JPP Holding's Thai operating arm, Jinpao Precision Industry, joined Praksa subdistrict authorities in Samut Prakan Province, Thailand, on October 31 to hold the finals of the Jinpao–Praksa automation and robotics innovation competition, strengthening its efforts to develop AI and smart-manufacturing talent locally. Chairman Chung Kuo-sung said corporate philanthropy should involve long-term engagement with local communities rather than one-time donations.

Murata Manufacturing announced plans to invest around JPY1 trillion (US$6.3 billion) in expanding multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) capacity by 2030. Booming demand from data centers and AI applications has pushed up orders for MLCC makers. MLCCs are a crucial component in managing power demand.

Tong Hsing Electronic Industries (THEIL) outlined the latest developments and market trends across its four major product lines of optical communications, ceramic substrates, new semiconductor materials, and image sensors, during an earnings call on October 30.

As AI data centers expand, Taiwan is facing challenges in securing power supply, battery backup, and cooling systems, with the state-run Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) requiring about two years to build dedicated 161 kV high-voltage lines. The island's limited land and growing industrial and population demand in northern Taiwan are raising concerns over whether electricity availability will keep pace with the expansion of AI computing capacity.

South Korean energy and engineering companies are positioning themselves for the emerging small modular reactor (SMR) market, with SK Innovation (SKI) seeking to build expertise through US demonstration and early commercial projects before pursuing domestic deployment, while Samsung C&T is focusing on modular construction to shorten project timelines, reduce costs, and accelerate commercialization.

Chinese AI chipmaker Iluvatar CoreX has released benchmarks showing its next-generation Tiangai 300 general-purpose GPU outperforming Nvidia's H200 in selected large language model (LLM) inference, long-context processing and multimodal generation workloads.

Foxconn is expanding its AI capabilities into clinical workflows, medical robotics and healthcare manufacturing, working with hospitals, equipment makers and technology partners to build an integrated smart healthcare ecosystem. Its strategy follows an ecosystem-to-clinical deployment framework spanning products, edge-cloud computing and software-hardware integration, reflecting Nvidia's five-layer AI architecture.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly expanding global semiconductor demand, prompting Taiwan and South Korea to shift from straightforward competition toward cooperation as the AI chip supply chain grows more complex. Colley Hwang, chairman and CEO of DIGITIMES, said Taiwan's semiconductor success stems not only from TSMC, but also from an ecosystem built on specialization, industrial clusters, talent, and capital markets.

As AI PC configurations reach new technological heights amid a broader push toward higher-spec machines, the market is moving steadily toward wider adoption of AI-capable hardware.

Lite-On Technology will continue increasing capital expenditure in 2027 as cloud service providers (CSPs) pour money into the artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure race, president Anson Chiu said. He warned that CSPs that stop investing to secure market share will pay an even higher price for falling behind in the irreversible AI era.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman met with executives from Samsung Group and SK Group during a brief visit to South Korea on October 31, as tightening memory supplies and growing commitments to major AI customers raise the stakes for the company's semiconductor and data center partnerships.

As AI and large-scale data center buildouts drive up data transmission speeds, heat is becoming increasingly concentrated in key components. This has drawn attention to ceramic substrates and higher-performance aluminum nitride (AlN) substrates for use in optical communications and advanced packaging. Supply chain sources say, however, that metal adhesion remains a major engineering challenge, one that industry participants are reluctant to discuss publicly.

Nvidia will invest US$1 billion (KRW1.34 trillion) in South Korean internet company Naver, acquiring an approximately 4.54% stake and surpassing Naver founder and board chairman Hae-jin Lee to become its third-largest shareholder.

South Korean AI chip startup FuriosaAI has raised US$620 million in its latest funding round, quadrupling its valuation from the previous round to US$2.9 billion and strengthening its challenge to Nvidia.

Apple is preparing to charge for heavier use of certain Apple Intelligence features from 2027, introducing usage caps for cloud-based AI services that could become part of its existing iCloud+ subscriptions. The plan, outlined on Apple's website alongside two consecutive months of product launches in 2026, adds another consideration for consumers already facing hardware upgrades and higher prices.

Iluvatar CoreX has reported benchmark results showing its Tiangai 300 AI accelerator outperforming Nvidia's H200 on selected metrics, drawing renewed attention to China's progress in developing domestic alternatives to high-end GPUs. Yet the broader competition extends beyond raw processing power, as Chinese chipmakers seek to narrow the gap with leading international AI computing platforms through chip design, software optimisation and system integration.

The Canadian government plans to invest up to CAD1.6 billion (about US$1.14 billion) in domestic AI startup Cohere, becoming a major investor in the company's latest funding round as Canada seeks to reduce its reliance on the US and China for critical AI technologies.

Foxconn chairman Young Liu said at a media briefing following Hon Hai Tech Day (HHTD 26) on October 30 that the long-term AI industry trend remains intact, but the overall market will develop in a K-shaped pattern in 2027, with AI data center-related industries on the upswing and other sectors moving in the opposite direction. Foxconn expects to continue growing at a double-digit rate next year.

This week’s coverage highlights intensifying competition and capacity constraints across the global semiconductor industry. Taiwan faces debate over whether public R&D funding should prioritize universities and talent development. Micron workers receive unusually large bonuses amid unresolved labor negotiations. India is expanding state-level semiconductor incentives, while KLA reportedly considers local manufacturing. Memory shortages may persist through 2030, and SK Hynix is investing beyond memory. Server CPU demand is projected to surge, with AMD potentially surpassing Intel in revenue.

Lite-On Technology reported record net profit for the third quarter of 2026 as demand for AI infrastructure boosted its cloud and power businesses. The Taiwanese electronics supplier posted consolidated revenue of NT$57.4 billion (US$1.8 billion), up 9% quarter-over-quarter and 28% year-over-year, while executives said AI-related revenue had exceeded 30% of the company's year-to-date total.

Nvidia's robotics partnerships in South Korea are moving beyond initial agreements, with LG Electronics beginning partial operations at its robot-training Data Factory and LG Innotek expanding cooperation on sensing technologies. Hyundai Motor Group, another Nvidia partner, has also outlined new steps toward building AI infrastructure for robotics and autonomous driving.

South Korean companies showcased humanoid robot components, dual-arm machines, and autonomous driving systems at FIX 2026 in Daegu, offering a look at how developers are bringing automation into factories and transportation. The technologies ranged from robotic hardware under development for manufacturing applications to an autonomous taxi service already carrying paying passengers.

As part of its efforts to harness AI for tangible benefits, Foxconn is integrating AI models, computing infrastructure, factory management, and automation equipment to build a model for smart manufacturing that can be replicated across sites. The company has already achieved initial results in applying AI to injection molding, computer numerical control (CNC) machining, surface-mount technology (SMT) processes, and production scheduling, with further plans to use digital twins and physical AI in process optimization, factory design, and automated system deployment.

High-profile breaches caused by AI agents from frontier labs are leading to public alarm over what AI means for the future of cybersecurity. However, Taivo Pungas, chief intelligence officer of agentic procurement platform Pactum, said that AI development is becoming a cybersecurity boon and could even be a boost for software as a service (SaaS) products.