As AI server products accelerate their generational shift and demand higher-frequency, higher-speed transmission, the upgrade cycle for copper-clad laminate (CCL) materials in the PCB upstream supply chain has become firmly established. M7 and M8 specs are now mainstream, while M9 and M10 materials remain in the testing and validation stage, with mass production expected in 2027 or 2028.
Singapore is Southeast Asia's AI frontrunner. It has also become a proving ground for competing Eastern and Western AI business models. As a global technology and financial hub, the city-state is one of the first battlegrounds where leading US and Chinese AI companies are building their regional presence.
TSMC's sustained capital spending highlights the two foundations of its competitive strength: technology leadership and manufacturing excellence. The latter remains a core advantage not only for TSMC but also for the broader semiconductor ecosystem built around its production model.
China's smartphone industry is turning agentic AI into its next growth narrative, with ZTE's Nubia, StepFun and Honor presenting sharply different visions of how phones should plan tasks, coordinate apps and process personal data.
Oracle's US$165 billion data center project in New Mexico is running into higher-than-expected costs due to local concerns about its energy requirements. This case is one of several showing how the build-out of AI infrastructure in the US has become a politically charged issue at the local level due to worries over electricity needs and other issues.
Samsung Electronics is cutting over 800 jobs in the US from its smartphone, display, and consumer electronics business units. The division, part of Samsung Group, is facing a challenging market this year, in contrast to the soaring performance of its chip unit.
Apple has filed a sharp antitrust-style complaint against OpenAI, turning a once-celebrated AI partnership into a legal clash over strategy, supply chains, and future hardware control. Behind the lawsuit lies a broader contest over who will shape the next wave of AI devices, and whether the Trump administration's "America First" agenda can help both sides find common ground.
South Korea is combining physical AI, domestic semiconductors, AI-RAN networks, and gigawatt-scale data centers to turn intelligent industrial systems into a new export category.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC) announcement of an additional US$100 billion investment into US manufacturing has brought renewed attention to manufacturing in the US. The International Artificial Intelligence and Law Research Foundation (IAILRF) released the 2026 US-Taiwan Co-Make and Protection Strategy White Paper on July 17. Foundation secretary-general Wesley Chu said that for Taiwanese companies, investing in the US is no longer a question of whether to go, but how to go.
OpenRouter, a startup whose software lets app developers reach hundreds of AI models through a single interface, has discussed selling itself to a larger technology company in a deal that could value it at several billion dollars, The Information reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Meta Platforms is in early talks to lease computing power to Anthropic in a potential deal worth up to US$10 billion over two years, as the social media company considers generating revenue from its expanding AI infrastructure.
China unveiled two major AI initiatives at the 2026 World AI Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, highlighting efforts to standardize AI agent collaboration while laying the groundwork for space-based computing infrastructure.
