Nexperia China Starts Chip Production Amid Independence Dispute

Nexperia China has commenced producing its own chips, marking a significant step towards independence from its Dutch parent. The Chinese subsidiary is utilising 12-inch wafers, a size that Nexperia’s European facilities cannot manufacture.

Credit: NEXPERIA

An ongoing standoff between Nexperia, its owner Wingtech, and the Nexperia China subsidiary underpins this development. The dispute commenced in Oct. 2025 following a Dutch government intervention.

The intervention aimed to prevent the company from transferring operations to China. Prior to this, Nexperia produced wafers in Europe and then packaged them into chips in China.

After the intervention, the company fractured. Nexperia China declared independence, and Nexperia Europe subsequently halted wafer shipments to China, citing nonpayment.

Nexperia China stated it has begun manufacturing several chip types, including bipolar discrete devices, Schottky rectifiers, and electrostatic discharge devices. These are simple chips also produced by Nexperia.

The company did not immediately clarify the source of its 12-inch wafers. Wingtech founder Zhang Xuezheng controls Shanghai Dingtai Jiangxin Technology Co., Ltd., also known as WingSkySemi.

WingSkySemi is a 12-inch wafer fabrication plant in Shanghai. This facility had previously cooperated with Nexperia before the dispute initiated.

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• Nexperia China began manufacturing its own chips.

• The Chinese subsidiary is using 12-inch wafers, which its Dutch parent cannot produce in Europe.

• This move signals further independence amid a dispute that started in Oct. 2025.

Source: REUTERS

Australians Turn to VPNs Amidst New Online Age Restrictions

Australians are increasingly downloading virtual private networks, known as VPNs, as the country rolled out sweeping online age restrictions. These measures have led one of the world's largest pornography distributors to block users from its platforms.

Credit: UNSPLASH

Australia previously imposed a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence-powered chatbot services to keep certain content, including pornography, extreme violence, self-harm, and eating disorder material, from minors or face substantial fines.

These penalties could reach up to A$49.5 million ($34.5 million). The country has also joined others like Britain, France, and various US states in requiring websites that disseminate pornography to verify users are over 18 years old.

Additionally, app stores must now run age checks before permitting downloads of software labelled 18+. eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant stated the aim of these measures is to offer children the same online protection that is expected offline.

Commissioner Grant told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that children cannot "walk into a bar and order a drink, they can't stroll into a strip club or browse an adult shop or sit down at a blackjack table in a casino." She added that these protections are now being brought "to the digital realm."

Charts published by iPhone maker Apple showed that three of the 15 most downloaded free smartphone applications were VPNs. The most downloaded VPN, titled VPN - Super Unlimited Proxy, ranked ahead of any social media platform.

Canada-based Aylo, which owns a large network of pornography websites, has blocked Australians from accessing its platforms RedTube and YouPorn. The company also presented a version of Pornhub without explicit content.

The websites displayed a banner stating they were "not currently accepting new account registrations in your region". Aylo confirmed in an email that it had "restricted access to our platforms in a number of locations, including the UK, France, and a number of US states, due to ineffective and haphazard age verification laws".

Tom Sulston, deputy chair of advocacy group Digital Rights Watch, commented that it was unsurprising people were using VPNs. Sulston expressed hope that users would discover VPNs work for "spicier internet sites" and are "just generally a good idea to use VPNs when you're traversing the internet, because they do offer you some privacy protections."

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• Australia has implemented new online age restrictions targeting content access for minors.

• These laws include requirements for AI chatbots to filter certain content and mandate age verification for pornography websites.

• Fines for non-compliance can reach A$49.5 million ($34.5 million).

Source: REUTERS

China Sees OpenClaw AI Rush Amidst Privacy Debates

Consumers across southern China are rapidly adopting OpenClaw, an open-source artificial intelligence agent, for diverse tasks despite intensifying privacy concerns surrounding the technology. The widespread enthusiasm for OpenClaw has prompted a rush by Chinese tech companies to capitalise on its popularity.

Credit: OpenClaw

Almost 1,000 people recently queued at Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings’ Shenzhen headquarters to install OpenClaw software on their computers. The crowd included amateur developers, retired space engineers, housewives, students, and AI enthusiasts, with Tencent’s cloud-computing unit offering free installation services.

Social media platforms have also seen posts offering similar installation services for fees ranging from tens to hundreds of yuan. This reflects the surging interest in OpenClaw, which has now spread beyond the developer community to hobbyists and everyday users.

OpenClaw, previously known as Clawdbot and Moltbot, was developed by Austrian programmer Peter Steinberger and released last year. Microsoft-backed US frontier AI lab OpenAI recently acquired the autonomous AI agent.

Unlike conventional chatbots that mostly interact with users, OpenClaw was designed to carry out tasks on users’ computer systems on their behalf. It is billed as “the AI that actually does things” and offers a glimpse into a future where individuals could have their own personal AI assistants.

Chinese consumers have dubbed the adoption of OpenClaw as “raise the lobster,” using it for activities from stock picking and report writing to slide decks, emails, and coding. Shanghai-based designer Mark Yang, an early adopter, described the AI assistant as having “virtual staff” that reduce workload.

The rush to adopt the technology comes despite concerns, as OpenClaw typically requires high-level control of a user’s computer system to function, posing a potential privacy risk. Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang recently described OpenClaw as “the single most important release of software probably ever” at a Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom conference in San Francisco.

Installing OpenClaw and ensuring its proper function has proven challenging for users without advanced technical knowledge. Beijing-based software developer Hu Zhicheng stated this barrier explains the popularity of paid installation services on local social media.

A social media post from Tencent’s cloud unit stated that engineers would assist with setting up AI models, connecting with third-party services, and enabling various skills. Numerous online sessions and offline events have emerged across mainland China, including in Beijing, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou, to share expertise and encourage OpenClaw adoption.

Writer Afra Wang, who covers Chinese technology, observed tremendous interest in OpenClaw among the country’s independent developer community. Wang stated in a post on X that an OpenClaw meet-up in Hangzhou drew so many attendees that registration had to be restricted, with another talk in Shenzhen attracting over 900 registrations.

OpenClaw-style AI agents were featured in the government’s annual work report for the first time, suggesting other major Chinese tech companies are likely to join the trend. Premier Li Qiang delivered the report at the opening of China’s top legislative meeting, the National People’s Congress, in Beijing.

The report stated a goal to “promote faster application of new-generation intelligent terminals and AI agents, and encourage large-scale commercial application of AI in key sectors and fields, so as to foster new forms and models of AI-native business.” Smartphone vendors Xiaomi and ZTE-backed Nubia recently announced the integration of OpenClaw-like capabilities in some of their models.

Cloud services providers, from ByteDance to Alibaba Group Holding, are also offering solutions for OpenClaw installation on their cloud platforms, aiming to alleviate privacy concerns. Veteran Chinese tech entrepreneur Fu Sheng developed an OpenClaw-based agent named Sanwan while recovering from a skiing accident during the Chinese New Year holiday.

Fu spent 14 days developing Sanwan into a reliable 24/7 personal assistant. The AI agent helped him send Chinese New Year greetings to more than 600 friends in four minutes, write and publish social media posts that garnered more than 1 million views while he slept, and handle a range of other tasks.

Fu documented the entire development process on the website sanwan.ai, which Sanwan itself designed, coded, and launched. “When I work with human staff, no one acts immediately, but Sanwan is different; there is no need to schedule or wait,” Fu stated. “Changes come immediately at your command.”

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• Open-source AI agent OpenClaw is experiencing rapid adoption across southern China for diverse personal and professional tasks.

• *Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings is offering free installation services, while paid installation services are also prevalent due to the software's technical challenges.

• Consumers have coined the phrase “raise the lobster” to describe their use of OpenClaw, which operates directly on users’ computer systems.

Source: SCMP