Global semiconductor sales reached US$298.5 billion in the first quarter of 2026, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported, underscoring robust worldwide demand with possible implications for technology supply chains, pricing, and production investment. The results come as markets eye a potential US$1 trillion year, driven by broad regional growth across Asia Pacific, the Americas, and China.

Alphabet has significantly expanded its global borrowing program to finance artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, raising nearly US$17 billion through euro- and Canadian dollar-denominated bonds in its latest funding push, according to Bloomberg. The move includes its largest-ever euro bond sale and its first issuance in Canadian dollars, underscoring the scale of capital required for AI-related investments.

APMIC announced that its Traditional Chinese language model ACE-1 ranked in the global top 5 overall and secured the top spot on a “Taiwan values” metric in a language-model evaluation published on May 6 by the AI Product and System Evaluation Center under the Ministry of Digital Affairs. The results highlighted ACE-1’s strength in local context understanding and reinforced the company’s push for sovereign AI capabilities tailored to Taiwan’s institutions and social and cultural environment.