Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Vietnam are positioning themselves to command key parts of the AI value chain, seeking sovereignty over critical capabilities such as chipmaking, computing infrastructure and robotics to avoid becoming rule-takers. Taiwan, home to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), dominates production of the world's most advanced semiconductors, including AI processors. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called the island the "epicentre" of the AI revolution. Taiwanese foreign minister Francois Chih-chung Wu said in late 2025 that the most advanced chipmaking capabilities must remain in Taiwan. South Korea is taking a similar approach, with the government and chipmakers Samsung and SK Hynix announcing an investment of nearly US600 billion ($851 billion) in two new chip manufacturing plants. Samsung and SK Hynix constitute nearly 80 per cent of the global market for high-bandwidth memory chips. Huang met with SK Hynix, LG and Naver chairmen and asserted South Korea is set to be a global leader in AI. American AI giant Anthropic is reported to be collaborating with Samsung to develop a new AI chip. Japan's strategy looks different, with Japanese AI investment commitments taking a distinct path.