The 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium opened in Taipei on November 17, with experts highlighting that Taiwan's future economic growth faces challenges from extreme climate events, geopolitical conflicts, US tariff uncertainties, and constraints on critical material supplies. Among these, extreme drought poses the most severe threat to Taiwan's industries, especially the water-intensive semiconductor sector.

After resigning as CEO of Intel in December 2024, Pat Gelsinger has maintained an active presence in the global AI and semiconductor industries. In March 2025, he joined Silicon Valley venture firm Playground Global as a partner and took on the role of executive chairman at US-based tech platform Gloo, which connects religious faith ecosystems.

In recent years, Taiwan's automotive component makers have aggressively expanded into adjacent high-growth sectors, including thermal modules for AI servers and parts for semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Their diversification strategies are beginning to crystallize.

The stark contrast between cloud AI and edge AI markets has led chipmakers to respond very differently when assessing AI opportunities. While semiconductor companies in Europe and the US generally remain optimistic about edge AI's growth, Taiwanese IC design houses take a more pragmatic view.

Taiwan's solar industry is facing a severe setback due to amendments to three key laws: the Environmental Impact Assessment Act, the Act for the Development of Tourism, and the Geology Act. Large-scale solar projects will be comprehensively impacted, possibly causing green energy supply to stall and forcing Taiwan's semiconductor sector, critical to national security, into unprecedented strategic dilemmas under RE100 commitments.

Taiwan's minimally invasive surgical device maker Lagis Enterprise has completed its second factory, three times the size of its original facility. Chairman Cheng-hung Chen said the plant has completed setup and is undergoing GMP certification, with production slated to begin by late November. The expanded capacity is expected to be a key growth driver in 2026.

Silicon Valley venture capital firm Playground Global visited Taiwan on November 18, 2025, led by partner and former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, bringing seven portfolio companies to announce multiple technological breakthroughs and strategic collaborations. Spanning power management, optical communications, interconnects, and lithography technologies, these developments highlight how Taiwan's ecosystem transforms cutting-edge innovations into global-scale production, reinforcing Taiwan's role as a key accelerator for next-generation computing.

Samsung Electronics has created its first standalone mergers and acquisitions team within its newly reorganized Business Support Office, a move sparking speculation that the company is preparing for large transactions as it enters 2025.

Electric power equates to national strength. This principle now drives geopolitical dynamics as the global energy transition evolves into a silent market strategy battle.

Huawei will unveil a new unified AI compute-management technology on November 21 at the "2025 AI Container Application Implementation and Development Forum," a move widely viewed as an effort to speed up its software-layer catch-up with Nvidia in the global compute race.

Amid accelerating consolidation in the global artificial intelligence of things (AIoT), smart manufacturing, and industrial control markets, the supply value chain is shifting from pure hardware manufacturing to integrated hardware-software solutions and comprehensive service offerings. Ennoconn chairman Fu-chuan Chu stated during the company's earnings call on November 14, 2025, that with the global localization of supply chains, and as the company's internal organization, products, and technologies are successfully restructured and its overseas deployments gradually take shape, the company expects operations in 2026 will be significantly stronger and show a higher growth trajectory compared to 2025.

The head of Tesla's artificial-intelligence division recently warned employees that 2026 will be the most demanding year of their lives, urging the AI organization to brace for an unprecedented pace of work, according to Business Insider.

India has approved a second tranche of 17 projects under the Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS), authorizing investments worth INR71.72 billion (US$810 million) and projected production of INR651.11 billion. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said the new approvals are expected to create 11,808 direct jobs and further expand domestic component manufacturing capacity. This follows an earlier set of seven applications worth INR55.32 billion cleared in the previous phase.

Amid escalating China-US trade frictions and disrupted global supply chains, Taiwan is advancing efforts to strengthen its domestic production of critical materials like rare earth elements and neon gas; these are essential for high-tech industries, including semiconductors and defense.

IP provider Ceva held its Technology Symposium this week in Hsinchu, showcasing multiple edge AI technology solutions co-developed with partner IC design houses. Ceva chief strategy officer Iri Trashanski stated that the future potential of the edge AI market is enormous.

Shuang Bang anticipates demand for its three main product lines to rebound in 2026 amid easing US reciprocal tariffs and depleted brand inventories, with a cautiously optimistic view on overall performance. The company foresees a sales recovery during the peak season in the first half of 2026, President Hsu Yu-Chuan said.

Korean startup Jably detailed its AI-driven recruitment and visa-management platform, K-tag, during the 2025 Pangyo Global Media Meet-Up, positioning the service as a data-centric solution to rising global talent demand in Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. The platform, launched in September 2024, generated US$770,000 in revenue within its first four months.

As Taiwan officially enters the era of a super-aged society, the nation's healthcare industry is turning to smart technology to address the growing needs of its elderly population. In a move that blends medicine with next-generation display and sensing technologies, AUO Corporation and Darwin Precisions Corporation have partnered with Tungs' Taichung MetroHarbor Hospital to develop an immersive rehabilitation system that combines Micro LED transparent displays with 3D AI motion-sensing technology.

Nvidia is preparing a major shift in how it manages the supply chain for its next-generation Vera Rubin server platform, tightening control over both assembly and key thermal components as power consumption rises and liquid cooling becomes mandatory.

Alibaba has been accused by the US government of providing data and technical support to China's military, posing a threat to American national security. Both Alibaba and the Chinese Embassy in Washington have strongly denied these allegations, criticizing the US for lacking evidence.

According to Reuters, South Korean companies, led by tech giant Samsung Electronics, are voicing significant concern over Vietnam's proposed reforms to high-tech investment incentives, warning the changes could inflate costs and deter future foreign investment.

Kaynes Semiconductor is looking to expand into IC backend businesses as Kaynes Technologies' EMS business faces uncertainties due to US tariffs.

Qisda chairman Peter Chen said the company's third-quarter 2025 performance was weaker than previous years' seasonal peaks, mainly due to currency fluctuations and tariffs. He noted that US demand has been clearly soft since the third quarter of 2025. He expects the fourth quarter to remain flat amid lackluster promotional events for Thanksgiving, Singles' Day, and Christmas.