Critical tech: March 2025

Critical and emerging technologies in the news,
globally, in March 2025

Also available:

‣ Asia’s Tech News, Weekly Newsletters
&
‣ Indo-Pacific 5×5: Daily geopolitics updates

• Amazon Web Services unveils Ocelot quantum computing chip prototype / full item

• NVIDIA is to open a quantum computing research lab in Boston, collaborating with Harvard University and MIT, and with firms including Quantinuum and Quantum Machines / full item

• Google has unveiled 2 new artificial intelligence models, Gemini Robotics and Gemini Robotics-ER, optimized to power autonomous machines / full item

• NVIDIA debuts Groot N1, described as a foundation model for humanoid robotics / full item

• Holland’s Fortaegis BV is in investor talks to raise over $10M to build specialized chips featuring security including physical ‘fingerprinting’ and software architecture / full item

• Chip makers and supply chain firms called on European Commission to launch 2023 Chips Act follow-up, focusing on chip design, materials and equipment, in addition to manufacturing / full item

• Rolls-Royce seeks development partners for placing of its 10-foot nuclear micro-reactor on the lunar surface / full item

• OpenAI’s first Stargate site is projected to hold up to 400,000 NVIDIA chips / full item

• United Airlines has installed Starlink on its first regional aircraft, and expects to outfit 40 regional aircraft each month from May to year-end 2025 / full item

• China plans to prohibit non-state companies from mining rare earths, further tightening its control over a strategic sector that has emerged as a battleground in its trade war with the US / full item

• China: Companies ramp up orders for NVIDIA H20 AI chip, made specifically to satisfy US tech curbs, in response to the success of DeepSeek’s alternative model / full item

• Taiwan’s Hon Hai, aka Foxconn, launched its first traditional Chinese version of an AI LLM, with NVIDIA participating, to boost data analysis capabilities for future key technologies / full item

• India: Tech Mahindra IT services major rolls out a telco-focused LLM, targeting analysis of a range of data types, and scales, to aid firms with diagnostics and efficiency / full item

• “NVIDIA and xAI join AI Infrastructure Partnership consortium backed by Microsoft, MGX investment fund, and BlackRock, to expand US artificial intelligence infra in the US / full item

• Holland’s Fortaegis BV is in investor talks to raise over $10M to build specialized chips featuring security including physical ‘fingerprinting’ and software architecture / full item

• Malaysia is to invest over $250 million across the coming decade, leveraging ARM Holding expertise, to build out the country’s AI and semiconductors ecosystem / full item

• Malaysia: ARM semiconductor and software design giant is set to ink an agreement to establish a base In Malaysia / full item

• China is reportedly to issue guidance to boost use of open-source RISC-V chips nationwide for the first time, further lifting efforts to curb dependence on foreign technology / full item

• ‘Vietnam’s Semiconductor Industry: Progress and Outlook Beyond 2025’, a snapshot overview of key details / full item

• Taiwan’s TSMC to invest ‘at least’ $100BN in chip manufacturing plants in Arizona, US, facilities over 4 years, adding to earlier pledge of $65BN investments in the country / full item

• Japan: Rapidus semiconductor firm is reportedly struggling to secure orders, with questions raised around capacity beyond core semicon production / full item

• Dutch semiconductor machinery giant, ASML, is to upgrade a reuse-and-repair centre in Beijing, despite growing US-China tech tensions / full item

• China: State-backed Naura moves up in semiconductor equipment vendor rankings, taking 6th place by revenue in the world in 2024, up from 8th just one year earlier / full item

• ‘Global tech industry braces for ‘China shock’ in mature chips’ / full item

Vietnam: ‘Ho Chi Minh City aims to train at least 9000 highly skilled workers with university degrees or higher in the semiconductor industry by 2030’ / full item

• China: Domestic extreme ultraviolet – EUV – lithography system, now testing at Huawei’s Dongguan facility, may be a global game-changer in semiconductor production, and supply chains / full item

• Taiwan: Google is reportedly to partner Taiwan’s MediaTek for the next version of its AI chips, Tensor Processing Units, looking to further reduce reliance on NVIDIA / full item

• China: Huawei has reportedly used shell companies to acquire over 2 million AI chip dies manufactured by TSMC, stockpiling enough high-bandwidth memory for more than a year of production / full item

• Malaysia: SkyeChip semiconductor designer is mulling IPO, potentially in H2 2025, building on the nation’s chips industry growth and aiming to leverage major SoftBank licensing deal / full item

• NVIDIA will spend hundreds of billions on US manufacturing, says CEO’ / full item

• Vietnam: Government has approved the country’s first chip wafer fabrication facility, investing approximately $500M / full item

• China: Huawei-owned HiSilicon gains Level 2 national certification for security reliability for Kirin X90, its never-before-seen System-on-Chip processor, deepening moves from foreign tech reliance / full item

• Vietnam: Ho Chi Minh City announces plans to open a semiconductor plant by year-end, situated near Vietnam National University to boost opportunities for students and researchers / full item

• China: State-backed Naura moves up in semiconductor equipment vendor rankings, taking 6th place by revenue in the world in 2024, up from 8th just one year earlier / full item

• ‘Global tech industry braces for ‘China shock’ in mature chips’ / full item

• Vietnam: ‘Ho Chi Minh City aims to train at least 9000 highly skilled workers with university degrees or higher in the semiconductor industry by 2030’ / full item

• China: Domestic extreme ultraviolet – EUV – lithography system, now testing at Huawei’s Dongguan facility, may be a global game-changer in semiconductor production, and supply chains / full item

• Taiwan: Google is reportedly to partner Taiwan’s MediaTek for the next version of its AI chips, Tensor Processing Units, looking to further reduce reliance on NVIDIA / full item

• Korea AeroSpace Administration’s strategic plans for space transportation, satellites, and space science exploration have been approved, looking to become a space power / full item

• China National Space Administration opens 2028 Tianwen-3 Mars mission to international cooperation and participation / full item

• South Korea: National space agency is to invest a combined $562.5M in R&D projects in 2025 in bid to lift South Korea into position as 1 of 5 global leaders in aerospace, and space, sectors / full item

• Australia: Esper secures Au$5M to identify and map critical minerals, and more, from space / full item

• Starcloud gains NVIDIA partnership with space-based data centers, aiming to leverage solar energy for operations and dodge water-cooling issues by using vacuum / full item

• Japan: ispace preps for its Resilience moon lander to attempt touchdown on June 6th, which may make ispace the first Japanese private company to accomplish the feat / full item

• Japan: Dymon Co ultra-compact Moon rover launched via SpaceX rocket from NASA Kennedy Space Center, set to be world’s first private firm to explore and photograph lunar surface / full item

• Australia’s Fleet Space satellite exploration firm partners US’ hydrogen company, Koloma, to speed discovery and development of natural hydrogen, globally / full item

• United Airlines has installed Starlink on its first regional aircraft, and expects to outfit 40 regional aircraft each month from May to year-end 2025 / full item

• China: 18 new satellites entered orbit, adding to the Thousand Sails megaconstellation in development, with this the first launch from a new launch facility / full item

• Australia’s Optera Solutions fabless semiconductor firm has been selected to join the Thales Space Business Catalyst Program in France, with ‘event-based’ optical sensors / full item

• The [Australian Electoral Commission] will use Starlink services as a backup telecommunications platform as part of our contract with Telstra for fixed line internet services… / full item

• India: SpaceX unveils deals with India’s dominant telecom industry firms, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, with plans to roll out Starlink internet services across India / full item

• China: iSpace commercial launch firm, aka Beijing Interstellar Glory Space Technology, secured new funding as it prepares for first launch of Hyperbola-3 reusable rocket / full item

• China launches new Tianlian data relay satellite to support human spaceflight’ / full item

• China: Beijing Ziwei Yutong Technology Co Ltd, aka AZSpace, looks to conduct orbital manned flight tests in 2027 or 2028 / full item

• Video: China’s Shenzhou-19 astronauts complete their 3rd spacewalk / full item

• In February, India raised the budget for the Gaganyaan human spaceflight mission to $2.32 billion, based on expanded task set which includes production of the nation’s space station / full item

• The [Australian Electoral Commission] will use Starlink services as a backup telecommunications platform as part of our contract with Telstra for fixed line internet services…” / full item

• India: SpaceX unveils deals with India’s dominant telecom industry firms, Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel, with plans to roll out Starlink internet services across India / full item

• Vietnam: Prime Minister shares that his government is looking to rapidly issue a licence for Starlink to provide satellite internet services in the country under a pilot scheme / full item

India and Starlink: “The cost disparity is a key factor. Globally, Starlink’s satellite internet plans range from $10 to $500 per month with an additional one-time hardware cost…” / full item

• India and Starlink: “The cost disparity is a key factor. Globally, Starlink’s satellite internet plans range from $10 to $500 per month with an additional one-time hardware cost…” / full item

• India is now exporting Apple components to China and Vietnam, illustrating the success of the government’s ‘Make In India’ initiative / full item

• Chip makers and supply chain firms called on European Commission to launch 2023 Chips Act follow-up, focusing on chip design, materials and equipment, in addition to manufacturing / full item

• China: Ministry of Finance 2025 central budget to allocate $55BN for science and tech, a 10% increase from 2024 constituting the 3rd-largest item behind defense and debt interest payments / full item

• China: Researchers have developed a prototype for a nuclear battery encased in silicon carbide semiconductor material, with a theoretical operational lifespan of thousands of years / full item

• China’s Baidu-backed StarFive Technology chip design house gains backing from government-owned HK Investment Corp, as the city steps into the RISC-V space / full item

• Taiwan’s TSMC is reportedly looking at investment in South Korea’s AI-focused semiconductor firm, FuriosaAI, which is separately in acquisition negotiations with Meta / full item

• China: Alibaba launches its first server-grade RISC-V processor, the C930, designed for high-performance computing and positioning as an alternative to Intel Xeon and AMD CPUs / full item

• South Korea is to establish a $34BN policy fund to support companies in strategic technologies, alongside new policies to attract cutting-edge industry talent / full item

• Samsung-Baidu collaboration on 2nm chips may now be on hold, with Donald Trump’s tightening semiconductor policies likely a contributing factor / full item

• Japan: Tenstorrent, US semiconductor firm backed by Amazon’s Bezos, is to launch an AI chip service in Japan charging users based on amount of data processed, reducing costs for developers / full item

• South Korea’s FuriosaAI artificial intelligence chip firm has rejected Meta’s $800M acquisition bid / full item

• China and Pakistan ink astronaut training agreement that could see the first international astronaut on China’s Tiangong space station / full item

• Rocket Lab launched a Japanese firm’s synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite from its New Zealand facility, the first of 8 planned missions for iQPS / full item

Asia Tech Newsletters, Weekly: March 2025

• To March 29th on LinkedIn and via Substack
• To March 22nd on LinkedIn and via Substack
• To March 15th on LinkedIn and via Substack
• To March 8th on LinkedIn and via Substack
• To March 1st on LinkedIn and via Substack

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