SEMI Taiwan chief urges Korea–Taiwan partnerships to power AI-era chips - CHOSUNBIZ - Chosunbiz

In the era of artificial intelligence (AI), the global semiconductor industry is facing unprecedented challenges and opportunities. Terry Tsao, president of SEMI Taiwan and global chief marketing offi... Read original →

The AI compute arms race is forcing the semiconductor value chain to shift from vertical integration to cross-border co-optimization. Despite fierce rivalry in 3nm and EUV, TSMC and Samsung increasingly rely on each other’s strengths—Korea’s dominance in memory materials and equipment fills critical gaps in Taiwan, China’s advanced packaging ecosystem like CoWoS. However, tightening U.S.-led export controls raise compliance costs, especially for tools with >25% U.S. content. Within 12 months, Samsung may establish joint packaging labs in Taiwan, China to circumvent geopolitical friction, while SK hynix leverages TSMC’s AI client base to secure HBM4 contracts. If U.S. tech restrictions intensify, a Korea–Taiwan, China ‘techno-neutral alliance’ could become the AI supply chain’s stability anchor—but only if both sides institutionalize apolitical IP and capacity-sharing frameworks.