At the close of his keynote address at the Humanoids Summit in Tokyo, Hiroshi Ishiguro — one of the pioneers of humanoid robotics — offered a candid assessment of the industry’s progress: despite decades of investment and research, Japan has yet to produce a truly transformative, mass-market application for robotics.

Silicon photonics (SiPh) chip designer BE Epitaxy Semiconductor turned profitable in 2025 as demand for 800G and 1.6T co-packaged optics (CPOs) heads toward explosive growth. Backed by orders and funding from AMD and MediaTek, the company is using a lean-asset model and ecosystem integration strategy to push into full-optical CPO design. General manager Jada Wang said 2026–2027 will mark the industry-wide breakout point for SiPh chips and CPO commercialization. BE Epitaxy Semiconductor’s 800G products have already reached shipment standards, and the company is now moving toward 1.6T optical engine (OE) chipsets.

Kioxia is evaluating the construction of a new NAND flash manufacturing facility at its Kitakami site in Iwate Prefecture, aiming for production to begin after 2029-2030 as the company prepares for sustained growth in AI-driven storage demand.