Applied Materials is pouring $500 million into a new manufacturing campus in Singapore, the cornerstone of a plan to almost double its global output. The site will grow from one to three fabs, pushing Singapore’s share of the company’s capacity to roughly 50 percent. CEO Gary Dickerson said the move targets the surge in AI‑driven chip demand. The investment also signals confidence in the region’s supply chain.

Demand for AI computing power is pushing chip‑making equipment makers to expand fast. Dickerson projects Applied Materials’ revenue to rise more than 30 percent this year and to keep climbing, mirroring a broader industry upswing. The Singapore hub will add about 1,000 jobs, underscoring Southeast Asia’s growing role as a production hot‑spot for next‑gen semiconductors. It also aims to meet regional fab shortages.

At the same time, Japanese firms are reshaping the undersea cable market to support AI traffic, with NTT Data Group launching the I‑AM cable linking Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. The shift comes as investors flee India’s tech sector, pulling a net $30 billion this year, and as SK Hynix vows to triple capacity by 2034. The race to build AI‑ready infrastructure is now unmistakably Asian.