#semiconductors

Samsung and SK Hynix are expected to announce massive AI-focused investment plans at a national briefing on June 29, 2026, with Samsung proposing a 1000 trillion won ($648 billion) ten-year spending plan, the largest in South Korean history. This unprecedented investment scale could transform the AI hardware supply chain, dramatically increasing the production capacity of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and other AI-critical chips, potentially accelerating AI development globally. The announcement will focus on semiconductors, AI data centers, and physical AI; however, shares of both companies fell over 9% on the same day due to concerns that Apple product price hikes could suppress demand for memory chips.

A survey of 60 Chinese executives shows firms are reducing Nvidia AI accelerator purchases and plan to allocate 46% of their AI chip budget to domestic alternatives within the next 12 months, up from 30% currently. This shift signals a major realignment in the global AI hardware supply chain, driven by China's data center investment plan and geopolitical tensions, which could significantly impact Nvidia's revenue and accelerate domestic chipmakers like Hygon and Cambricon. China plans to invest roughly 2 trillion yuan ($275 billion) in data centers over the next five years, with at least 80% of core technology sourced domestically, benefiting companies such as Tencent, Alibaba, Huawei, Hygon, and Cambricon.

At the 2026 International Symposium on Circuits and Systems in Shanghai, Huawei introduced 'Tao's Law,' which replaces geometric scaling with time scaling for semiconductor advancement. The company claims to have already designed and mass-produced 381 chips under this principle and plans to launch a new Kirin phone chip using logic folding this autumn. This could represent a fundamental shift in semiconductor scaling beyond Moore's Law, potentially extending chip performance improvements without relying solely on shrinking transistor sizes. If validated, it may impact the entire industry's R&D direction and reduce dependence on extreme lithography. According to Huawei, Tao's Law achieves multi-level co-optimization from devices to systems by reducing time constants instead of geometric dimensions. The company projects that by 2031, high-end chips based on this law could reach transistor density equivalent to 1.4nm process technology.

South Korea's Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy announced a national semiconductor cluster plan, investing 800 trillion KRW (about 3.52 trillion RMB) to build four memory fabs in the southwestern region, aiming to double DRAM production within five years. This massive investment reinforces South Korea's dominance in the global memory chip market, especially as demand for DRAM is expected to surge fourfold in five years. It positions the country to lead in speed and capacity, potentially reshaping the semiconductor supply chain. The plan includes building a second semiconductor base in the southwestern region, with total investment of 800 trillion KRW over an unspecified timeframe. Additionally, the government will invest 30 trillion KRW over 15 years to support the initiative.

South Korea announced a $1 trillion investment plan to expand memory chip production and develop humanoid robots, aiming to boost its semiconductor and AI robotics industries. This massive government investment signals a strategic bet on both commodity memory chips and speculative humanoid robotics, potentially reshaping global supply chains and accelerating the commercialization of humanoid robots. The investment covers memory chips like DRAM and NAND, as well as humanoid robot development, coupling two seemingly disparate sectors. The announcement has drawn mixed reactions, with some questioning the rationale of linking memory chip production with humanoid robots.