: The device may be used in the field for 10-20 years without replacement.*Limited resources: Limited processing power, memory, and energy budgets.*Lack of Updability: Many devices are not designed to be conducive to easy firmware or cryptography updates.The application of PQC in these areas will be gradual and there will be significant differences between the old and new systems. For "greenfield" systems, such as new IoT product lines, PQC can be integrated from the outset. For "brownfield" systems, such as existing factory OT equipment, the challenge is enormous, often requiring the entire hardware to be replaced. This means that the PQC migration of the supply chain will be a two-speed process. Businesses must prioritize the adoption of PQC in new systems while developing long-term, potentially costly, retirement or retrofit capital plans for existing assets that are not quantum-safe.Use cases for PQC include:*Industrial automation: Protecting communication between sensors, controllers, and management systems in factories and processing plants.*Smart Infrastructure and Logistics: Protecting smart grid equipment, traffic control systems, and connected logistics sensors.*Automotive V2X Communication: Secure vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications to ensure security and prevent malicious manipulation.*Healthcare Supply Chain: Ensuring the integrity and privacy of data from connected medical devices.Conclusion and recommendationsWinbond's W77Q Secure Flash Memory is a robust solution to address the PQC threats mentioned above. Key PQC-Safe features of the W77Q Secure Flash include:*Platform Resilience: In accordance with NIST 800-193 recommendations, the system automatically detects unauthorized program changes and can automatically restore to a secure state to avoid potential cyberattacks. *Security Software Update and Fallback Protection: Supports remote security software updates while preventing fallback attacks, ensuring that only legitimate updates can be executed. To maintain the highest level of security and integrity, the W77Q adopts the quantum-secure Leighton-Micali signature (LMS) algorithm recommended by NIST Special Publication 800-208 to ensure the authenticity and integrity of updated software, providing additional security*Secure Supply Chain: Secure Flash ensures the origin and integrity of flash content at every stage of the supply chain. The W77Q implements LMS-OTS-based remote authentication (NIST 800-208). This advanced method effectively prevents content tampering and misconfiguration during assembly, transportation, and configuration, protecting the platform from cyberattacks.Winbond's secure flash solutions help system manufacturers meet industry regulatory compliance requirements, improve platform security, and improve supply chain information and communication security during production, shipping, and construction and operation.To learn more about Winbond's advanced security solutions, visit Winbond's website or contact Winbond directly, or download the latest Hardware Security White Paper.To learn the latest cybersecurity regulations and trends, download the hardware security whitepaper for free.

As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to reshape industries worldwide, the demand for smarter, faster, and more efficient electronic systems has never been greater. AI-enabled applications-from data center accelerators to compact edge devices-require processing systems with exceptional computational power, high performance, and access to large memory storage.To meet these demands, the semiconductor industry is making rapid strides in advanced packaging technologies. These innovations are now central to system integration and architectural breakthroughs-yet they also introduce new challenges in reliability, thermal management, and multi-chip assembly.Material companies are transforming their offerings to meet the stringent purity, precision, and performance requirements of the evolving semiconductor industry, while also creating more sustainable and environmentally friendly products. In this exclusive interview with Mr. Kenji Kuriyama, Director of Electronics for Japan & Taiwan at Henkel Adhesive Technologies, we explore how Henkel is helping semiconductor leaders overcome these challenges through materials innovation, strategic collaboration, and a deep commitment to Taiwan's ecosystem.Mr. Kuriyama shares his optimistic outlook on the explosive growth of the advanced packaging market. In particular, Taiwan's semiconductor industry stands out as a global leader in advanced node manufacturing, producing the majority of the world's most sophisticated chips. Henkel looks forward to working closely with customers in Taiwan to accelerate the development of high-performance chips that drive AI innovation.Mr. Kenji Kuriyama Director, Japan & Taiwan, Henkel Adhesive Technologies Electronics.Credit: HenkelHenkel Adhesive Technologies' Electronics division maintains a strong and deliberate focus on both the semiconductor and consumer electronics sectors, supplying advanced materials for electronics assembly, semiconductor packaging, and thermal management. Its product portfolio includes solutions for die attach, underfills, encapsulants, lid attach adhesives, and thermal interface materials—essential components that enable the high performance, miniaturization, and reliability of modern electronic devices.Showcasing Material Solutions for AI-Enabling Advanced Packaging at SEMICON Taiwan 2025Taiwan remains a global hub for advanced packaging innovation, and at SEMICON Taiwan 2025, the spotlight is on technologies that are rapidly evolving to become the backbone of system integration and architectural breakthroughs.Henkel Adhesive Technologies Showcases a portfolio of high-performance materials, and offers tailored solutions aligned with the industry's most critical technologies. The company presents encapsulation, underfill, and adhesive materials that support high-end AI accelerators in data centers, as well as compact Edge AI chips. These devices rely on packaging architectures such as 2.5D and 3D designs, chiplet designs and heterogeneous integration to meet the demands of next-generation computing.Advanced data center AI accelerator chips and smartphone application processors require large dies and large-body packages that consume significant power during operation. As a result, they are susceptible to high stress, warpage, and thermo-mechanical challenges that can impact reliability and performance.Henkel Adhesives has developed semiconductor underfill technologies-including pre-applied pastes and films, capillary materials, and liquid molded solutions-that have set the benchmark for both performance and processability.Henkel's encapsulation technology plays a critical role in protecting large, thin dies from warpage. It also enables high-density 2.5D fan-out wafer-level packaging (WLP) and supports emerging panel-level packaging (PLP) formats-making it one of Henkel's flagship innovations.In the automotive electronics sector, Henkel offers die attach pastes and encapsulants which are widely used across the ecosystem. Its pressure-less and pressure-assisted sintering materials are instrumental in enabling high-performance wide band gap power devices that are critical for modern electric vehicles. Henkel showcases a broad range of sintering technologies, including its latest copper-based pressure-assisted sintering material. This innovation delivers exceptional thermal conductivity, requires lower processing pressure and temperature compared to silver-based alternatives, and offers a lower total cost of ownership.Mr. Kenji Kuriyama presenting at Henkel seminar and panel talk in SEMICON Taiwan 2025.New Release: Loctite Eccobond LCM 1000AG-1 -Liquid Mold Material for Warpage Control in WLP and PLP ProcessesFurthermore, as heterogeneous integration and photonic convergence become increasingly prevalent, advanced packaging technologies such as panel-level packaging (PLP) and co-packaged optics are gaining significant attention. PLP, for example, enables larger AI-enabling IC packages by improving scalability and manufacturing efficiency. However, these advancements introduce new challenges in managing the thermal demands of heterogeneously integrated devices-particularly in data center and smartphone applications-as well as in optimizing materials that interface directly with IC chips. A range of advanced materials-including liquid molded underfills (LMUF), first-level thermal interface materials (TIMs), and capillary underfills-are being developed to effectively distribute and extract heat, thereby enhancing device performance and reliability. Notably, the rise of advanced AI processors with stacked memory architectures has driven strong demand for molded underfill materials that address key challenges in 3D stacking and assembly, such as manufacturing throughput, process complexity, and overall cost.Meanwhile, Henkel is introducing new innovations in fine-filler liquid compression molding (LCM) and molded underfill materials to support both near-term and long-term roadmaps for 2.5D and 3D packaging. These materials are designed to mitigate warpage while demonstrating excellent flowability and void-free filling capabilities at the wafer level, even in fine-pitch (<30 µm) and narrow-gap (<20 µm) configurations.At SEMICON Taiwan 2025, Henkel launches Loctite Eccobond LCM 1000AG-1 , a new anhydride-free, ultra-low warpage liquid molding material designed for wafer-level packaging (WLP) and panel-level packaging (PLP) processes. This new product delivers stable warpage control throughout redistribution layer (RDL) processing, enabling high-yield, reliable advanced packaging solutions.Working with Customers to Enable Materials for Next-Gen Semiconductor DevicesAdvanced packaging is rapidly emerging as a key driver of innovation in semiconductor technology, enabling breakthroughs in system integration, performance, and sustainability. As an innovator in the advanced packaging materials space, Henkel is actively collaborating with Taiwan's leading industrial customers across critical areas-including new material design, customer support, green energy, and sustainable development.This type of collaboration facilitates the sharing of knowledge, resources, and technology, accelerates global competitiveness, and ultimately achieves a win-win for more markets-helping to grow the global semiconductor industry. Henkel is committed to investing resources in solution design tailored to specific functions and maintaining long-term relationships with its customers.Mr. Kuriyama shares two use cases that demonstrate strong momentum in customer collaborations in Taiwan. The first example is thermal cycle reliability for application processor chips. A customer approached Henkel to help pass thermal cycle reliability testing for an end customer's application processor. The challenge extended beyond reliability-it required enhanced processability for high-throughput production. Henkel responded by investing resources and developing new materials to meet the target and support the customer's goals.Among the two cases, the second example focuses on underfill flow speed optimization. In this case, a customer was facing production bottlenecks due to the slow flow speed of their existing underfill material. Henkel stepped in to assess the specific requirements and engineered a faster-flowing underfill solution to replace the legacy product. This not only resolved the throughput issue but also significantly improved overall production efficiency. The case is well-articulated, outcome-driven, and demonstrates Henkel's ability to deliver tailored, high-performance solutions in advanced packaging.The timelines for joint development projects vary significantly depending on the scope of work. Projects involving complex advancements-such as new process development or complete material replacement-can take two to three years. In contrast, initiatives focused on optimizing existing processes within current specifications are much faster, with development cycles of just three to six months.In Taiwan, IC design houses, semiconductor foundries, and Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) providers represent the three major customer types. Design houses focus on delivering new products with innovative IC chips, foundries explore novel materials for advanced packaging solutions, and OSATs emphasize manufacturing capabilities. Once a new material is introduced, Henkel's Taiwan-based application engineering and sales teams work closely with all customer types to ensure the material's functionality meets their specific requirements.Henkel Provides Next-Level Support to Build Strategic Partnerships with Taiwan CustomersAs semiconductor advanced packaging technologies continue to evolve, new opportunities are emerging across Co-Packaged Optics (CPO), panel-level packaging (PLP), and other next-generation formats. These innovations are reshaping how chips are integrated, aligned, and scaled for high-performance applications.Taking CPO as an example, Mr. Kuriyama highlights it as a rising application in advanced semiconductor packaging. Henkel is developing light-pass adhesive materials to address the challenge of precise active alignment for optical components. These light-curing adhesives enable accurate alignment, supporting the assembly of complex optical systems within the CPO process.Henkel Adhesives continues to invest heavily in material innovation and deepen its understanding of the evolving needs of the semiconductor and electronic materials markets. It is aligning its solutions with customers' technology roadmaps and contributing to the development of next-generation products. To fulfill these needs, the Henkel Taiwan Electronics Adhesives Technical Center in Zhubei City provides prompt technical support and fosters collaboration with Taiwan customers to accelerate prototyping and development. This Technical Center is dedicated to supporting innovation and product development through faster application simulation, data generation, and analysis—ultimately speeding up time-to-market for advanced packaging technologies.As the industry shifts from a linear supply chain to a more integrated and collaborative ecosystem, Henkel Adhesives plans to strengthen its local support for Taiwan's semiconductor sector. This includes expanding beyond its application center by establishing local R&D resources and a satellite R&D office in Taiwan to provide direct, localized support. This strategic move will strengthen customer partnerships and accelerate the development of packaging technologies critical for AI chip innovation and the broader semiconductor ecosystem."Taiwan is a leading global center for advanced semiconductor process nodes and packaging innovations," Mr. Kuriyama concludes. "Through Henkel's dedicated support teams and close partnerships with customers, Henkel Adhesives is strongly committed to the Taiwan market and will contribute to technical breakthroughs that open a new frontier in advanced semiconductor packaging."To learn more about Henkel and its advanced packaging solutions, visit the official Henkel website or official LinkedIn for more information.

Smiths Interconnect, a leading provider of innovative solutions for critical semiconductor test applications, and a business of Smiths Group, is pleased to announce that its patented, state-of-the-art DaVinci Gen V test sockets have been selected as the exclusive test socket solution by a major global provider of high-performance artificial intelligence semiconductor chips.Credit: Smiths InterconnectThis strategic contract supports the customer's upcoming global launch of their next-generation AI semiconductor chips, designed for data center GPU applications. These GPUs are engineered to accelerate deep learning, artificial neural networks, and high-performance computing workloads.Smiths Interconnect's DaVinci Gen V sockets will play a critical role in the manufacturing test process, ensuring ultra-reliable and repeatable performance of the chips prior to deployment. This selection underscores the superior performance, innovation, and reliability of Smiths Interconnect's test socket technology.The award builds on a successful collaboration initiated in 2024, when Smiths Interconnect supported the customer's previous AI chip programme. This latest win marks a significant expansion of the partnership and reinforces Smiths Interconnect's position as a trusted technology partner in the semiconductor industry.Brian Mitchell, Vice President of Smiths Interconnect's semiconductor test business unit, said: "Our goal is to provide the fastest, most reliable test with the greatest precision, to meet the demands of semiconductor manufacturers in a fast-moving technological environment. We are proud to grow our relationship with such a world-class company and proud that they trust us to test and validate their products which are integral to so many aspects of modern computing."Smiths Interconnect's test sockets play a critical role in testing semiconductor chips, otherwise known as 'AI chips', which are deployed in a range of areas such as automotive systems, robotics, large language models, computer gaming and 6G communications networks.As AI becomes ever more sophisticated, the need for higher processing power, speed and efficiency in computers has grown-and AI chips are essential for meeting this demand. The testing of these products to ensure reliability, repeatability and longevity, is therefore of crucial importance.