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Thursday 10 September 2026
Korea puts KRW250 billion behind free national AI service as frontier-model fund takes shape
South Korea's science ministry has budgeted KRW250 billion (US$184.6 million) for 2027 to run "AI for all," a state-funded program that aims to give every citizen free access to chatbots and AI agents built at least 50% on domestic AI models—a spending commitment that turns Seoul's sovereign-AI ambitions into a dedicated budget commitment and arrives alongside a far larger KRW4.7 trillion initiative to build a homegrown frontier model.
Thursday 10 September 2026
China gets an early shot at the next SiC power-chip cycle

Alkaidsemi (Shanghai) Technologies Corporation has introduced a 1,200 V silicon carbide superjunction MOSFET that it describes as the world's first SiC superjunction MOSFET product. Project leader Hao Yue said it is among the first globally to complete product validation, positioning the company for emerging demand from AI server power supplies and high-voltage direct-current data center architectures.

Thursday 10 September 2026
Beyond the stage, can XPeng's EV playbook scale humanoid robots?
As humanoid robotics glides — in its own distinctive glamour — toward becoming one of the most visible manifestations of physical AI, the once-unimaginable idea of where humanoid capabilities might fit into the social world has begun to take on a much clearer definition.
Thursday 10 September 2026
Samsung trims foundry partner network as remaining DSPs gain momentum
Samsung Electronics has reduced its foundry Design Solution Partner (DSP) network to 11 companies from 13, as the chipmaker shifts toward greater emphasis on partners that can secure fabless customers, advance design projects, and help convert them into foundry orders.
Thursday 10 September 2026
Cheap, energy-dense, difficult to tame: LG Energy Solution pushes LMR closer to EVs
The appeal of lithium-manganese-rich (LMR) batteries has long rested on a difficult proposition: delivering relatively high energy density without carrying the same material costs associated with cobalt-heavy battery chemistries.
Thursday 10 September 2026
CXMT's HBM3 yield reportedly stalls at 25% as TSV and stacking challenges expose China's AI memory gap

China's leading DRAM maker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) has begun trial production of HBM3, but its initial yield has reportedly remained around 25%, highlighting the difficulty of translating its progress in conventional DRAM into high-performance AI memory.

Thursday 10 September 2026
Loongson raises funds to expand CPU and GPU development as AI inference boosts domestic chip plans
Chinese CPU maker Loongson recently announced a CNY2.3 billion (approx. US$342.7 million) capital increase, with the funds mainly going into information technology chips and core CPU and GPU technologies. More than CNY1.4 billion is allocated to CPU-related projects, making it the largest investment area in the fundraising plan.
Thursday 10 September 2026
Apple's 100-part iPhone Duo hinge puts spotlight on Chinese suppliers
Apple's first foldable iPhone is putting Chinese precision-component makers under closer scrutiny as its complex hinge creates new opportunities in structural parts, metal injection molding and other high-value components.
Thursday 10 September 2026
Analysis: China chases EUV as chipmakers move to High-NA
The extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography race is splitting into two tracks. Intel has moved High-NA EUV into production, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are targeting DRAM production in 2028, and TSMC plans to introduce the technology into advanced-node high-volume manufacturing in 2030.
Thursday 10 September 2026
Sumitomo, Sakana AI reportedly team up to expand Japan-made AI
Sumitomo and its IT subsidiary SCSK are partnering with Japanese AI startup Sakana AI to expand the use of domestically developed AI among Japanese companies, leveraging Sumitomo's broad customer base to reach businesses of various sizes.
Thursday 10 September 2026
Arm launches second-generation CSS, targets China's AI smartphone market with C2 CPU
Arm unveiled its second-generation mobile Compute Subsystem (CSS), Arm CSS for Mobile 2, at its annual Arm Everywhere China event in Shanghai on September 8, further integrating AI computing capabilities across the CPU, GPU, and system interconnect while strengthening its presence in the Chinese market.
Thursday 10 September 2026
Hiwin supply deal with Semes points to deeper access in South Korea's memory equipment market
Hiwin Technologies has signed a supply contract with Semes, Samsung Electronics' semiconductor equipment arm, for a single-axis positioning stage being tested in hybrid bonding equipment, signaling a potential opening in South Korea's advanced packaging supply chain. The deal complements Hiwin's push to broaden its co-packaged optics (CPO) business and move into higher-value semiconductor equipment components.
Thursday 10 September 2026
Three open source foundations share one stage in Shanghai
As AI applications move from the lab to large-scale deployment, China's open source ecosystem is increasingly focused on how to connect once-siloed technology layers to improve computing costs and operating efficiency. The KubeCon + CloudNativeCon + OpenInfra Summit + PyTorch Conference China 2026 opened in Shanghai on September 6, marking the first joint appearance of CNCF, OpenInfra, and PyTorch have converged at a single event, with discussions centered on AI infrastructure, AI agent trends, and the Model Context Protocol (MCP).
Wednesday 9 September 2026
Samsung, LG secure roles as key suppliers for Apple's foldable iPhone

Apple's expected first foldable iPhone is set to channel a significant share of its component value to South Korean suppliers, with Samsung Display (SDC), LG Innotek, Samsung Electro-Mechanics (Semco), Samsung Electronics, and SK Hynix securing positions across displays, cameras, substrates, passive components, and memory.

Wednesday 9 September 2026
Huaqin signs Nanchang projects as robotics push widens
Huaqin Technology has signed two new projects in Nanchang High-tech Zone, expanding the smart-hardware ODM group's local manufacturing base into embodied-AI robotics and data collection, according to Hongguan News reporting on Sina Finance.