Whether it's speech and object recognition, image classification, predictive maintenance, or autonomous control, Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications require powerful electronic systems. It is only modern semiconductors and sensors, scalable embedded systems, and efficient connectivity that enable AI solutions in industry, mobility, energy, and medicine in the first place. At the same time, as the use of AI grows, so do the demands on computing power, energy efficiency, and cyber resilience. The electronics industry will show which technologies are driving this development at electronica in Munich from November 10 to 13.The electronics industry provides the technological basis for the All Electric Society and enables intelligent applications in energy supply, mobility, industrial automation, and buildings. "Artificial Intelligence places whole new demands on electronic systems. What's needed are powerful, energy-efficient, and secure solutions in which hardware, software, and connectivity work together seamlessly," says Caroline Pannier, Exhibition Director for electronica. "It's precisely these developments that are the focus of electronica." AI as an accelerator and stress test for the economy and infrastructure.？AI as an accelerator and stress test for the economy and infrastructureTo remain innovative and competitive, companies today must integrate AI into their products, services, and processes. According to the German Economic Institute, 66.3 percent of large companies are already using AI, while about half of medium-sized companies are doing so. Small businesses have the most ground to make up: Only 35.6 percent use AI in their operations.At the same time, AI is opening up entirely new possibilities: machines and vehicles are becoming smarter, energy grids more efficient, medical diagnoses more accurate, and devices more autonomous. However, as the use of AI grows, so do the energy needs and cybersecurity requirements.Energy efficiency and cyber resilience as key criteriaDue to the increased use of AI, modern electronic systems must provide high computing power, use energy sparingly, and operate reliably under thermal conditions. At the same time, the attack surface for cyber risks grows as systems that exchange large amounts of data become increasingly connected, and software updates are released regularly.As a result, energy efficiency and cyber resilience are evolving from individual, isolated requirements into core system criteria. In addition, the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA) increases the pressure on companies to take action. Approaches such as "security by design" must therefore be incorporated as early as the architecture phase and integrated across hardware, software, interfaces, updates, and operating concepts.Hardware, software, and the application layer are convergingThe development of modern electronics is increasingly shifting from optimizing individual components to integrated, complete systems. What matters is no longer just the performance of an individual processor, sensor, or module, but rather the interaction between hardware and software, the operating system, connectivity, security, and the application layer. Customers expect products that can be quickly integrated, easily scaled, and updated throughout their lifecycle. This places greater demands on system design, software quality, and lifecycle management. At the same time, that opens up opportunities for the electronics industry to tap into new markets and make itself competitive for the future.electronica as a platform for AI, cyber resilience, and energy efficiencyAs the world's leading trade fair for electronics, electronica brings together key players that cover the entire spectrum of the industry. Around 3,500 exhibitors from some 60 countries will show how individual components are transformed into integrated, intelligent, and secure complete systems. The focus will be on the key topics of Artificial Intelligence, energy efficiency, and cyber resilience. An extensive supporting program will provide for further discussion and knowledge sharing. SEMICON Europe, taking place in parallel across two and a half halls, will offer insights into the entire semiconductor industry value chain.

？Connected and digitized vehicles, machines, and energy systems place new demands on electronics. From now on, electronics must not only deliver high-performance but also detect cyberattacks, contain disruptions, and enable secure updates. Cyber resilience is therefore becoming a key factor for trust, availability, and market success. electronica 2026, taking place in Munich from November 10 to 13, will showcase the technologies that are essential for this.？Industrial systems, vehicles, and energy systems are increasingly evolving into networked electronic systems that are controlled, updated, and secured via software. Security mechanisms can therefore no longer be added as an afterthought but must instead be integrated right from the start into the system design, particularly for interfaces, updates, and software-defined functions.？At the same time, customers, regulators and operators expect solid proof of the security and updatability of electronic systems. "As the world's leading electronics trade fair, electronica 2026 in Munich brings together key players from across the entire value chain. In doing so, it creates a framework for addressing cybersecurity not in isolation, but as a shared architectural challenge for the electronics industry", explains Caroline Pannier, Exhibition Director of electronica.？Studies show growing pressure to act？Recent studies show how important an issue this is. The ENISA Threat Landscape 2025 report, for example, identifies attacks on public administration and the transport sector as the most common targets of cyberattacks, with phishing being the most frequently used method. In many cases, hackers target companies' operational technology (OT).？However, according to a PwC study, only about 15 percent of German companies have so far invested specifically in proactive security and resilience measures. The vast majority remain reactive: Investments are only made after incidents occur or as part of regular updates, without a systematic transformation concept for prevention.？Increasing regulation of cybersecurity？To encourage companies to take action and integrate security into products from the outset, the European Union has enacted the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA). It specifically regulates products that companies place on the European market. Among other things, it requires that products with digital components remain secure throughout their expected service life and address vulnerabilities throughout their lifecycle. It covers a wide range of electronic products, not just internet-enabled devices, but essentially all products with a direct or indirect logical or physical connection to a device or network.？Effectively countering cyberattacks？As a result, the CRA makes security a key development requirement. At the same time, AI-based systems give rise to new risks: data poisoning, model poisoning, and adversarial attacks can manipulate AI models and lead to incorrect decisions. Developers are responding to this with "security by design"—that is, with security mechanisms integrated from the outset into the architecture, secure firmware, and verifiable updates.？At the component level, this includes a hardware root of trust, Secure Boot, and Trusted Platform Modules (TPMs). Secure microcontrollers (MCUs) implement security functions directly within the device, ensuring, for example, that only authenticated firmware or signed code is executed during system startup.？Exhibitors showcase relevant technologies？At electronica, numerous exhibitors will present their innovations and solutions for resilient electronics. Infineon, for example, will address the issue of cyber resilience with, among other things, its "Optiga" security solutions for embedded security. In the context of secure, connected devices, Renesas primarily offers its secure "RA" microcontrollers, including isolated cryptographic operations, secure key storage, Arm TrustZone technology, and protection measures against side-channel attacks. Texas Instruments is expanding its product portfolio with its AM263x Sitara MCUs, providing, among other things, Secure Boot, cryptographic keys, and a hardware security module.？electronica as a platform for resilient electronics？The supporting program at electronica will also focus on cyber resilience, for example in the Cyber Security Forum and in a series of presentations and workshops on the Cyber Resilience Act. Industry experts will provide insights into the latest technologies as well as practical approaches and strategies for resilient electronic products. With this framework, electronica 2026 will provide developers, technical decision-makers, and CEOs with concrete guidance on how to make their companies more resilient against cyberattacks.

？Manufacturers are driving energy efficiency in electronics, automation and industrial applications？Energy efficiency is not a new trend in the electronics industry. However, demands are growing, driven by rising electricity prices, regulatory pressure as well as the increasing need for energy-efficient components for systems, power electronics, and IoT devices. From November 10 to 13, 2026, the international electronics industry will gather at electronica to discuss the latest trends in energy efficiency.？The debate over energy efficiency now encompasses the entire electronics value chain. It ranges from semiconductors, power supply and embedded systems to electromechanics and industrial connection technology. The question of how best to achieve energy efficiency is a recurring theme across nearly all application areas, from consumer electronics and automotive electronics to industrial systems and devices.？As the world's leading trade fair and conference for electronics, electronica brings together companies from across the entire value chain to discuss technical challenges and current trends in using energy efficiently. "Energy efficiency is becoming a key requirement for the electronics industry. At electronica, it's clear that efficient products are in demand today in virtually every sector—from electromechanics and automation to connected industrial applications," says Caroline Pannier, Exhibition Director for electronica.？Energy costs are falling thanks to efficient electronicsRecent studies show that energy efficiency is becoming increasingly important across various industries. In the automotive sector, the IEA's Global EV Outlook 2026 shows that electric mobility continues to gain momentum: in 2025, more than 20 million electric cars were sold worldwide, meaning that roughly one in four new cars sold is already electric. As a result of this trend, the demand for energy-efficient electronics is growing—from power electronics and charging infrastructure to battery technology.？A study by Fraunhofer IZM shows that modern technologies are improving energy efficiency. Because of this, the energy requirements of mobile networks will increase only moderately in the coming years despite rising data volumes. Energy efficiency is also becoming a greater focus in other sectors, such as electronics manufacturing. McKinsey concludes that it is possible to reduce energy costs for semiconductor factories by 20 to 30 percent through efficiency measures.？Energy efficiency often stems from the system？For the electronics industry, this means that energy efficiency is becoming a strategic factor both in the product itself and in the manufacturing process. This is particularly evident in the field of electromechanics. This field doesn't just deal with individual components, but also with the way connectors, housings, cable routing and interfaces interact with each other.Low contact resistance, robust connection technology, EMC-compliant design and maintenance-friendly systems reduce losses, enhance operational reliability and simplify maintenance. The focus is therefore increasingly shifting toward the system as a whole, which has to be designed to be energy-efficient in order to conserve energy directly at the source.？electronica provides a platform for efficient electromechanics？electronica covers the entire electronics value chain, which is the reason for the focus on electromechanics. Exhibitors such as Harting, Phoenix Contact and Weidmüller will be showcasing connectors, relays, switches and enclosure technology, among other products. Harting, for example, specializes in industrial connectivity solutions for the transmission of data, signals and power, and focuses on applications in the fields of electric mobility, renewable energy, automation and mechanical engineering.？Phoenix Contact also demonstrates that energy efficiency begins right at the electromechanical level, for example in connectors, terminals, enclosures, power supplies and interface solutions for electrification and automation. Weidmüller's product portfolio includes the likes of terminal blocks, connectors, PCB connectors and other components for the safe transmission of power, signals and data. Meanwhile, the distributor Arrow Electronics, together with its partners, focuses on electromechanical components and high-performance passive components, which are designed to improve energy storage and efficiency and reduce losses in applications such as electric mobility, renewable energy systems and industrial automation.？This clearly demonstrates that any visitors looking for energy efficiency at electronica will find it not only in semiconductors and power electronics, but also in the field of electromechanics.？At electronica 2026, around 3,500 exhibitors from some 60 countries will showcase their latest solutions for the All Electric Society. Topics such as energy efficiency, automation and the circular economy will also be addressed in the supporting program and in the forums, where participants will discuss technological developments, regulatory issues and sustainable concepts for the future.

？"Empowering the All Electric Society" – that is at the heart of electronica 2026, which will open its doors at the Munich Exhibition Center from November 10 to 13. The world's leading trade fair for electronics will once again present the industry's entire spectrum of technologies, products and solutions helping to pave the way for an All Electric Society. In this interview, electronica's new Exhibition Director Caroline Pannier provides an insight into the upcoming trade fair and the results of a long-term analysis of the industry's assessment of the economic situation.？There are still a good nine months to go before electronica 2026, but preparations are already in full swing. What can you already tell us about the upcoming trade fair, which you will be accompanying for the first time as Exhibition Director?？We are delighted that electronica 2026 will once again occupy all 18 halls of the Munich exhibition center, together with SEMICON Europa, taking place at the same time in two and a half halls. That means that electronica once again covers the entire spectrum of the industry, which makes it unique worldwide. To keep track of everything amid this diversity, we have made the hall layout even more coherent and clear. The semiconductor area has also been extended by an entire hall.As far as exhibitor registrations are concerned, we are at the same high level as for the previous event. All the key players are back on board. There will be a very strong European presence, and we are seeing significant growth in part, from France, Italy, Poland and the UK, for example. There's also been a high level of interest from exhibitors from the U.S. and Asia.？What topics will the trade fair focus on in particular?？In discussions with industry representatives, we have identified three overarching key topics that are currently in the spotlight and that all ultimately contribute to the All Electric Society: artificial intelligence, cyber resilience and energy efficiency. We are currently in the process of refining these themes and identifying sub-topics that are particularly relevant to the electronics industry right now from the user's point of view.？What will be new at the trade fair, and what highlights can you already reveal to us?？As you know, we attach great importance to offering a very extensive supporting program that leaves plenty of room for sharing expertise and ideas, and for networking. That's why the electronica stages, for experts to provide practical knowledge in talks on almost all fields of application, will once again be set up in the respective exhibition areas. A new addition, for example, is edge lab LIVE, a special area on edge computing that is very practice-oriented with workshops and lectures. There are also award ceremonies, pitch formats and several career initiatives. The CEO Roundtable with top-class speakers will kick off the event on Monday evening before the trade fair starts. The electronica Automotive Conference, where trends and challenges in the automotive value chain will be discussed, will also be held on Monday.？Messe München recently published a Future Monitor based on exhibitor surveys from the past 13 years. The companies were asked to assess the current and expected future economic situation in their sector. How do electronica exhibitors see the future?？The evaluation of the long-term analysis produced exciting results for our industry. The electronics companies surveyed are remarkably confident about the future and are far more positive about the economic prospects than the current situation. This optimism clearly shows the key role of the electronics industry. With its solutions and innovative strength, it is helping to tackle current social challenges. Our excellent booking situation underscores just how important world-leading trade fairs such as electronica are. They bring the entire world of electronics together in one place and offer a stage for new products, professional exchange and new impetus.？The next electronica takes place from November 10 to 13, 2026.Caroline Pannier is the new Exhibition Director of electronica. Messe München GmbH

？From November 10 to 13, 2026, the international electronics industry will gather at electronica. This year, the world's leading trade fair for electronics will focus, among other topics, on Artificial Intelligence. From Edge AI to AIoT and machine learning—in Munich, a spirit of innovation, key technologies, and industry expertise will come together in one place to showcase, discuss, and further develop the technologies of tomorrow.？Today, Artificial Intelligence (AI) ranges from Edge and Cloud AI to AI-powered quality control in manufacturing and robotics to smart mobility. AI has long become a strategic competitive factor, helping companies make their processes faster, more precise, and more cost-effective. At the same time, however, the demands on data quality, IT security, and integration into processes and products are increasing. The electronics industry is systematically driving the transformation through AI and strengthening its international competitiveness as a result. "This transformation is visible at electronica, which brings together top decision-makers and developers from around the world, and showcases the entire electronics value chain," explains Caroline Pannier, Exhibition Director of electronica.？Semiconductor industry benefits from AI boom？Recent studies confirm the trend that AI is emerging as the key driver of growth and innovation in the industry. The Capgemini study The Semiconductor Industry in the AI Era, for example, shows that the widespread adoption of AI and generative AI is driving up demand for semiconductors. At the same time, downstream industries expect chip demand to rise by 29 percent by the end of 2026. A study by McKinsey also shows that semiconductor segments that produced components for AI applications grew by 21 percent annually from 2019 to 2023, while the industry as a whole achieved growth of just 6 percent.？Edge AI and AIoT are becoming key factors in the electronics industry？The trending topics of Edge AI and AIoT, in other words, the use of Artificial Intelligence directly on devices and in connected systems, are currently particularly relevant for the electronics industry. Both approaches enable data to be processed in real time where it is generated, such as in sensors, controllers, or embedded systems. That reduces latency, takes the load off the cloud, and improves data privacy, energy efficiency, and reliability.？At the same time, AI and robotics are becoming increasingly important in industrial automation, above all in the field of AI-based quality control. Automatic detection of the smallest deviations and defects on components, printed circuit boards, or in production processes helps reduce scrap, speeds up inspection processes, and ensures more stable operation of production lines. Another focus is on AI on microcontrollers: Advances in TinyML and optimized embedded AI models make it possible to provide intelligent AI functions even on hardware with limited resources.？Bringing hardware and software closer together through AI？At electronica 2026, Infineon, STMicroelectronics, and NXP Semiconductors rank among the particularly relevant exhibitors in the AI sector. Infineon is primarily driving the development of Edge AI and IoT solutions for smart, energy-efficient devices. STMicroelectronics combines embedded processing, Edge AI, and mobility-related applications. NXP Semiconductors demonstrates how solutions for automotive, industrial & IoT, and communications infrastructure can be integrated into embedded systems, microcontrollers, and microprocessors. In the automotive sector in particular, the focus is shifting toward the AI-Defined Vehicle (AIDV): a vehicle in which AI not only optimizes individual functions but also increasingly shapes perception, assistance, interaction, and driving behavior. Together, these companies demonstrate that AI is increasingly being integrated directly into sensors, embedded systems, and industrial applications.？This semiconductor environment is complemented by traditional embedded systems providers such as Advantech and Kontron, which are driving the practical application of AI. Advantech explicitly describes its portfolio as the foundation for AIoT solutions—from sensor nodes to embedded PCs, gateways, and IoT cloud platforms. With its expanded portfolio of IoT, and industrial control and communication solutions, Kontron covers the entire spectrum from modules to complete systems, including software. Both companies are thus creating infrastructural conditions needed to operate AI-based solutions in industrial environments in a reliable, connected, and scalable manner.？A platform that brings together embedded computing, edge technologies, and IoT—as well as developers, decision-makers, and system architects—is edge lab LIVE, which is making its debut at electronica this year. It combines the latest embedded technologies with practical applications and allows visitors to interactively experience edge environments.？Knowledge transfer and networking？At electronica 2026, about 3,500 exhibitors from around 60 countries will showcase their cutting-edge applications and solutions that are paving the way to the All Electric Society. Visitors can learn firsthand about all aspects of Edge AI, AIoT, and related topics across 18 halls at the Munich Trade Fair Center. In addition, a top-class supporting program, featuring an Executive Event with CEO roundtable, expert lectures, or networking events, will contribute to knowledge transfer. The numerous forums, such as the IIoT Forum and the Circular Economy Forum, will also encourage open discussion. SEMICON Europe, taking place in parallel across two and a half halls, will offer insights into the entire semiconductor industry value chain. 

Corning's long-running intellectual property (IP) dispute with China-based IRICO has entered a new phase after the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) issued what Corning views as a fair and critical Initial Determination in the company's trade secret case.The ruling marks a critical legal moment in Corning's broader effort to defend its display glass compositions and fusion manufacturing technology against IRICO's unauthorized use of Corning's patented technology, the misappropriation of trade secrets, like engineering drawings, and the deployment of Corning's proprietary technology across its manufacturing lines.For Corning, the dispute is not merely a matter of one product line or one regional market. It is a direct defense of research, process expertise, and IP that underpin its position in high-precision display glass. "This latest decision from the International Trade Commission is clearly affirms our unwavering commitment to innovation," said Brendan Mosher, International Vice President and General Manager, Corning Display Technologies."We believe strong intellectual property protection, fair competition, and trusted partnerships are fundamental to a healthy innovation ecosystem. As a 175-year-old company, Corning is continuously advancing and protecting innovation so our customers across Asia can collaborate with confidence and compete successfully in global markets."April Wins Set the StageThe July 24 outcome follows two important legal wins for Corning in April. On April 7, an Administrative Law Judge at the ITC issued an Initial Determination in a separate glass-composition patent case, finding that IRICO infringed both asserted Corning patents and that the patents are valid.The determination also recommended a Limited Exclusion Order against IRICO, including certification requirements and a prohibition on importing IRICO-manufactured LCD glass substrates that fall within Corning's proprietary composition space, as well as products, such as LCD TVs and monitors, containing such glass.Corning stated that it sought the ruling to protect its proprietary display glass substrates and technology and enforce its intellectual property against infringing products imported into the United States.Corning secured another favorable result in Europe. On April 16, a judge at the Unified Patent Court in Germany ruled in a composition patent case that IRICO infringed Corning's patent and further confirmed the patent's validity. The ruling allows Corning to seek damages and enforcement of an order that could block televisions using IRICO's infringing glass from entering Germany.Together, the April rulings gave Corning added legal momentum ahead of the July 24 trade secret determination and reinforced its stated position that its display glass IP portfolio remains valid, enforceable, and strategically important.Trade Secrets Case Expands the StakesThe trade secret case carries broader significance because it goes beyond a single glass composition. According to Corning, the company had expected a favorable result based on what it described as clear evidence that IRICO stole engineering drawings and improperly used Corning's proprietary technology across its manufacturing footprint.Corning also stated that the trade secret case is important because it could restrict imports of all IRICO glass compositions manufactured using Corning technology, including the 616 composition that closely mirrors Irico's 615 composition found to violate Corning's patents.With the latest ITC ruling now in place, the dispute moves from a composition-patent fight toward a broader question of manufacturing know-how.In advanced materials, this distinction matters. The value of a technology platform is rarely limited to a formula or a finished product; it is embedded in process control, equipment engineering, production discipline, and accumulated know-how developed over decades.A favorable trade secret determination therefore strengthens Corning's ability to argue that the dispute concerns the core of display glass manufacturing, not merely the outer boundary of one patent claim.IP Protection as an Industrial DisciplineCorning's robust legal defense reflects a broader IP philosophy. The company states that invention and innovation have been central to its success for 175 years, and that its leadership in the LCD industry is built on investment, innovation, collaboration, and trusted customer relationships.It also emphasizes that IP protection is not only about safeguarding invention; it is about defending the long-term R&D investment that enables industry-changing products, sustainable customer success, and technologies that enhance people's lives.With a global patent portfolio spanning more than 30 countries and decades of experience and investment in technology commercialization and compliance, Corning frames IP protection as a foundation for trusted innovation in high-standard global markets.This is also where Corning draws a hard line. Its IP philosophy states that when the company finds unauthorized use or misappropriation of its technology, it will take action and will not tolerate situations where its IP is compromised or infringed.And Corning's message to the industry is direct: advanced materials innovation depends on intellectual property protection and fair competition.From Fusion Process to Industry-Wide ImpactThe dispute ultimately points back to the technology at the center of Corning's display glass leadership: the fusion process. Developed more than 60 years ago, the process was created to solve one of the most difficult challenges in precision glassmaking — how to produce large, thin, exceptionally flat glass sheets at industrial scale without compromising surface quality.Unlike conventional glass-forming approaches that may require contact with forming surfaces or extensive post-processing, Corning's fusion process allows molten glass to flow over both sides of a forming structure, meet at the bottom, fuse in midair, and be drawn into a pristine sheet. Because the exterior surfaces remain untouched during formation, the process can deliver the surface quality, dimensional stability, and thickness control required for advanced display manufacturing.Over decades, this manufacturing platform became a key enabler of the flat-panel display industry. Fusion-formed glass helped support the transition from bulky cathode-ray tube (CRT) displays to thin, flat, high-resolution screens, while giving panel makers the precision substrate needed for increasingly complex LCD and TFT processes.Its impact was not limited to material performance. By enabling larger substrates, higher productivity, and more advanced panel architecture, the fusion process also helped change the economics of display manufacturing.For Corning, defending the IP behind fusion-based display glass is therefore not a peripheral legal exercise. It is a direct defense of the technological foundation that helped reshape the global display industry.

Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (TEEMA) on July 21 held an investment briefing in Taiwan on its Mexico science park plan, bringing together representatives from Mexico and Sonora state as it advanced a project aimed at helping Taiwanese small- and medium-sized enterprises expand overseas. The initiative was highlighted as part of a broader push to give smaller suppliers a more direct path into foreign markets.TEEMA said the overseas science park concept took shape two to three years ago after executives identified a gap between the support available to large manufacturers and the barriers faced by smaller firms abroad. The association said local governments overseas also have limited resources when courting investment, since officials must approach companies one by one and can only match with a limited number of firms.As a result, TEEMA wants to act as an intermediary platform that connects small businesses with resources while also easing the workload for host governments. The association said Mexico responded faster than other countries and showed the strongest support, making it the first location selected for the overseas science park plan.TEEMA outlined three priorities for the park: giving large, medium and small tenants similar treatment; creating a single service window so companies can handle permits and local government coordination more easily; and building Taiwan-style living services, including familiar food and daily amenities, to reduce adjustment costs for staff posted overseas. The association said the park is designed to bring together large companies, small firms, governments, financial institutions, and overseas partners into an industrial cluster that can lower barriers to overseas investment.The association also said the effort comes as global industry is being reshaped by geopolitics, tariffs, supply chain restructuring, and the rapid rise of AI. TEEMA said competition is increasingly determined by the integration of supply chains, manufacturing, energy, logistics, talent, and services, and that Taiwanese companies need to expand overseas together rather than operate alone to preserve global competitiveness.

Communication – for whatever purpose, be it trying to persuade the electorate to vote for you, to convince your audience to buy whatever product you're selling, to manage client relationships, or simply to become famous online through creating engagement – is, at its heart, an exercise in storytelling. In today's visual-first world plagued with short attention spans and what can seem like an infinite number of e-mails and ads diverting our concentration, being able to fashion compelling video-based stories is increasingly crucial to successful communication. Attempts to automate communication can also seem generic and devoid of empathy and personalisation, consigning them to failure.EQX Lab and its product, EQX Flow, aim to use artificial intelligence to enable the masses to successfully grab others' attention. By inputting a very simple text prompt, users will be able to generate videos that have the potential to go viral. Corporate sales teams will also be able to automate the creation of personalised, cinema-quality videos for client retention purposes.EQX Lab is the brainchild of Benjamin Cheung. He studied computer animation at the Savannah College of Art and Design in the state of Georgia and then moved to Hollywood, where he worked for many of the major animation studios – Square, Disney, DreamWorks, Sony, and Lucasfilm – for roughly 15 years. He worked on Square's Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, which came out in 2001 and was the world's first photorealistic computer-animated film (where the animated images appear as real-to-life as possible); and when he was at Sony Imageworks, on 2007's Beowulf.But Cheung always knew that he wanted to return to Asia, and so he moved to Taiwan in 2010 to work for an animation company that counted some of his former employers as major clients. He was then poached by a cloud-computing company in China whose president at the time was Taiwanese. Cheung stayed with this company, which specialised in rendering (using a computer to generate [usually 3-D] images) for almost seven years. During this time, he grew the company’s staff count by roughly seven times and its revenue by a factor of 30.Cheung had been the technical director for most of his projects in Hollywood – he was constantly using new tools and had to develop their back-end integration himself. This gave him enough confidence in his technical abilities to launch EQX Lab. He realised that even though there were already plenty of AI video-generation models, they all required a detailed prompt and only generated a somewhat passable video.Instead, what if you could make a professional-quality video with just a simple click, or a single word, or a short sentence? That's what EQX Flow aims to do.The tool is powered by the company's NEXES Engine, an AI pipeline that, from a single piece of user input, generates prompts, writes a script, composes a storyboard, and finally outputs a video. Chain-of-thought reasoning is used to come up with an emotional arc and narrative to the story. The system handles everything internally, so that the user doesn't need any technical knowledge to produce a cinematic result. Moreover, the engine creates five stories and, again using AI, measures how gripping they will be, choosing the best one to increase the chances of the chosen story going viral. (The engine pays particular attention to optimising the first three seconds of the clip, as these are the seconds that decide whether users continue watching or not.)In the current prototype, users input a story idea (something as simple as "play tennis"), and then specify from a list of options the gender of the protagonist; the type of video (e.g., a sports/fitness video); its niche (e.g., a glow-up video); the length of the clip; the type of person that the creator himself/herself is (e.g., a no-nonsense expert); and the 'look' of the clip (e.g., commercial realism, cinematic realism, cyberpunk, vintage film, or anime). Cheung intends to add a 'director's cut' option in a later incarnation of the story engine, where users will be able to emulate, for example, Christopher Nolan's aesthetic.EQX Flow will have two modes: fast and professional. The latter will be more sophisticated and, as a result, also more expensive (in his current prototype, it is about 2.5 times as expensive as the fast model). A tennis ball hitting a player in the face would look passably realistic in the professional-mode video; the fast mode would instead produce stylised visuals in a fraction of the time. Cheung says that directors often prefer the fast mode because it can produce unexpected scenes that they consider to be spontaneous.The tool is also modular: users will be able to stop after each stage (e.g., script generation), tweak things, and then move onto the next stage. Directors who already have a script and storyboard might not need the story engine at all – instead, they will only use EQX Flow’s back end to generate the shots and make the actual video. EQX Flow currently uses Google's generative AI models. This does not allow for the creation of violent, graphic, or adult material, a limitation that is in line with EQX Flow's business model and vision. They are also developing a model-agnostic pipeline, and plan to integrate additional leading AI video models to expand their creative possibilities and to reduce platform dependency.The company's Face-Lock technology can also incorporate photos that users upload of themselves or their desired characters into the videos.If non-specialists can now produce videos, should directors be worried about the future of their profession? Cheung doesn't think so. He says that average directors who don't learn how to use AI tools and don't improve the quality of their work might very well be replaced – but a good director can't be replaced by AI because directing is an art form and good films are unique products that cannot simply be reassembled from pre-existing films. Although Cheung is appreciative of the award, he is aware that he needs more than just the money it brings to fully launch EQX Flow. He is drawing on his network to expand his core technical team, growing his corporate presence in Taiwan, and actively seeking venture capital investors. In particular, he would like to raise three years of funding for research and development, which he will carry out in Taiwan. Cheung says that Taiwan provides a stable environment for his company, with a robust legal framework for intellectual property rights, top-tier engineering talent, and unfettered access to services such as Google.But despite its physical presence in Taiwan, Cheung is focussed on the North American market. Hollywood has the most advanced technology and the most resources for storytelling; Google works best in English; and the story engine has also been developed in English.The Best AI Awards celebrate global excellence in artificial intelligence and IC design, welcoming submissions from innovative companies and brilliant student teams. Following the success of the 2026 edition—advised by the MOEA, organized by DoIT, and executed by TCA—the prestigious competition is officially transitioning into an annual tradition.Offering substantial grand prizes and unmatched industry exposure, the countdown to Best AI Awards 2027 has already begun. Details on the next submission cycle, prize tiers, and eligibility rules will be released soon. Connect with us on LinkedIn for the latest official updates and application alerts.

"Integrated circuit" is a fancy term for the chips that control the electronics that make our modern life possible. They are composed of hundreds of thousands or even millions of tiny components, such as transistors, capacitors, and resistors. These components are so tightly linked together on a tiny piece of silicon that, for all intents and purposes, the chip is indivisible – you can't separate it into its individual components.Any mistake in a chip's circuitry could thus render the entire chip unusable. The process of transferring the as-yet theoretical chip design to the fabrication plant (also known as a foundry or chip fab) to produce a photomask (the template that will later be used to create chips en masse) is known as the tape-out, and costs in the tens of millions of dollars.So chip designers have a strong financial incentive to get their designs right on paper before any silicon is involved.But research conducted for Siemens in 2024 showed that only 14 per cent of chips experienced what is called first-silicon success – when the first tape-out results in a photomask and a physical chip that reliably works. This research also noted that this was the lowest success rate over the past two decades. One reason for that might be that many companies are now bringing chip design in-house instead of contracting out to experienced, specialised chip designers.That's where Vincent Bligny's company, Aniah, steps in.Based in Grenoble in the French Alps, Aniah uses artificial intelligence to conduct electrical rule checks (ERCs) for integrated circuits. These checks examine the electrical connections between different components and verify that the chip design can be made, will work, and will continue to work over time. For example, ERCs look for short circuits, when current flows with very little resistance between two components that it was not supposed to flow between; and they look for open circuits, the opposite of a short circuit, where the circuit is not a closed loop and current therefore cannot flow.ERCs also look for large voltage drops (often because of high resistance in the circuit), leading to overheating, noise, and reduced efficiency; and they look for voltage violations, where two components operating at different voltages are connected, potentially damaging the chip (level shifters are necessary to get around this problem). Traditional checkers, such as the industry-standard simulator SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis), examine how the chip might behave under different voltage, current, or temperature conditions. However, they are unable to sample every potential configuration of the circuit’s components and might miss corner cases (the rare cases where the parameters are at the limits of their expected range). Aniah's OneCheck, on the other hand, covers all of these potential configurations. If there are N components that can take on either high or law values (e.g., N power domains that can be switched on or off), OneCheck will examine each of the 2N potential states to make sure that the chip will still run correctly. It will go over all possibilities, catching problems such as conditional high-impedance (floating) nodes and electrical-overstress violations in chips that mix high- and low-voltage domains. Unlike traditional checkers, OneCheck doesn't depend on luck: it is a static, simulation-free method. Moreover, traditional checkers might find the first instance of a particular type of violation and immediately report back that this violation is present. The designer might fix this one violation, but many other instances of this violation could still remain. OneCheck, on the other hand, will look for all instances of the violation, so that the designer can fix them all at once and not have to rerun the checker.Not only is OneCheck more comprehensive than traditional electrical rule checkers but it is also faster, giving results in minutes instead of days. There is a trade-off, of course: OneCheck finds more false positives than traditional checkers. In other words, it flags more violations that really aren’t violations at all. However, this is something that most chip designers can accept, especially because of another product that Aniah released earlier this year, Amigo.Amigo is an AI agent that goes hand-in-hand with OneCheck. OneCheck flags potential violations and groups them into roughly fifty clusters, organised by their root cause. Amigo then provides users with an explanation of these violations, and takes advantage of natural language processing – users can simply enter "Explain this violation" – to allow users to query and thus debug these violations. But Amigo's support for chip designers goes further than that. It also provides concrete suggestions for how to fix the violations that it has identified, which the chip designer can then validate. It also tells chip designers which violations are the 'lowest-hanging fruit,' whose correction would lead to the greatest increase in the likelihood that the chip will be ready for tape-out. In fact, Amigo quantifies for users just how ready a design is for tape-out, and can quickly adjust this valuation when changes are made (instead of running the entire checking process from scratch).OneCheck and Amigo are therefore a newer, AI-enabled system for electronic design automation (EDA), and Aniah has ambitious plans for developing this EDA technology over the next two years.  They intend to implement parallel fixing by the end of 2026, where the checker can make corrections as it checks. This is a prelude to delivering results in just seconds by next year.Aniah next wants to go beyond OneCheck and simply electrical rule checking to full circuit sign-off – in other words, it wants to be able to verify that physical design constraints are respected. In the long term, Aniah wants to enable continuous sign-off, whereby all electrical rules and physical constraints are constantly satisfied. Currently, sign-off is a hectic scramble at the end of the design process, where bugs are easy to overlook.Their bronze award at the 2026 Best AI Awards came with a prize of NTD 500,000 (USD ~$16,000). The money itself won't help Aniah a lot – they've already raised more than USD $11 million in funding and expect to open a new funding round soon – but the award will open doors with Taiwanese companies and investors, said Allen Chen, Aniah's director of applications engineering. Chen, who is based in Taipei, added that Bligny, Aniah's CEO, has long held Taiwan's technical prowess in semiconductor manufacturing – its world-leading foundries and design houses – in high esteem. This is why Bligny plans on expanding their Taiwanese team, said Chen, who joined the company three years ago and is currently Aniah’s only employee on the island.Aniah currently has one Taiwanese customer, Novatek, but also supports the 200-strong Taiwanese team of Nvidia, an American company. These clients are loyal to Aniah because OneCheck and Amigo offer the fastest running time and the smallest number of false positive alerts, and because Aniah is quickly adopting AI to improve its service.The Best AI Awards celebrate global excellence in artificial intelligence and IC design, welcoming submissions from innovative companies and brilliant student teams. Following the success of the 2026 edition—advised by the MOEA, organized by DoIT, and executed by TCA—the prestigious competition is officially transitioning into an annual tradition.Offering substantial grand prizes and unmatched industry exposure, the countdown to Best AI Awards 2027 has already begun. Details on the next submission cycle, prize tiers, and eligibility rules will be released soon. Connect with us on LinkedIn for the latest official updates and application alerts.

Artificial intelligence is just an interesting theoretical problem for many scientists and engineers, but it is at its most useful when it directly responds to the needs of its users.That's why Amity Solutions, a component company of Thailand-based Amity Group, developed Eko Agentic, a data analyst for store managers. They were long-standing consultants to one of the biggest retail chains active in Thailand and Malaysia with thousands of stores in the region. Executives at this retailer told Amity Solutions that they had tried to use various AI tools to improve the efficiency of their store management, but that these tools were not adequate for their needs.Store managers, stock replenishers, and other frontline workers on the store floor have to handle numerous disconnected tasks on a daily basis. They might use dashboards to monitor various store performance metrics, but synthesising the disparate information into business decisions can be complicated, with store managers resorting to past experience and guesses. Inexperienced store managers, in particular, might be unable to respond effectively to new situations or to best implement requests from headquarters.What if AI could take over the data analysis from store managers? Amity Solutions developed Eko Agentic to do just this: It is trained with data on how the top-performing store managers across the retailer's large network would respond to various business situations, and then rolled out across other stores, taking into account each store’s particular characteristics. The goal is to reduce extra, unsellable stock; to avoid empty shelves; and to better time and set up promotions. This way, the retailer tries to make all stores as efficient as those run by the best store managers.In its first iteration of Eko Agentic, Amity Solutions identified those stores that consistently outperformed the average, both through looking at store performance metrics and by talking to headquarters. Positive outliers were also identified in different environments – for example, the best inner-city markets (which tend to be smaller) and the best rural hypermarkets (which tend to be larger) – in order to get the widest possible range of data.Amity Solutions then sent teams to perform interviews at each of these stores, asking frontline workers to explain how they would think through various situations. What would they do if sales dropped by 5 per cent year-on-year? Perhaps the store manager would first check the basket size, then check the average value of each item in the basket, and then check for the use of special promotions.AI – and in particular, a technique developed by Amity Solutions called reflective optimisation via automated debugging (ROAD) – then structured these interviews into decision trees that visualised the store managers' train of thought. Most optimisation methods so far rely on large data sets for testing and calibration, but these interviews with store managers at Lotus's produced a smaller data set, something that ROAD's algorithm could work with. This was especially important in the Thai context because most large language models are trained on Western datasets, but differences in culture and the business environment between the West and Thailand (e.g., in the availability of parking lots) meant that other models, trained on larger data sets, weren't necessarily immediately applicable.The model was then applied to each individual store, generating a strategy that had been optimised for each one. Reinforcement learning (a paradigm within machine learning that seeks to optimise the impact of an agent's actions based on continual feedback to that agent from those impacts) is then used to further optimise store managers' strategies.Despite this rather simplistic description (and its correspondingly smaller size), Eko Agentic has been remarkably effective in data analytics. It is cheaper than many other AI tools (such as Claude and ChatGPT), and outperforms other state-of-the-art LLM and AI data analysis agents in an industry-standard set of real-world problems, the Data Agent Benchmark for Multi-step Reasoning (DABStep). It achieved 41 per cent accuracy in resolving DABStep tasks – the highest amongst all such agents – whilst its nearest competitor, Microsoft, only achieved 32 per cent accuracy; Anthropic's, OpenAI's, and Google's systems lagged even further back.Eko Agentic is also now able to outperform human analysts working at the Thai retailer. A blind test was conducted, wherein both Eko Agentic and a human analyst performed an analysis on various real business problems. Store managers then select the better of the two responses, without knowing who composed each one. The first versions of Eko Agentic still performed below a human analyst, but the latest version – the fifth – gives, on average, suggestions that are favoured over those from a human analyst. There are only a few supermarket chains in Thailand, and Amity Solutions is, of course, unable to work with the competitors to the retailer it currently works with. However, their methodology is applicable to other retail applications – and in fact, Amity Solutions is currently using Eko Agentic to help a telecommunications giant in Thailand manage its mobile phone shops. Amity Solutions is also looking for opportunities to apply Eko Agentic to supermarket chains in other Southeast Asian countries.A potential limitation with basing decisions on what the best store managers would do is that one might be limited to – and thus not be able to improve on – how well the best store managers do. In other words, you can interpolate performance but it is uncertain whether you can extrapolate to even superior strategies.Thus, as one of its next steps, Amity Solutions is creating a large behavioural model (LBM) that serves as a stand-in for customers. It is a digital twin that simulates customer behaviour, and models that respond to this LBM can potentially outperform the current best store managers.Amity Group, with offices in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States, employs 800 staff members over five companies in various realms of AI. Amity Solutions, the business unit that commissioned Eko Agentic through its long-standing collaboration with the aforementioned retailer, is based in Bangkok and employs 150 employees. However, it was Amity's AI Research and Application Center (ARAC), whose small team of just 15 staff members deploys generative AI solutions across all of Amity's daughter companies, that developed the technology behind Eko Agentic. Currently based in Thailand, they aim to stay at the forefront of developments in AI, says Touchapon Kraisingkorn, the chairman of ARAC and the executive director of Amity – and thus they have plans to expand ARAC to Singapore.Winning at the Best AI Awards is, says Kraisingkorn, validation that they are "one of the world-class labs that creates an effective product and solves real-world problems". The earnings from this award will help them jump-start hiring in Singapore. They are also open to opportunities for collaboration with Taiwanese companies in chips and robotics. The Best AI Awards celebrate global excellence in artificial intelligence and IC design, welcoming submissions from innovative companies and brilliant student teams. Following the success of the 2026 edition—advised by the MOEA, organized by DoIT, and executed by TCA—the prestigious competition is officially transitioning into an annual tradition.Offering substantial grand prizes and unmatched industry exposure, the countdown to Best AI Awards 2027 has already begun. Details on the next submission cycle, prize tiers, and eligibility rules will be released soon. Connect with us on LinkedIn for the latest official updates and application alerts.