city

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has fully started production at its first wafer fab in Singapore, driven by demand for AI infrastructure.The factory is a joint venture with NXP and began trial production in June, achieving a yield rate of 99%. Mass production is planned for early 2027. TSMC holds approximately 19% of the shares.

The government of Kazakhstan is promoting the use of associated gas to power cryptocurrency mining, in order to restore the mining industry affected by power restrictions. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a decree in July requiring the establishment of mechanisms for enterprises to conduct digital mining using associated gas.Daniyar Mubarakov, head of the Blockchain and Digital Mining Association, stated that the total amount of associated gas in Kazakhstan can be converted into 1.2 to 1.3 terawatt-hours of electricity, sufficient to support medium or large data centers or Bitcoin mines in some oil fields. The Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan estimates that there are up to 60 oil fields in the country producing associated gas. Oil companies can sell waste gas to miners, reducing disposal costs by millions of dollars, while miners can lock in electricity prices for years, reducing dependence on grid power.The government of Kazakhstan is developing a relevant legal framework to clarify the operational rules for enterprises and regulate the market. Gizzat Baitursynov, Deputy Minister of AI and Digital Development of Kazakhstan, stated that this mechanism will increase government tax revenue and improve the environment.

According to the Economic Daily, major companies such as Apple, NVIDIA, AMD, Qualcomm, and MediaTek are racing towards AI and high-performance computing, recently increasing their orders for TSMC's 2-nanometer family capacity by 10% to 20%. As a result, TSMC is accelerating the expansion of its 2-nanometer family, with progress exceeding expectations. TSMC has consistently refrained from commenting on customer information and market rumors.The market originally estimated that TSMC's monthly capacity for the 2-nanometer family would be around 90,000 to 100,000 wafers by the end of this year, with expectations for continued double-digit growth to reach 110,000 to 140,000 wafers by 2027. Industry sources indicate that due to strong customer demand, the monthly capacity is expected to surge to 120,000 wafers by the end of this year, achieving the originally set 2027 target ahead of schedule. Sources say that in response to the demands from Apple and non-Apple customers, the speed and scale of new capacity for the 2-nanometer family are setting new records, far exceeding the ramp-up speed of the 3-nanometer family in its first year.TSMC's Senior Vice President and Co-COO, Wei Chen-Hao, stated at this year's North America Technology Forum that in response to strong demand from AI and other sectors, there will be five 2-nanometer fabs ramping up simultaneously for the first time this year, including two in Hsinchu and three in Kaohsiung; the wafer output in the first year of 2-nanometer will increase by 45% compared to the first year of 3-nanometer in 2023; the compound annual growth rate of 2-nanometer capacity from 2026 to 2028 will reach 70%. TSMC's 3-nanometer capacity in the Southern Taiwan Science Park is expected to reach nearly 180,000 wafers per month in the fourth quarter of this year, and three new 3-nanometer fabs are being established in Taiwan, Arizona in the United States, and Japan. The second fab in the United States is planned to begin mass production in the second half of 2027.

The report "Eye on the Market" by Michael Cembalest from JPMorgan Private Bank was released on September 10, 2026, stating that Anthropic has committed to approximately 15 GW of additional power access, estimating the costs for cloud, chips, and data center leasing at around $500 billion, up from 1-2 GW previously. OpenAI aims to reach 30 GW by 2030, with data center spending of about $750 billion. Most of the power comes from grid or behind-the-meter natural gas generation, with nearly all of the on-site 75 GW being gas equipment, including deals like the $100 billion / 5000 MW agreement with Amazon AWS.The report also mentioned that OpenAI has not released a model claiming to provide a proof for the Navier-Stokes Millennium Prize Problem, which is under mathematical review, and there are rumors of progress on the Hodge Conjecture, while Anthropic has made progress on the Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer Conjecture. GPT-6 Astra scored 62% on the ARC-AGI-3 standard harness and 99% on the Provider Adapter. Francois Chollet pointed out that AGI progress is faster than expected.

According to TechPowerUp, Chinese DRAM manufacturer Changxin Storage (CXMT) expects to reach a monthly production capacity of approximately 350,000 DRAM wafers by the end of 2026, while Micron estimates around 375,000 wafers during the same period. The cleanroom construction cycle for Changxin Storage is about 12 months, shorter than the industry norm of 21 to 24 months.Due to U.S. sanctions preventing access to EUV, Changxin Storage is using older DUV lithography and multi-patterning technology. The company has begun shipping 16 Gb DDR5 chips at a speed of 8000 MT/s, with a chip area of 67 mm² and a density of 0.239 Gb/mm², where the G4 unit is 20% smaller than the G3. The 24 Gb modules are being mass-produced at approximately 6000 MT/s, and LPDDR5X-10667 modules (12 Gb and 16 Gb) have also entered mass production. The Chinese government is encouraging Changxin Storage to transfer DRAM IP to domestic manufacturers such as JHICC, Swaysure, and Yangtze Memory Technologies (XMC).

According to Catcher Predict monitoring, in the predicted market Polymarket for the event "Kansas City Royals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates," the win probability for the option "Kansas City Royals" in the sub-market "Kansas City Royals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates" has experienced significant fluctuations, dropping from 49.5% an hour ago to the current 33.5% (a fluctuation of 16%). Please note the impact of related breaking news.

On Friday, Solana shortened the target slot time from 300 milliseconds to 250 milliseconds, increasing the network clock speed by nearly 17%. A slot is a short window designated for validators to add blocks. After the adjustment, Solana aims to produce about 4 blocks per second, up from about 3.3 blocks previously, allowing wallets, exchanges, and trading applications to obtain a more real-time network status.Validators will still lead for 4 consecutive slots, so each leader's control window has been reduced from 1.2 seconds to 1 second, and the transaction ordering rights will be handed over to the next validator earlier. For applications such as oracle-driven markets and automated market makers, stale prices or hundreds of milliseconds of uncertainty can affect trade execution, and a faster clock is expected to reduce failed transactions and price deviations. However, the speed increase did not result in a 17% increase in original capacity; according to SIMD-0525, the allowed computation and data volume per slot has decreased by the same proportion, and the overall processing limit of the network remains basically unchanged.This adjustment is the third phase of Solana's gradual reduction from 400 milliseconds to 350 and then to 300 milliseconds. Since the epoch is still fixed at 432,000 slots, its expected duration has decreased from about 36 hours to about 30 hours, leaving less time for offline signing and delayed approvals. There is currently no timeline for the proposed further reduction to 200 milliseconds to go live on the mainnet, and the network will advance only if the block skip rate remains acceptable at the 250 milliseconds stage.

According to Catcher Predict monitoring, in the market prediction event "Kansas City Royals vs. Houston Astros" on Polymarket, the option "Houston Astros" in the sub-market "Spread -1.5" experienced a dramatic fluctuation in winning probability, soaring from 47% an hour ago to the current 96.5% (a fluctuation of 49.5%). Please note the impact of related breaking news.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance stated at the All-In Summit that U.S. AI data centers are facing increasing opposition, largely because the power supply has not kept up. Residents see data centers being built continuously while their electricity bills are rising, which naturally leads to backlash. He believes the solution is not to build fewer data centers but to increase power generation capacity accordingly.Vance mentioned that the U.S. has not built enough power facilities in the past generation, and in the future, it should pursue a state where "electricity is so cheap that it doesn't need to be metered." He also compared this to China, arguing that the slow growth of power generation in the U.S. in recent years has already affected the development of new industries like AI. "So cheap that it doesn't need to be metered" is an old slogan from the history of U.S. nuclear energy. In 1954, Lewis Strauss, the chairman of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, used it to describe the era of cheap electricity brought by atomic energy.The IEA estimates that data centers will contribute to about half of the new electricity demand in the U.S. by 2025; the U.S. Congress is also advancing legislation this week to try to prevent the costs of expanding data centers from being passed on to ordinary households.

According to Catcher Predict monitoring, in the market prediction event "Kansas City Royals vs. Houston Astros" on Polymarket, the "Over" option in the sub-market "Kansas City Royals O/U 1.5" experienced a dramatic fluctuation in winning probability, plummeting from 78.5% an hour ago to the current 50% (a fluctuation of 28.5%). Please note the impact of related breaking news.

According to CoinDesk, stablecoin payment startup Velocity announced that it has completed a total of $48 million in Series A funding, with a valuation of $200 million. This round includes an additional $10 million investment from Visa Ventures, Circle Ventures, Haun Ventures, Ripple, Translink Capital, and Mirana Ventures. Previously, the company completed $38 million in Series A funding in July.Velocity is headquartered in London, and its platform aims to help payment companies and banks use stablecoins for settlement, liquidity, and fund management without replacing existing systems. CEO Eric Queathem, who previously worked at Worldpay, which handled over $2 trillion in payment volume annually, believes that for the past 15 years, capital has been concentrated on improving the consumer front-end experience, while the back-end settlement layer has been neglected.Visa's involvement is particularly noteworthy, as Velocity does not believe that stablecoins will replace bank cards, but rather expects blockchain digital assets to take on more funding and settlement functions beneath the existing payment experience. Queathem anticipates that in the next five years, global enterprises will hold on-chain assets, and the partial on-chain funding of enterprises will create a greater infrastructure demand than merely stablecoin deposits and withdrawals.

As we enter the late third quarter of 2026, TSMC's 3nm and 2nm advanced process and CoWoS advanced packaging capacity continue to be in high demand. NVIDIA and Apple continue to dominate the resources for advanced processes and packaging; Amazon AWS's Annapurna has recently increased its AI self-developed chip production, securing more 3nm capacity. MediaTek, in addition to mobile chips, is also competing for 2/3nm process and CoWoS-S/L capacity with large orders related to Google TPU.There are reports that TSMC has recently readjusted its capacity allocation. After MediaTek secured a large order from Google TPU, the next-generation TPU v9 will simultaneously use TSMC's CoWoS-L and Intel's EMIB-T, which has slightly adjusted MediaTek's 3nm and 2nm capacity arrangements. Currently, TSMC's main customer for 3nm is NVIDIA, which is expected to surpass Apple to become the largest customer by 2025; the demand for 2nm is primarily from Apple and others. After AWS increased Annapurna's production, its 3nm and CoWoS configuration priority has improved.Starting in early 2026, TSMC will accelerate capacity expansion, with the 2nm monthly capacity of Hsinchu Baoshan Fab 20 and Kaohsiung Fab 22 reaching 50,000 wafers each by the end of October, totaling about 100,000 wafers; by the end of October, the monthly capacity for 3nm in Tainan Science Park is about 185,000 wafers. As of the end of September, the overall capacity utilization rate is about 96.2%, with 100% utilization for processes below 16/12nm down to 2nm. The shortage of CoWoS supply has driven advanced packaging orders to overflow, with the priority for orders going to ASE Group's Siliconware Precision Industries first, followed by Amkor, and Chipbond, among others. Chipbond's related testing and packaging capacity is fully loaded, with order visibility extending to 2028.

TrendForce's latest research on the memory industry indicates that the NOR Flash market is experiencing the most significant supply-demand structural change in nearly a decade. AI-related products are absorbing a large amount of capacity, and suppliers find it difficult to significantly increase NOR Flash bit output despite the continuous growth in high-end application demand. Therefore, the supply-demand imbalance is expected to persist in the second half of 2026, with overall contract prices remaining high.Although suppliers in Taiwan and China have increased capital expenditures and expanded production, the new capacity cannot be immediately converted into market supply. New output must first go through process migration, yield ramp-up, product certification, and customer design integration, making it difficult to alleviate the supply shortage in the mid-to-high capacity segment in the short term. Winbond expects the strongest bit growth in 2026, driven by the full-scale production of 45nm NOR and the migration to 25nm and 20nm. GigaDevice is upgrading the process for products of 32Mb and above, with effective output limited in the first half of the year. MXIC will prioritize additional 12-inch capacity for NAND and eMMC, limiting the growth of NOR wafer input.In 2026, AI and aerospace communications will become the main sources of new demand. The NOR usage in AI servers is 3-5 times that of traditional servers, with high-density demand driven by edge AI, AI PCs, robotics, and low-orbit satellites. In the first half of 2026, the average cumulative contract price increased by 100-120%. In the second half, the average price of products of 256Mb and above may rise by another 90-110%, while prices for products of 128Mb and below are expected to increase by 10-20% in Q4 2026.

According to foreign media reports, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix rejected a prepayment proposal for electricity bills put forward by the Korea Electric Power Corporation. The proposal originally required the two companies to pay electricity bills in advance to fund the construction of the power grid for a new technology cluster. Utility companies across Asia are struggling to keep up with the growing demand from the semiconductor and artificial intelligence industries due to tight funding.The Korea Electric Power Corporation's proposal is estimated by local media to total 250 trillion won, equivalent to five years' worth of electricity bills. A spokesperson for the Korea Electric Power Corporation stated via text message, "The two companies ultimately rejected the proposal from the Korea Electric Power Corporation." According to local media reports, the two chip manufacturers are concerned about the uncertainty of whether the current semiconductor boom can be sustained over the next five years.

The supply chain reveals that TSMC has disclosed its expansion targets for 2/3 nanometers for the first time next year. The 2-nanometer production is expected to increase from 90,000 wafers at the end of this year to 110,000 wafers by mid-next year, an increase of 22%; the 3-nanometer production is expected to rise from over 180,000 wafers at the end of this year to 210,000 wafers by mid-next year, an increase of over 16%. TSMC did not comment on market rumors yesterday and emphasized that capacity-related statements are based on the company's announcements.It is reported that TSMC's monthly capacity for 3 nanometers reached 120,000 to 130,000 wafers at the end of last year and is expected to expand to 180,000 wafers by the end of this year, with a target of over 210,000 wafers by mid-next year. The monthly capacity for 2 nanometers is expected to reach 90,000 wafers by the end of this year. TSMC previously stated that capital expenditures in 2026 will range from $60 billion to $64 billion, with approximately 70% to 80% allocated for advanced processes, and plans to add three 3-nanometer fabs located in Taiwan, Arizona in the United States, and Japan, while converting 5-nanometer equipment in Taiwan to support 3-nanometer capacity.

According to Reuters, Mexican authorities discovered an illegal cryptocurrency mining operation in a remote mountainous building in Tehuacán, Puebla, where 300 GPUs, 80 medium-voltage terminals, and 8 satellite antennas were found on-site. Authorities are investigating whether the operation is stealing electricity from a nearby hydroelectric power station.This is the fourth similar crypto farm discovered in the area since early last year, with three others found near a hydroelectric power station in northern Puebla last year. Local residents reported that the noise from the equipment can be heard from a kilometer away. Mexican security analyst David Saucedo stated that drug trafficking groups seem to have reached a new level of sophistication, as establishing such operations requires technical expertise and support from well-funded groups.Chainalysis Latin America expert Caio Motta pointed out that such operations are usually located in areas with extremely low electricity prices or within the reach of organized crime to steal electricity and establish large-scale mining infrastructure.

CoinDesk reported that Robinhood Chain's daily revenue dropped 87% from its peak on September 4, to $1.06 million. The decline was not due to a decrease in activity, but rather higher capacity reduced congestion fees.During the same period, DEX trading volume approached $2 billion, and active addresses increased by 16.5%.

The wealthiest state in India, Maharashtra, is formulating policies to tokenize state government assets (including power transmission infrastructure), with the funds raised to be used for constructing new transmission lines and energy storage facilities. The Chief Minister's Chief Economic Advisor and CEO of the Maharashtra Transformation Institute (MITRA), Praveen Pardeshi, introduced this plan at an invitation-only event called "The Box Launch," hosted by the real estate tokenization company RealX and MST Blockchain at the Mumbai World Trade Center.Pardeshi stated that transmission lines could be partially tokenized, for example, 40% to 50%, allowing investors holding tokens to receive a portion of the revenue from Maharashtra Transco. The new funds generated from token sales could be used to build more transmission lines and solar energy storage centers. He pointed out that the state currently has a significant surplus of solar power but lacks the grid capacity to deliver it to where it is needed; distribution companies must pay high prices of 16 to 18 rupees per unit during peak hours, while the price during surplus periods on the power exchange is only 2 paise per unit.He also illustrated the practice of real estate tokenization with the example of the Mumbai Express Towers commercial building tokenized under a REIT structure, emphasizing that tokenization does not equate to privatization but rather allows more citizens to participate in the development activities of public asset creation. Additionally, the state is drafting the Maharashtra Digital and Land Token Asset Trading Act (DELTA Act), which, if passed, will make it the first state in India to legislate for blockchain-based property tokenization.

The founder and CEO of the Hong Kong-listed company Mech-Mind, Shao Tianlan, posted on social media, questioning some embodied intelligence companies that create false and unsustainable revenue through data collection centers and related transactions with local governments, investors, and suppliers to promote their listings. Mech-Mind mainly provides products such as robotic 3D vision and AI software, applied in industrial manufacturing, logistics, and other scenarios. He referred to these companies as "gathering-type" embodied intelligence companies, mentioning that they include some well-known and highly valued companies from Beijing and Shanghai that have appeared on the Spring Festival Gala, and criticized this practice as illegal, unethical, and unwise.Shao Tianlan stated that generating revenue in this way could harm investors and place an increasingly heavy growth burden on the companies. After achieving such revenue this year, they would need to continue to do so next year and do even more, potentially falling into a vortex of continuous fraud and bleeding. He specifically named Galaxy Universal in the comments section and inquired whether there was support from Beijing city leaders for the company's listing.