Samsung strike threat highlights rising labor risk to AI chip supply chain and corporate pay models

Samsung Electronics is facing its largest labor escalation in years after unions representing tens of thousands of workers voted to authorize strike action. The dispute centers on compensation structures, particularly performance-based bonuses linked to semiconductor profits, which workers argue have become increasingly opaque and insufficient relative to the company’s record earnings in the AI-driven chip cycle.

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Commentary: Honor’s robot win highlights thermal edge in robotics

The Beijing Humanoid Robot Half Marathon has concluded, but its outcome has ignited a wider industry debate. Rather than a leading robotics specialist, smartphone maker Honor emerged as the unexpected winner — raising questions over whether the company’s success reflects genuine technological strength or exposes lower-than-expected barriers in the humanoid robotics sector.

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Hengs Technology secures NT$7.6B in orders, expands solar EPC into energy storage and EV charging

As Taiwan’s energy transition enters a critical phase, the stability of power supply and the quality of renewable energy infrastructure have become key industry concerns. While numerous solar engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) providers operate in the market, only a handful offer fully integrated capabilities. Hengs Technology stands out for its comprehensive approach, extending beyond solar EPC to include AI-driven data management, as well as expansion into energy storage EPC and EV charging infrastructure. Chairman Heng-Hao Chou stated that Hengs currently holds more than NT$7.6 billion (US$239.6 million) in orders, which are expected to be gradually recognized as revenue over the next two to three years. The company has set clear targets for 2026, aiming to deploy more than 100MW of solar capacity during the year.

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AGI, Inc. advances on-device agentic AI strategy as it targets cross-platform automation

AGI, Inc., also known as The AGI Company, is a San Francisco–based applied AI startup developing what it describes as “on-device superintelligence” for smartphones, computers and browsers. In the emerging agentic AI era, the company focuses on systems that go beyond generating responses and instead execute real-world tasks on behalf of users.

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CIRC pursues dual-track drone strategy targeting domestic tenders and overseas markets

Coretronic Intelligent Robotics Corp. (CIRC), a subsidiary of Coretronic Corp., has long attracted attention for its drone business. Although the company is facing delays with Taiwan’s largest-ever drone procurement project, other government agencies — such as the Coast Guard, police, and fire departments — estimate their combined drone demands at around NT$1 billion (US$31.7 million).

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Korea’s ‘father of HBM’ sees 1,000x AI memory surge as Google’s TurboQuant faces real-world tests

Alphabet’s Google has unveiled its KV cache quantization compression technology, TurboQuant, promising dramatic reductions in memory usage for AI inference. While the innovation has captured global attention, South Korea’s academic and industrial sectors remain skeptical about its practical feasibility, even as they firmly expect AI inference to continue driving substantial growth in memory demand.

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