Google is reportedly developing a new chip that embeds information from its Gemini AI models directly onto the silicon to boost efficiency. If the anticipated performance gains materialize, this new design would mark a deeper integration of the tech giant's hardware and AI capabilities.

Moonshot AI's open-source large language model (LLM) Kimi K3 has surged in popularity after its launch, drawing attention across multiple model benchmarks and forcing the company to suspend new member subscriptions after a rapid influx of users strained computing capacity. A review of CEO Zhilin Yang's March 2026 technical talk at Nvidia GTC in San Jose, California, shows K3 was not an overnight hit, but the result of months of work on model architecture and training techniques.

Chinese AI developer Z.ai has completed a giant data center running exclusively on domestically made chips, a milestone in Beijing's drive to replace restricted Nvidia silicon for future AI development.

As the AI boom keeps memory shortages running hot, steep price hikes for smartphones in the second half of 2026 are coming into view. Global market researchers have issued increasingly bleak forecasts, warning that "chipflation" could last through 2027 and that surging memory prices are already lifting the cost of consumer devices.

At the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, held July 17-20 across "three districts and four venues" with more than 1,100 exhibitors, one phrase recurred across vendor booths and keynotes: the "token factory".

TSMC has announced an additional US$100 billion investment in the US on top of its existing US$165 billion commitment, expanding its Arizona footprint to 12 fabs and one R&D center. While the market has focused on the size of the spending, investors are more concerned that overseas expansion could squeeze profitability.

China's AI hardware race is shifting from individual accelerators to supernodes, optical interconnects, advanced packaging and cloud-scale systems.

Microsoft has expanded its strategic partnership with AMD, announcing plans to deploy the company's upcoming Helios rack-scale AI system across Azure, a move that comes just days before AMD is expected to unveil its next-generation AI products at its Advancing AI 2026 event, which begins on July 22.

As AI server products accelerate their generational shift and demand higher-frequency, higher-speed transmission, the upgrade cycle for copper-clad laminate (CCL) materials in the PCB upstream supply chain has become firmly established. M7 and M8 specs are now mainstream, while M9 and M10 materials remain in the testing and validation stage, with mass production expected in 2027 or 2028.

Singapore is Southeast Asia's AI frontrunner. It has also become a proving ground for competing Eastern and Western AI business models. As a global technology and financial hub, the city-state is one of the first battlegrounds where leading US and Chinese AI companies are building their regional presence.

TSMC's sustained capital spending highlights the two foundations of its competitive strength: technology leadership and manufacturing excellence. The latter remains a core advantage not only for TSMC but also for the broader semiconductor ecosystem built around its production model.

China's smartphone industry is turning agentic AI into its next growth narrative, with ZTE's Nubia, StepFun and Honor presenting sharply different visions of how phones should plan tasks, coordinate apps and process personal data.

Oracle's US$165 billion data center project in New Mexico is running into higher-than-expected costs due to local concerns about its energy requirements. This case is one of several showing how the build-out of AI infrastructure in the US has become a politically charged issue at the local level due to worries over electricity needs and other issues.

Samsung Electronics is cutting over 800 jobs in the US from its smartphone, display, and consumer electronics business units. The division, part of Samsung Group, is facing a challenging market this year, in contrast to the soaring performance of its chip unit.

Apple has filed a sharp antitrust-style complaint against OpenAI, turning a once-celebrated AI partnership into a legal clash over strategy, supply chains, and future hardware control. Behind the lawsuit lies a broader contest over who will shape the next wave of AI devices, and whether the Trump administration's "America First" agenda can help both sides find common ground.