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Friday 31 July 2026
Analysis: The AI buildout stopped being a demand story

For three years the constraint on artificial intelligence was how much compute the hyperscalers wanted to buy. The June-quarter filings of seven companies say the constraint has moved. It is now about who sets the price — and on that question the past five quarters have already taught a lesson from which most readers drew the wrong conclusion.

Friday 31 July 2026
Delta Electronics eyes HVDC shipments in 4Q26, scale-up in 2027

Delta Electronics expects capital spending to rise to roughly NT$70 billion(US$2.17 billion) in 2026 from NT$46.1 billion(US$1.43 billion) in 2025, driven by growing demand from AI data centers and energy infrastructure projects.

Friday 31 July 2026
Amazon's Zoox receives US approval for commercial deployment of robotaxis

US transportation authorities have allowed Amazon's Zoox to operate commercially on a limited basis, making it the first paid robotaxi service approved in the country. This follows efforts by Trump administration officials to relax certain rules in an effort to encourage development in autonomous driving technology.

Friday 31 July 2026
AWS backlog reaches US$496 billion; Amazon to double power capacity by end-2027

Amazon disclosed a US$496 billion AWS backlog growing at triple-digit rates in the second quarter, and CEO Andy Jassy used the call to lay out unusually specific unit economics defending the capital behind it.

Friday 31 July 2026
LG Electronics' strong 2Q26 underscores push into robotics and AI infrastructure

LG Electronics reported a strong second quarter, supported by record sales and one-time gains, while accelerating a shift toward robotics and artificial intelligence infrastructure. The company is increasingly framing its future around physical AI, even as it continues to rely on premium appliances, televisions, and vehicle electronics to support near-term earnings.

Friday 31 July 2026
AI server boom reshapes MLCC pricing as capacity shifts upmarket

The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure is reshaping one of the semiconductor industry's most overlooked component markets. Soaring demand for high-end multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) is prompting suppliers to reallocate production capacity and driving a new round of price increases that extend beyond AI-specific products.

Friday 31 July 2026
Delta Electronics raises 2026 capex to NT$70B, sees AI-related sales topping 25% of total

Delta Electronics expects capital spending to rise to roughly NT$70 billion in 2026 from NT$46.1 billion in 2025, driven by growing demand from AI data centers and energy infrastructure projects.

Friday 31 July 2026
Amazon's accelerating cloud growth reinforces AI investment case despite heavier spending outlook
Amazon reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter results as accelerating growth at its cloud computing business underscored rising demand for artificial intelligence services. While the company lifted its capex forecast and projected third-quarter revenue slightly below market expectations, management said expanding infrastructure remains necessary to address sustained AI demand.
Friday 31 July 2026
WAIC 2026 unveils AIDV shift as physical AI gains ground
DIGITIMES Intelligence said its observations at the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) show the automotive industry's transformation moving from software-defined vehicles (SDV) toward AI-defined vehicles (AIDV). This shows that physical AI is becoming the key driver of change as carmakers shift from adding functions to building full AI capabilities.
Friday 31 July 2026
ams OSRAM's Micro LED links trade speed for scale in AI data centres

ams OSRAM is developing Micro LED-based optical data links for AI data centres, positioning the technology as a high-density, scalable alternative to copper interconnects. To support adoption, the company has built a high-precision simulation platform that evaluates Micro LED optical links under real AI workloads.

Thursday 30 July 2026
Microsoft's AI buildout: 88 new data centers, broader model catalog, silicon gains

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella laid out how the company is scaling its AI infrastructure and platform to keep pace with demand. He outlined these plans during an earnings call on July 29, when he also announced record revenue above US$331 billion for fiscal year 2026 (ending on June 30), with Microsoft Cloud earnings surpassing US$214 billion and Azure earnings surpassing US$100 billion.

Thursday 30 July 2026
Microsoft raises AI infrastructure spending outlook as Azure growth tops expectations

Microsoft reported stronger-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter results, driven by accelerating Azure cloud growth and rising adoption of its AI products, reinforcing investor confidence that the company's heavy investments in AI are generating commercial returns. Robust guidance for the current quarter and continued enterprise demand also eased concerns over spending on AI infrastructure.

Thursday 30 July 2026
Arm readies AGI CPU shipments, eyes 3Q stream in fiscal 2028

Arm Holdings is preparing its first self-designed data center CPU, the Arm AGI CPU, for shipments by the end of calendar 2026, and expects silicon sales to become a separately reported revenue category in fiscal 2028. The change would give Arm a third reported revenue line alongside licensing and royalties as it expands from supplying processor designs to selling complete chips.

Thursday 30 July 2026
Meta forecasts higher AI spending as legal costs weigh on profit despite strong revenue growth
Meta Platforms reported strong second-quarter revenue growth driven by its Family of Apps business, but lower profit and a higher spending outlook highlighted the mounting costs of its artificial intelligence (AI) expansion. The company's updated guidance and ongoing legal challenges prompted investor concerns over the pace of returns from its AI investments.
Thursday 30 July 2026
Research Insight: German automakers shift strategy as AI powers next-gen cars

Global automakers are facing slower market growth, the rapid rise of Chinese carmakers, and sustained EV investment, with Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz under strain in recent years. While German automakers still lead the global auto industry, revenue and profitability have come under broad pressure over the past two years as competition shifts from volume growth to product value and operating efficiency.

Thursday 30 July 2026
AMD's Helios gains ground in challenge to Nvidia's CUDA
AI infrastructure competition is intensifying, but the market is no longer focusing only on GPU performance and is instead re-evaluating the entire computing system. For AMD, the chance to turn software improvements into market share is now emerging, but two hurdles remain: whether ROCm can run stably in large clusters and whether Helios can enter mass production and ship on time.
Thursday 30 July 2026
Kinko says Taiwan optics can cut AR glasses weight and cost for mainstream adoption
AR smart glasses are shaping up as the next revolutionary device after PCs, smartphones, and smartwatches, but the global optics supply chain still faces a major hurdle: making them light and slim enough for everyday use. Kinko Optical CTO Kuo-hua Wu, however, said Taiwan's semiconductor and optics technologies are well-positioned to break through as the market matures.
Thursday 30 July 2026
Nvidia invests US$1B in Naver's sovereign AI push
Nvidia plans to invest in South Korean internet and cloud giant Naver through a US$1 billion third-party share issue for about a 4.5% stake, a move that could make it Naver's third-largest shareholder if the deal closes and treasury shares are canceled. The two companies are also teaming up with global investment firm Brookfield on an AI infrastructure plan worth as much as US$10 billion to turn Naver's GAK Sejong data center into the core of South Korea's sovereign AI factory initiative.
Thursday 30 July 2026
Less hardware, smarter AI: how a Taiwan startup is making smart glasses weightless

A Taiwan startup says it has found a way to hide advanced eye-tracking technology inside what looks like an ordinary pair of glasses — using just one camera and a single LED light source.

Wednesday 29 July 2026
Quanta buys AUO Taoyuan factory for NT$19.7B to expand AI server capacity
Quanta has agreed to buy AUO's Taoyuan factory in Guishan Hwa Ya Park for NT$19.7 billion, moving to add server production capacity as its Taiwan lines run at full utilization. The new capacity is expected to enter mass production in the second half of 2027.
Wednesday 29 July 2026
Nvidia's Jensen Huang warns US officials about banning Chinese open-weight models

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang once again voiced his support for open-weight and open-source AI, a form of model that has caught official attention in Washington after the release of the powerful Kimi K3 model from Chinese startup Moonshot AI. His comments added another voice to the ongoing debate over closed-source versus open-source approaches as the US considers restrictions on Chinese AI.

Wednesday 29 July 2026
NXP finds new AI data center role beyond GPUs

NXP Semiconductors' physical AI strategy extends beyond vehicles, factories and robots. The same control, connectivity and real-time processing capabilities are also giving the company a larger role in AI data center infrastructure, where it is targeting the systems that manage networking, cooling, security and power around increasingly complex accelerator platforms.

Wednesday 29 July 2026
TDK and LG Innotek form partnership on physical AI sensors
TDK and LG Innotek are joining forces to develop sensors for Physical AI, a move that could shape future robotics and automation products used worldwide. The collaboration combines optical, tactile, and motion technologies, with an early focus on humanoid robots and advanced sensing modules for broader global deployment.
Wednesday 29 July 2026
Compal launches Employee Stock Ownership Trust to boost talent retention
Compal Electronics announced it officially launched its Welfare Employee Stock Ownership Trust (ESOT) plan in July 2026 to deepen its talent strategy amid intensifying global competition for talent and the growing focus on corporate sustainability. The company is partnering with CTBC Bank to establish a mechanism that enables the company and its employees to share in future growth.
Wednesday 29 July 2026
AI shift to inference boosts CPU server demand across the supply chain
The move from AI model training to inference is widening server demand beyond accelerators and easing margin pressure on hardware assemblers. For global readers, the shift signals a broader buildout in data centers, with implications for cloud costs, server makers, chip suppliers, and enterprise AI deployment worldwide.