SK Hynix is recruiting engineers in San Jose to co-design 3D stacked DRAM-on-logic with US customers, extending its custom memory strategy beyond high-bandwidth memory and toward on-device AI applications.
Germany's Merck KGaA, TRUMPF and ZEISS are deepening their ties with South Korea's semiconductor industry amid large-scale investment in advanced chip production.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics disclosed on July 23 that it signed a KRW295.12 billion (US$200 million) supply contract with a major global company for multilayer ceramic capacitors used in artificial intelligence servers and data center systems.
Washington is opening a new front in its technology contest with China, moving beyond chips and artificial intelligence models to target humanoid robots and other autonomous systems over national security and data privacy concerns.
Surging AI server demand is reshaping supply and demand across the global memory market. With DRAM prices rising sharply over the past year, the resulting cost pressure is beginning to spill into the automotive industry.
China's 12-inch silicon wafer maker Xi'an Eswin Material Technology said monthly output and sales of its 12-inch electronic-grade silicon wafers have both exceeded 1 million units, marking a further increase in its mass-production scale.
Realme has stopped producing smartphones for China and will launch no new models there, ending its domestic expansion as parent company Oppo consolidates overlapping brands and redirects resources overseas.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's whirlwind visit to Japan in mid-July extended well beyond product announcements and public appearances. Alongside a joint event with gaming giant Sega Corporation, Huang used the trip to promote what he has repeatedly described as Nvidia's next major AI frontier—physical AI—sparking renewed discussion across Japan's industrial sector about the country's role in the emerging technology.
AI-driven memory demand is raising smartphone and PC costs, weakening mass-market sales and widening the gap between premium brands and manufacturers reliant on lower-priced devices.
Mitsubishi Electric is seeking an agreement with Toshiba and ROHM by September on combining semiconductor operations centered on power devices, as the three Japanese suppliers negotiate product scope and corporate control while seeking government support.
Samsung Electronics has created a robotics business unit reporting directly to its chief executive, bringing strategy, technology development, data collection and factory deployment into a more integrated structure as the company moves humanoid robots closer to commercialization.
South Korean president Jae-Myung Lee will launch an economic diplomacy tour centered on AI, advanced industries, and supply chain cooperation, including planned meetings with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and other global tech leaders to discuss AI partnerships. Samsung Electronics, SK Group, Hyundai Motor Group, and Naver executives will also join the trip in force.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government has approved a sweeping economic strategy that relaxes long-standing fiscal constraints to fund JPY370 trillion (approx. US$2.3 trillion) in public and private investments across artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and other strategic industries through fiscal 2040.
