According to several people familiar with the matter, Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL), the world's largest maker of electric-vehicle (EV) batteries, is in talks to participate in a major financing round for the Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek. The prospective investment highlights how China's AI boom is forging new alliances among technology firms, industrial companies, and energy providers, all competing to build the infrastructure required for the next generation of computing.
The shift toward 800V high-voltage direct current (HVDC) power architectures in AI data centers is driving a surge in demand for power semiconductors, boosting shipments for Taiwanese lead frame suppliers SDI Corporation and Jih Lin Technology and raising expectations for double-digit revenue growth in 2026.
Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has permanently reduced the API pricing of its flagship DeepSeek-V4-Pro model to one-quarter of its original rates, escalating competition in the global AI model market.
Syntec Technology reported record quarterly revenue and profit for the first quarter of 2026, as demand for high-end control systems and robotics applications rose with manufacturers' push toward AI-enabled automation.
