SK Hynix’s €7 billion EUV order from ASML signals a deeper shift in the AI race. As demand accelerates, memory — not compute — is emerging as the critical bottleneck shaping the next phase of global technology power.
Asia’s telecommunications landscape is vast, diverse and rapidly evolving. With billions of subscribers across countries with varying levels of digital infrastructure, the region has become a strategic laboratory for the future of telecom. Amid this complexity, five companies stand out—not only for their market share and revenue but also for their bold moves to transform networks into AI-driven platforms, reshaping the very nature of what it means to be a telecom operator.
Photonics is not a buzzword. It is the technology that carries the internet across oceans, enables chips to be etched at atomic scale and forms the foundation of future quantum systems. From fibre-optic communications to advanced manufacturing, photonics has become a critical enabler of modern societies. By 2030, the global photonics market is expected to exceed one trillion dollars. Yet at the heart of this rapidly expanding field lies a strategic chokepoint: extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography.
Germany’s AI ambitions are shaped as much by infrastructure as by research, industry or policy. Datacenters, energy supply and high-performance computing form the essential backbone for AI deployment, yet they also introduce constraints that influence where, how and how quickly AI capabilities can scale. Ambition alone cannot overcome the realities of electricity grids, cooling requirements and permitting processes.
For years, Germany has been described as Europe’s “industrial engine”, a country where engineering discipline meets long-term economic planning. As artificial intelligence accelerates globally, Germany finds itself at a crossroads: well-equipped with research depth, industrial muscle and public investment—but also challenged by the speed, capital intensity and platform dynamics that define the AI race. What emerges today is a nation trying to translate a century of industrial expertise into leadership within a technology wave dominated elsewhere by hyperscale software ecosystems.
