Semiconductor epitaxy maker Episil Precision said on September 22 that rising demand from AI data centers has created two main growth engines. Demand for silicon photonics optical communication modules is driving a surge in germanium silicon (GeSi) epitaxy demand, with the sector projected to grow 3.5- to 4-fold in 2027 and demand visibility extending to 2028.
South Korea's major semiconductor, display, and electronics parts factories are staying open through the Chuseok holiday as AI-driven memory demand and new Apple iPhone panel production keep lines running. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are continuing output at key plants, while display and MLCC makers are also maintaining round-the-clock operations.
Anthropic will open its Singapore office in October, making it the company's fifth office in the Asia-Pacific region after Tokyo, Bengaluru, Seoul, and Sydney. The move underscores the AI company's push into Singapore as demand for Claude surges across startups, large enterprises, and government agencies.
Anthropic has announced a third-party on-site evaluation program, bringing in staff from Faculty, the AI company owned by Accenture, to test model safety measures with near-employee access. The two sides have each committed at least US$1 billion over the next five years to build what Anthropic calls a third-party embedded evaluation mechanism.
GMI Technology, a Taiwan-based electronics component distributor and application solutions provider, said its AI computing rental business is booming, with strong demand from US technology companies for computing power. The company said large users tend to secure computing capacity through long-term contracts, leaving the market short of supply.
SK Hynix's high-bandwidth memory (HBM) production site under construction in Indiana has been drawn into local litigation as the race for AI memory capacity intensifies. Local residents in the US are seeking to overturn a land-use change and halt construction, with a trial scheduled for December 2026 and the case drawing market attention.
Microsoft is changing how companies evaluate their generative AI investments, as the technology evolves from its beginnings as a productivity tool into deeper uses in core business workflows. In addition to token consumption and model costs, Microsoft Taiwan general manager Sean Pien points out that corporations are also examining how AI actually benefits workflows and innovation, making return-on-investment (ROI) evaluations harder to judge solely on the basis of time or labor savings.
Japan's Leading-edge Semiconductor Technology Center (LSTC) is building a public-private-academic framework around Rapidus, which plans to mass-produce 2-nanometer chips in 2027, to advance next-generation semiconductor research and talent development and give Japan a unique edge in the global race for advanced process technology.
Starting in the second half of 2025, as AI agent programs such as OpenClaw, Hermes, Claude, and DeepSeek Harness were launched one after another, a wave of "keeping lobsters" began to emerge around on-device AI models paired with AI agents.
The US and China are moving toward different models for governing increasingly capable artificial intelligence, even as the US proposes a limited safety mechanism with China ahead of President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping's September 24 summit in Washington. AI is expected to be among the issues discussed at the meeting.
In a 46-minute interview on CBS, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang pushed back against apocalyptic warnings regarding artificial intelligence (AI). He urged the industry to focus on rigorous engineering and safe product delivery rather than apocalyptic fearmongering.
China's BeiDou satellite navigation industry continues to expand rapidly, with applications spreading from chips and modules to end devices. Emerging technologies including artificial intelligence are increasingly being integrated with BeiDou, while the industry is shifting from hardware sales towards data, platforms, and services. Overseas markets are also emerging as a key source of future growth.
