FuriosaAI, a Seoul-based AI chip startup founded in 2017, is making waves in the AI hardware market with its innovative accelerator chips aimed at hyperscale data centers and enterprises. In August 2024, the startup unveiled its advanced AI chip, “RNGD.” The chip is positioned to challenge industry leaders such as Nvidia with a 40% power efficiency advantage over Nvidia’s H100 GPUs and competitive performance metrics. Furthermore, it recently gained attention for its testing and sampling progress with global enterprises like LG AI Research and Aramco.

In a significant push to support its burgeoning electric vehicle sector, China’s charging infrastructure has surged to 12.35 million charging units, with silicon carbide (SiC) becoming a crucial component in the supply chain.

Sino-American Silicon (SAS)’s recent move to “prepay” vacation days at its Yilan solar cell plant has exposed deeper fractures in Taiwan’s once-promising solar manufacturing sector, with industry-wide layoffs mounting and investors heading for the exits.

The US will increase tariffs on Chinese polysilicon and silicon wafers starting January 2025, raising the rate from 25% to a staggering 50%. This move has left many companies that have established manufacturing facilities in the US feeling trapped.