Unlike semiconductor manufacturing processes, time is never an element that filmmakers can control. Since its release over three weeks ago, the documentary ‘A Chip Odyssey’ has accumulated a box office of NT$12 million (approx. US$410,582). The semiconductor godfather, Morris Chang, even quietly bought tickets and watched alongside regular audience members. Whether the screening period can be extended remains a race against time for director Chu-Chen Hsiao.

Rare earth elements—critical to electric vehicles, defense systems, and advanced electronics—are once again at the center of geopolitical tensions. China, which controls more than 90 percent of the world’s rare earth refining and processing capacity, continues to wield outsized influence over global supply.

Microsoft Corp. began job cuts that will impact about 9,000 workers, its second major wave of layoffs this year as it seeks to control costs while ramping up on artificial intelligence spending.

Taiwan’s defense companies face funding volatility and bureaucratic delays that undermine business confidence despite government pledges to boost military spending in response to regional tensions.