Sep 1, 2026 Silicon Photonics Expected to Dominate AI Growth, TSMC Vice President Says TSMC said silicon photonics would dominate the optical market next year, with chip-level co-packaged optics (CPO) enabling major efficiency gains. Rising AI workloads are accelerating optical demand, while CPO adoption is advancing faster than previously expected. Taipei Times

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Global chip market to exceed US$2tn by 2030: SEMI AI infrastructure is driving the global semiconductor market toward more than US$2 trillion by 2030, SEMI says, boosting demand for advanced logic, HBM, DRAM, NAND, testing and packaging. Taiwan remains central but faces growing pressure on resources, talent and electricity. Taipei Times

EOTPR Fine pitch probing for die-to-die interconnect failure analysis in chiplet devices Debugging D2D I/O failures in heterogeneous packages is increasingly difficult due to limited access and test granularity. This paper shows how EOTPR accurately isolates chiplet interconnect defects with minimal prep, validated by a case study. Technical Paper

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MediaTek Ramps Up Advanced Packaging Push as TSMC Veteran Shang Hou Calls for More Talent MediaTek is accelerating its AI chip push by expanding advanced packaging and silicon photonics, hiring TSMC veterans Shang Hou and Douglas Yu. It is developing 448G SerDes, CPO and diversified packaging with CoWoS and Intel EMIB-T technologies. TrendForce

SEMICON Taiwan Highlights AI Infrastructure, CPO; Google AI Chief Technologist to Make Asia Keynote Debut SEMICON Taiwan 2026 expands beyond chipmakers to the full data-center ecosystem, spotlighting AI infrastructure, advanced packaging, silicon photonics, memory and power. Google, NVIDIA, TSMC and others will share strategies for scaling AI systems. TrendForce

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Technical Papers ■ How AI Could Cut Semiconductor Package Design Cycles from Months to Days ■ 5X Faster Die Sorting Accelerates U.S. Semiconductor Manufacturing ■ A New Optical Ball Grid Array Package Development for Automotive Optical Sensor ■ Automated X-Ray Metrology: Enhancing Quality and Efficiency in Wafer and Panel-Level Applications ■ Alpha Particle Emissions: An Overlooked Risk for Soft Errors in Advanced Packaging ■ Revolutionizing IC Packaging with High-Density RDL Technology ■ EOTPR Fine pitch probing for die-to-die interconnect failure analysis in chiplet devices MORE TECHNICAL PAPERS

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Integrated systems to lead AI boom: TSMC executive TSMC says AI's next growth phase will center on integrated computing systems as inference demand surges. Future infrastructure must combine chips, memory, storage, power and cooling, driving advances in packaging, optical connectivity and heterogeneous integration. Taipei Times

Nvidia to invest US$3.5 billion in MediaTek Nvidia will invest US$3.5 billion in MediaTek through convertible bonds, expanding their AI data center partnership. The deal strengthens Nvidia's ecosystem strategy, while MediaTek gains opportunities in custom AI chips and data center components, challenging Broadcom and Marvell. Taipei Times

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Taiwan aims to train 500,000 AI pros by 2040 Taiwan plans to invest more than NT$40 billion in 10 major AI projects next year, targeting 500,000 AI professionals by 2040. The government also prioritizes sovereign AI, domestic computing capacity and LEO satellite communications to strengthen technological resilience. Taipei Times

The E.U.'s AI Drive Undermines Its ​Own Chip Strategy Europe's Chips Act 2.0 aims to boost domestic semiconductor demand and production, but its AI expansion remains dependent on U.S. chip designers and Asian manufacturers. Heavy reliance on Nvidia highlights Europe's struggle to achieve genuine technological sovereignty. IEEE Spectrum

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As China-US space race heats up, Shanghai unveils space-computing hub Shanghai launched a space-computing hub as China accelerates its commercial space ambitions and challenges US leadership. The initiative brings together aerospace, semiconductor, AI & cloud companies to advance in-orbit data processing & strengthen China's satellite ecosystem. South China Morning Post

Advanced Cooling Technologies Address the Automotive Heat Challenge Electrification, ADAS, autonomous driving and powerful processors are pushing vehicle heat loads higher. Engineers are advancing liquid cooling, vapor chambers, TPMS structures and adaptive systems to manage rising heat fluxes efficiently today. EE Times

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Trust, But Verify AI cannot simply be trusted in semiconductor verification, as flawed specifications, tools and AI-generated outputs can introduce serious errors. Engineers must verify AI's work and provenance, creating new mundane tasks while highlighting urgent needs for safeguards and ethical rules. Semiconductor Engineering

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Photonics Forces A Chiplet Rethink Optical chiplets are moving into AI data centers, promising lower power and higher bandwidth than copper. However, thermal, mechanical, electromagnetic, and verification challenges require designers to co-design photonics, processors, packaging & interconnects as integrated systems. Semiconductor Engineering