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Monday 11 May 2026

Transcend chair sees AI memory supercycle

AI will bring an epochal technology revolution, as did the invention of steam power and electricity, according to Transcend Information chairman Chung-Won Shu. He argued that DRAM and NAND flash will face shortages in 2026-2027 and could remain undersupplied in 2028. He said Transcend's multi-level cell (MLC) NAND inventory, bought before certain memory manufacturers stopped production, is enough for about one year. Shu added that the company has recently broken into China's cloud service provider (CSP) supply chains, underscoring a structural change in the memory industry.

Monday 11 May 2026

Taiwan ranks among top 20 markets as AI adoption surges, Microsoft says

Microsoft's AI Economy Institute released a global update showing rapid growth in generative AI use since mid-2025 and identifying Asia as the primary engine of recent AI diffusion. The report said Taiwan ranked No. 20 globally in local AI adoption in the first quarter of 2026, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore, and Norway led global diffusion rates during the same period.

Monday 11 May 2026

Advantech April revenue hits record as edge AI surges

Advantech posted a fresh monthly revenue record in April 2026 as rising demand for edge AI applications and synchronized growth across major global markets lifted the industrial PC (IPC) maker beyond a traditional IPC supplier profile. Looking to the second quarter of 2026, the company remained cautiously optimistic and said its goal of double-digit full-year revenue growth was unchanged.

Monday 11 May 2026

AI data center spending frenzy ignites Sunon's next cooling windfall

Sunonwealth Electric Machine Industry (Sunon) said surging global investment in AI infrastructure is driving strong demand for industrial cooling products, with its electronically commutated (EC) fans expected to emerge as a major growth driver in 2027.

Monday 11 May 2026

Delta Electronics rides AI power, liquid cooling boom to another strong month

Continuing the strong growth trajectory seen in the first quarter of 2026, Delta Electronics maintained robust year-over-year revenue momentum in April, supported by continued expansion in AI data center-related business.

Monday 11 May 2026

China's cybersecurity AI charges ahead despite US model lockout

AI is upending the world of cybersecurity, as more capable models and agentic capabilities bring about new ways to exploit vulnerabilities, along with new ways to discover and patch them. While major US AI companies have so far led the race, Chinese firms are also using AI to stay competitive and create similarly powerful tools, even as they are officially shut out of the most advanced American models.

Monday 11 May 2026

DeepSeek's US$7bn funding bid puts China's AI race on notice

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is seeking to raise as much as CNY50 billion (US$7.35 billion) in its first external funding round. The deal could value the company at more than CNY350 billion (US$51.5 billion), potentially the largest funding round in Chinese AI history.

Monday 11 May 2026

Taiwan backs military-civilian cyber tech to counter AI attacks

AI smartphones from Chinese brands are widely available in Taiwan, yet AI text summarization involving audio content deemed politically sensitive is often interrupted, as such services rely on data transfers to servers in China. Although hostilities between Taiwan and China have not escalated, cybersecurity awareness has increased in both the military and civilian sectors, especially as Taiwan looks for ways to counter AI-enabled attacks from China.

Monday 11 May 2026

Memory bottlenecks threaten data-center GPU efficiency as AI inference scales, says Micron SVP

Micron's senior vice president, Jeremy Werner, told The Circuit Podcast that memory has become a strategic bottleneck for data-center inference, warning that insufficient memory can sharply cut GPU utilization while faster, larger memory can theoretically multiply the compute extracted from GPUs. The remarks underscore how storage and memory design could limit AI deployment.

Monday 11 May 2026

Trans-Sun Materials rides AI server wave with profit surge

Trans-Sun Materials Technology posted broad-based gains in the first quarter of 2026, with consolidated revenue rising 28.66% year on year to NT$379 million (US$12.07 million) and net profit attributable to the parent surging 66.34% to NT$26 million, yielding earnings per share of NT$1.07. The maker of electronic functional materials credited the performance to accelerating demand for high-performance computing infrastructure tied to the expansion of AI workloads.

Monday 11 May 2026

Dayuan 1Q26 rebounds on North America broadband and defense orders

Dayuan Optoelectronics' consolidated revenue for the first quarter of 2026 reached NT$443 million (US$14.11 million), a 42.7% increase year on year, driven by North American broadband infrastructure demand and defense project deliveries. The company said this momentum is expected to strengthen from the third quarter of 2026 as BEAD-funded broadband spending accelerates and additional defense contracts move into execution.

Monday 11 May 2026

Analysis: Forget the hardware race — Unitree wants to own the robot platform

When Unitree Robotics added "Mantis Boxing", Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do and even "Kamehameha" moves to its humanoid robot application store, the immediate reaction from many observers was amusement.

Monday 11 May 2026

Alibaba's Qwen could push AI agents into the heart of e-commerce

Alibaba Group is preparing to more deeply integrate its artificial intelligence platform, Qwen, into its vast online shopping ecosystem, a move that could fundamentally reshape how consumers browse and purchase goods in China.

Monday 11 May 2026

OpenAI and chipmakers roll out MRC to prevent AI training slowdowns

OpenAI said it has partnered with chipmakers and cloud providers — including AMD, Broadcom, Intel, Microsoft, and Nvidia — to develop a new networking protocol aimed at improving the performance and reliability of large-scale AI training systems.

Monday 11 May 2026

ASE, Wus to jointly build Kaohsiung advanced packaging plant by 2029

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) and PCB manufacturer Wus Printed Circuit are teaming up to build a new packaging facility in southern Taiwan, as the world's largest chip assembler moves to expand capacity ahead of surging AI-driven demand. The plant, to be located in the Kaohsiung Nanzih Technology Industrial Park, is scheduled to open in September 2029.

Monday 11 May 2026

Anthropic's AI expansion reportedly fuels US$1.8 billion Akamai cloud deal

AI startup Anthropic has reportedly signed a US$1.8 billion computing agreement with Akamai Technologies as demand for generative AI services continues to accelerate, according to a report by Bloomberg News citing people familiar with the matter.

Monday 11 May 2026

Taiwan chip testing firm sheds power unit, pivots to AI validation as margins recover

Taiwan-based electronics verification and analysis specialist Integrated Service Technology (iST) posted weaker first-quarter revenue and an operating loss amid a major operational restructuring, but said the transition has laid the groundwork for a sharper focus on higher-margin AI-related validation and analysis services.

Monday 11 May 2026

Gigabyte's Giga Computing bets on South Korea's sovereign AI boom

Gigabyte Technology subsidiary Giga Computing is expanding aggressively in South Korea, positioning itself to benefit from a surge in demand for AI servers driven by the country's sovereign AI ambitions and accelerating enterprise adoption of artificial intelligence (AI).

Monday 11 May 2026

Nvidia backs IREN in 5GW AI infrastructure push tied to US$2.1 billion stake

Nvidia is expanding its influence beyond AI chips and deeper into the infrastructure layer underpinning the global artificial intelligence boom, announcing a strategic partnership with AI cloud and data center operator IREN to deploy up to 5 gigawatts of AI infrastructure globally.

Monday 11 May 2026

India roundup: India accelerates semiconductor and display ambitions with new approvals, AI infrastructure expansion

India is advancing its electronics and semiconductor manufacturing strategy through new approvals for semiconductor and Mini/Micro LED projects, while companies including Tata Electronics and Yotta Data Services expand investments tied to chips, AI infrastructure, and data centers. The developments reflect India's broader push to become a larger global sourcing base for semiconductors, displays, automotive electronics, and AI-related manufacturing amid ongoing supply chain diversification.

Sunday 10 May 2026

King Slide says AI compute demand is not a bubble and expects strong 2Q26 orders

King Slide, a maker of server rails and high-end mechanical components, said on May 7 that AI compute demand is not a bubble and that orders were expected to remain strong in the second quarter of 2026 as global cloud service providers continued rapid capital spending. Executives told an earnings call that sustained capex from GPU, AI-accelerated computing, and enterprise server customers signaled structural demand rather than a temporary surge.

Saturday 9 May 2026

EU’s new cyber rules are forcing a shift from AI hype to human-led defense

At CYBERSEC 2026 in Taiwan, cybersecurity vendors are moving beyond single-product performance and focusing instead on operational resilience — helping enterprises maintain business continuity when attacks occur. The shift is driving demand for managed detection and response (MDR), supply-chain verification, and lifecycle security compliance as companies confront increasingly complex threats and tightening regulations such as the EU's Cyber Resilience Act (CRA).

Saturday 9 May 2026

Power chip shortages deepen as AI server demand and GaN battles escalate

Global power semiconductor suppliers are entering a new upcycle marked by tightening supply, rising prices, and intensifying technology competition, fueled by accelerating investment in AI infrastructure and electric vehicles.

Saturday 9 May 2026

China's robots move from half-marathon to triathlon

Chinese robots, which recently demonstrated their ability to complete a half-marathon, are now entering a new stage of competition. The focus is shifting from flat-ground endurance and speed to sustained, high-difficulty operation in heat, heavy rain, shallow water, and complex terrain — signaling a transition from "long-distance runners" to "triathlon athletes" with greater endurance, payload capacity, and environmental adaptability.

Saturday 9 May 2026

Adata sees DRAM, NAND prices rise 40% in 2Q26

Adata said DRAM and NAND flash contract prices will each climb more than 40% in the second quarter of 2026, as supply is kept tight by cloud server giants that have already locked up 2027 output from upstream memory suppliers. The memory module maker said its inventory topped NT$40 billion (approx. US$1.3 billion) as of the end of April, and it sees no risk to demand through the end of 2026.

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