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Sep 22
Taiwan advances major science park expansion to support AI, semiconductor growth

Demand from high-tech companies for new research and manufacturing sites remains strong, prompting Taiwan to advance plans to expand Longtan Science Park by 104 hectares as the government seeks to accommodate continued growth in AI and semiconductor industries.

LG Electronics entered a partnership with Microsoft to cooperate on a range of AI initiatives. The two firms agreed to work together on AI data centers, LG Electronics' AI data transformation, and physical AI as the company known for appliances taps into growing AI-related industries.
During his keynote at Snapdragon Summit 2026, Qualcomm President and CEO Cristiano Amon invited Rick Osterloh, Senior Vice President of Platforms and Devices at Google, on stage to discuss the past year's developments in agentic AI and the strategic direction of their ongoing partnership. Amon emphasized that Google remains an indispensable partner to Qualcomm, noting that the relationship—built on co-developing the industry's first Android smartphone—has grown even stronger amid the broader AI transformation.
LG Energy's battery energy storage system (BESS) has entered Nvidia's AI Factory ecosystem. Its qualification by the chipmaker comes as LG Energy is reorienting its North American battery plants toward data centers and appears poised to capture fresh demand after the US imposed restrictions on Chinese battery imports.

China's internet regulator is reportedly investigating DeepSeek and Moonshot AI over allegations that the two companies routed millions of user interactions, including potentially sensitive government and corporate information, to Anthropic's Claude models without customers' knowledge.

China's Hygon Information Technology is extending its processor ambitions beyond servers and data centers with the launch of its first embedded industrial CPU family, targeting robotics, machine vision, smart manufacturing, and other edge AI workloads.

Gigabyte's AI server shipments continue to accelerate, lifting revenue and profit while prompting capacity expansion. For the first half of 2026, revenue reached NT$249.272 billion (US$7.9 billion), up 48.4% year-over-year; net profit after tax was NT$11.875 billion (US$373.3 million), up 92.6%; and earnings per share (EPS) hit NT$17.73, all record highs for the same period.

Taiwan-based light guide plate maker Global Lighting Technologies (GLT) is deepening its pivot into life sciences through its investment in Smobio Technology, for which GLT has begun manufacturing precast protein electrophoresis gels under contract. Small-scale production began in August 2026, following the commencement of the partnership between the two companies in 2025. Monthly demand for precast gels currently sits at roughly 20,000–30,000 sheets, and is expected to grow to 200,000–300,000 sheets in the first half of 2027, according to GLT president Johnny Tsai.

Acer says gaming and AI products are supporting its business in Germany and Austria, two markets that often reflect broader European PC demand. The company expects steadier conditions in the second half, while replacement cycles, higher prices, and Windows 10 support changes could shape global consumer buying trends.

Qualcomm unveiled two flagship mobile platforms, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, at Snapdragon Summit 2026 in Maui, Hawaii this week, marking the company's first split of its premium Snapdragon lineup into two Elite tiers. Xiaomi, Honor, and Motorola appeared on stage as early partners, with the Xiaomi 18 Pro series and Honor Magic9 series expected to be the first devices and to launch in September.

Meta's new personal AI agent, Muse, is drawing strong early consumer interest while a test involving human contractors highlights the challenges of making autonomous AI reliable and safe.

CME Group's GPU futures debut stalls as CFTC flags concerns
Sep 23, 12:10
As artificial intelligence transitions into a primary driver of global economic growth, computing power is shifting from a basic cloud utility to an emerging financial asset class. However, Wall Street's first major attempt to turn AI chip rental rates into tradable futures contracts has run into regulatory delays.