The semiconductor packaging equipment sector is experiencing order shifts linked to significant executive changes at a key Taiwanese supplier, raising concerns over TSMC’s chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) and chip-on-panel-on-substrate (CoPoS) advanced packaging equipment orders. Industry sources indicate that ASE Technology Holding’s equipment orders may also be affected as the supply chain undergoes potential realignment.

Microsoft and Meta have recently announced job cuts or buyouts impacting possibly 23,000 jobs. The staff reductions come as the tech giants funnel massive resources into building out their AI capacity, a trade-off that has become common across the industry in recent months.

The White House has accused China of conducting “industrial-scale” theft of US artificial intelligence intellectual property, a development that could escalate tensions in the ongoing technology rivalry between the two countries, according to the Financial Times, Reuters, and CNN.