While European and American automakers push forward with artificial intelligence (AI) to upgrade manufacturing and operations, the true burden of this digital transformation often falls on the sprawling and fragmented automotive supply chain.

To meet the rising power management demands of AI data centers, power semiconductor company Eris Technology has begun deploying AI power components, and its subsidiary Yea Shin Technology has already developed 800V energy-efficient AI power chips. In addition, the supply chain disruptions triggered by the Nexperia dispute have prompted Eris to report increased demand from multiple customers. Though product certification will take time, the benefits from order shifts are expected to materialize in 2026.

Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) officially established its Malaysia subsidiary, Chunghwa Telecom Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., on December 1. CHT chairman Chih-Cheng Chien said during a digital empowerment conference on December 2 that the latest move in Malaysia follows Taiwanese supply chain expansion and focuses on ICT and cloud network demands from local Taiwanese businesses and multinational corporations.

AMD and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) are expanding their long-standing partnership with a new plan to deliver open, rack-scale infrastructure for the AI era. HPE becomes one of the first adopters of AMD's "Helios" architecture, a full-stack, Ethernet-based platform built to streamline and accelerate the deployment of large AI clusters.

Eleven companies from Japan and the US, including Toyota Tsusho, Sumitomo Chemical, Ricoh, and Costco Wholesale, have filed lawsuits demanding refunds for reciprocal tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. These legal actions were brought before the US Court of International Trade, which handles trade-related disputes.

US cloud infrastructure provider Vultr said it plans to build a 50 MW AI computing cluster at its Ohio data centre, using around 24,000 chips powered by AMD's latest AI processors. The project exceeds US$1 billion and is slated to launch in the first quarter of 2026, targeting lower-cost, large-scale AI training and inference.

The Kyoto Humanoid Association (KyoHA), a coalition initiated by Waseda University and Murata Manufacturing Co., has welcomed several new members, including Renesas Electronics, in its effort to mass-produce fully Japanese-made humanoid robots by 2027. The alliance now comprises 13 Japanese electronic components and semiconductor manufacturers aiming to strengthen Japan's presence in the humanoid robot market.

Optical communication filter maker East Tender Optoelectronics Corp. (EOC) completed a board restructuring in March 2025, positioning itself to capture booming opportunities in AI, semiconductors, high-speed computing, satellite communications, and advanced packaging. The company is shifting from its traditional optical filter business toward integrated solutions spanning optics, networking, AI, lasers, and semiconductor materials, aiming to transform from a component supplier into an integrated optoelectronic solution provider.

Tencent has officially inaugurated its Kuala Lumpur office, underscoring its growing commitment to Malaysia's digital market and talent pool, according to reports from The Edge Malaysia and Bernama. The new facility is expected to house around 500 employees and aims to establish Kuala Lumpur as one of Tencent's key global hubs.

OpenAI has declared a "code red" status, concentrating efforts on improving ChatGPT and delaying other initiatives such as advertising, according to Reuters, citing The Information. CEO Sam Altman instructed employees in an internal memo to prioritize optimizing the AI chatbot.