Krypton Evening News | Evonik Plans to Cut 3,200 Jobs Worldwide; TSMC's 28nm Output Drops by 25% Since Early This Year; Samsung Electronics Opens ChatGPT and Codex to All Its Employees in South Korea
Large Companies:
Evonik Plans to Cut 3,200 Jobs Globally
Evonik recently announced that it will extend its "Evonik Customized" efficiency - enhancement plan, which covers all its global business and functional departments. It intends to cut approximately 3,200 jobs, of which around 2,150 are in Germany. The relevant measures are planned to start in 2027 and continue until the end of 2029. On June 22, Evonik confirmed that 1,050 jobs will be cut outside Germany, including in the Chinese region, but the specific number of job cuts has not been determined. The "Evonik Customized" plan was launched in October 2023, with the original goal of cumulatively cutting about 2,800 jobs by the end of 2026. In May this year, Evonik said that the plan was progressing smoothly and the cost - reduction target would be achieved.
South Korea Considers Taking Separate Measures for Samsung and SK Hynix Leveraged ETFs
Lee Chan - jin, the head of South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service, said that since there is no sign of a slowdown in retail investors' demand for high - risk products, financial regulators are considering taking separate stability measures for individual stock leveraged ETFs. Lee said at a press conference on Monday that the side effects of individual stock leveraged ETFs are intensifying. Lee also said that the Financial Supervisory Service is investigating the failed SpaceX IPO stock allocation by Mirae Asset to prevent similar problems from happening again and protect investors' rights.
TSMC Cuts 28nm Production by 25% Compared to the Beginning of the Year
According to reports, supply - chain sources pointed out that the monthly wafer input volume at TSMC's main 28 - nanometer production base, Fab 15A, has dropped from 200,000 wafers at the beginning of this year to 150,000 wafers, a decrease of more than 25% compared to the beginning of the year. TSMC plans to allocate more 28 - nanometer production capacity to support the interlayer and gradually withdraw from low - margin orders.
Subsidiary of Mulinsen Raises the Price of All PCB Products by Another 10%
Recently, it was learned from Xinyu Mulinsen Electronic Co., Ltd., a wholly - owned subsidiary of Mulinsen, that affected by the raw material glass cloth, the price of copper - clad laminates, the raw material required for PCB production, has continued to rise significantly, and the supply is tight, resulting in a substantial increase in the cost of copper - clad laminates, the core main material of PCBs. To continuously ensure high - quality products and better services, and to balance the common interests of supply and demand sides in line with market development, the company has carefully studied and decided to raise the price of all PCB products by another 10% starting from June 17, 2026. Previously, the company had raised the price of all PCB products by 20% on June 12, 2026.
Samsung Electronics Opens ChatGPT and Codex to All Employees in South Korea
OpenAI announced that Samsung Electronics is deploying ChatGPT Enterprise and Codex to its global employees to accelerate the company's internal adoption of AI. According to the agreement, ChatGPT and Codex will be provided to all Samsung Electronics employees in South Korea and all employees in the Device eXperience (DX) department globally. This is one of OpenAI's largest enterprise - level deployments to date. Samsung Electronics will fully use ChatGPT and Codex in its operations, covering R & D, manufacturing, marketing, corporate functions, and other business areas.
New Products:
Alibaba Releases Video Generation Model HappyHorse 1.1
36Kr learned that on June 22, Alibaba released the video generation model HappyHorse 1.1, which has been systematically upgraded in dimensions such as dynamic expressiveness, subject consistency, instruction following, visual texture, and audio capabilities compared to the 1.0 version. The latest version has been integrated into the HappyHorse official website, Alibaba Cloud's Bailing, and Qianwen Cloud.
Investment and Financing:
Sand.ai Completes Two Rounds of Financing Totaling Over $100 Million
36Kr learned that Sand.ai recently completed two rounds of financing totaling over $100 million. The investors include Look Capital, Lollapalooza Capital (Wang Huiwen's family office), Jiukun Venture Capital, Matrix Partners China, MSA Capital, Sinovation Ventures, Xianghe Capital, Source Code Capital, Zhongke Chuangxing, Hongtai Fund, Capital Today, Huaye Tiancheng, Yunhui Capital, IDG, Baidu Ventures and other first - tier institutions. Xinghan Capital served as the financial advisor for this round of financing.
36Kr learned that according to Tianyancha App, recently, Kaibo Shengfu (Hubei) Equity Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) was established. The executive general partner is Kaibo (Hubei) Private Fund Management Co., Ltd., with a capital contribution of 105 million RMB. Its business scope includes venture capital and investment activities with its own funds. The partner information shows that the fund is jointly funded by China Lithium Battery Technologies, Hunan Qingyan Shengfu Venture Capital Management Co., Ltd. under Hunan Salt Industry Group, and Kaibo (Hubei) Private Fund Management Co., Ltd.
Today's Views:
Guo Mingji: Google Develops an Upgraded Version of TPU v9 Chip, and MediaTek Wins New Orders
On June 22, Guo Mingji, an analyst at TF International Securities, showed in the latest industry survey that Google will develop an upgraded v9 chip, possibly codenamed Triggerfish, based on TPU v9/Humufish, and MediaTek has exclusively won this new order with a higher unit price. With the estimated shipment volume of 4 - 5 million units in the Humufish life cycle remaining unchanged, Google has additionally placed an order for 1 - 2 million Triggerfish chips, which are expected to start production at the end of 2027 and reach large - scale production in 2028. Since the unit price of Triggerfish is about 30% higher than that of Humufish, it is expected to become a new growth driver for MediaTek's operations in 2028.
Jensen Huang: China is One of the World's Important Technology and Industrial Centers
On June 22, the 4th Chain Expo opened in Beijing. Jensen Huang, the CEO of NVIDIA, delivered a video speech. He said: "The Chain Expo focuses on one of the world's most important systems: the supply chain. The supply chain connects energy, factories, logistics, enterprises, and customers, and then connects the whole world. China is one of the world's important technology and industrial centers. The engineers here are outstanding, the developers are agile, and the enterprises are also developing on an extraordinary scale. Congratulations again on the opening of the 2026 Chain Expo and wish this expo a complete success!"
Other Noteworthy News:
The Bank of England (BoE) released a policy statement and a draft of the "Code of Conduct" (rules) for system - important stablecoin issuers on June 22, marking a key step in the construction of the UK's stablecoin regulatory framework. In terms of core policies, the framework makes two important adjustments: First, the maximum proportion of interest - bearing assets (short - term UK government bonds) in stablecoin reserve assets is raised from 60% to 70%, and the rest must be deposited in central bank deposits; Second, the issuance cap replaces the temporary holding limit proposed in the previous consultation. The initial issuance cap for each system - important stablecoin is set at £40 billion, and this cap will be reviewed regularly and removed after the credit supply risk is eliminated. The deadline for public comments on the framework is September 22, 2026. The Bank of England plans to finalize the "Code of Conduct" by the end of 2026, and regulated stablecoins can operate legally in the UK as early as 2027.