China's State Council has released a revised version of the regulations on the protection of IC layout designs, set to take effect on October 15, 2026. It is the first full overhaul since the rules were issued in 2001, adding protection for photonic and quantum IC designs, increasing punitive damages for intentional infringement, and improving systems for layout design registration, licensing, and rights enforcement.

The United Arab Emirates is considering investing as much as JPY1 trillion (approx. US$6.3 billion) in a 500MW artificial intelligence data center in Akita Prefecture, according to Bloomberg. Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment is expected to lead the investment in a project that could become Japan's largest data center.

Solidigm, SK Hynix's US NAND and enterprise storage unit, is weighing a pre-IPO funding round of KRW5 trillion to KRW10 trillion, roughly US$3.5 billion to US$7 billion, ahead of a potential Nasdaq listing, a move that could establish a standalone valuation for the business as enterprise storage demand strengthens.

A South Korea-backed draft standard for software-defined vehicles (SDVs) has cleared a key milestone at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), giving automakers and suppliers a common technical reference as the industry shifts toward software-centric vehicle architectures.