AI boom squeezes optical tech and Huawei makes a chip comeback

Hi everyone! This is Cheng Ting-Fang, your #techAsia host this week, saying hello from sunny Taipei, the blazing-hot destination for global chip CEOs.

Over the past few days, amid scorching temperatures, I found myself squeezed into crowds waiting for AMD CEO Lisa Su as she outlined the chipmaker's latest artificial intelligence ambitions . Soon after, I was rushing to Nvidia events, where CEO Jensen Huang said his company's spending on Taiwan's AI supply chain has reached as much as $


Japan's car exports to war-hit Middle East plummet 90% in April

TOKYO - Japan's major exports to the war-hit Middle East, including cars and steel pipes, declined dramatically in April, while imports of products such as naphtha also dropped sharply, according to trade statistics released by Japan's finance ministry on Thursday.


Japan's IHI receives first images from observation satellites

TOKYO -- Defense contractor IHI has started receiving imagery from its deployed observation satellites, as Japan attempts to boost the country's defensive capabilities by strengthening monitoring and counterstrike abilities.


Chinese inn owners struggle in Japan's Osaka as regulations tighten

OSAKA -- Chinese owners of Airbnb-style accommodation in Japan are under pressure as the government and major municipalities tighten regulations on their businesses.


Japan's car exports to war-hit Middle East plummet in April

TOKYO - Japan's major exports to the war-hit Middle East, including cars and steel pipes, declined dramatically in April, while imports of products such as naphtha also dropped sharply, according to trade statistics released by Japan's finance ministry on Thursday.


Chinese inn owners struggle in Japan's Osaka as regulations tighten

OSAKA -- Chinese owners of Airbnb-style accommodation in Japan are under pressure as the government and major municipalities tighten regulations on their businesses.


Philippine food producer RFM chief shrugs off Iran war impact

TOKYO -- The head of a major Philippine food and beverage maker has brushed off concerns that the fallout from the Iran war will derail its business, arguing that the company has become more resilient since the COVID-19 pandemic.


Ferry connecting Taiwan with Japan's Ishigaki set for maiden voyage

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan -- A new ferry service connecting northern Taiwan with the southwestern Japanese island of Ishigaki in Okinawa prefecture is set for its maiden voyage Thursday, promising a boost for tourism that is already at high levels.


India's gold-based lenders see business boost from higher import tariffs

MUMBAI -- Loans taken out against gold, currently the most popular form of collateral in India, are set to see another robust year as domestic prices of the precious metal rise due to the imposition of higher import tariffs earlier this month.


AI race is increasingly about memory, not compute: Sandisk CTO

KUALA LUMPUR -- The global artificial intelligence race is becoming increasingly "memory-centric," according to the chief technology officer of Sandisk, a trend that could exacerbate an unprecedented global supply crunch in memory chips.