Asya teknolojisinde Huawei-Qualcomm anlaşması, veri merkezi atağı ve siber saldırı dalgası

China is building data centers very fast. It is building them in inner regions with a lot of electricity. Land there is also cheap. One example is Ulanqab in Inner Mongolia. There are 89 data centers there, built or in planning.

Ulanqab is a farming city. It is famous for potatoes and yogurt snacks. Some estimates say it is the fastest growing data center hub in Asia. Engineers are even changing an empty high school into a data center. Soon, rows of computers will fill the playground.

The city has a lot of energy, cheap land and cold weather. Data centers there pay less than half of Beijing's average price per hour. Thousands of workers came from around the region. They live in temporary housing. But there is one big question. Can China make enough advanced chips for all these buildings?

Huawei and Qualcomm have signed a cross-licence deal. It covers 5G, artificial intelligence and network technologies. The US chipmaker will also buy some US patents from Huawei. The deal is worth more than $133.9 million, so Washington will review it. In 25 years of working together, this is the first time Qualcomm has paid for intellectual property.

The patents cover Huawei's new chip and system design principles. They are called the Tau Scaling Law. Huawei introduced the technology in May. It was developed to get around strict US export controls that stop Huawei from getting advanced chip technology from abroad. The announcement came just after Donald Trump and Xi Jinping finished their official summit in Washington. However, tension between the world's two most powerful countries continues.

China is quickly building data centres in its energy-rich inner regions. It wants to use cheap land and plenty of electricity in the race to develop AI. Ulanqab in Inner Mongolia is a farming city that is famous for potatoes and yoghurt snacks. In Inner Mongolia, 89 data centres have been built or planned. Engineers are even turning an empty high school into a data centre.

According to experts, data centres there pay less than half of Beijing's average hourly tariff. However, there is a big question. Can China's chip factories make enough advanced processors to fill all these sites?

Huawei and Qualcomm have signed a cross-licensing agreement covering 5G, artificial intelligence and networking technologies. The deal also includes Qualcomm's purchase of some of Huawei's US patents, which will trigger a regulatory review in Washington because the transaction exceeds $133.9 million. In their 25-year relationship, this is the first time Qualcomm has paid for intellectual property. The patents cover the "Tau Scaling Law", Huawei's new semiconductor and system design principles, introduced in May to get around strict US export controls.

China is rapidly building data centres in its energy-rich inland regions, hoping to turn plentiful electricity and cheap land into an advantage in the AI race. In Ulanqab, a farming city in Inner Mongolia, about 15 gigawatts of computing capacity has been allocated. According to some estimates, this makes it the fastest-growing data centre hub in Asia. The big question is whether China's chip factories can make enough advanced processors to fill these facilities, given the limits on selling Nvidia chips to China.

Sydney-based AirTrunk plans to triple its investment in Japan to $30 billion over the next five years. Its CEO, Robin Khuda, told Nikkei Asia that he expects demand in Japan to be "huge". Japan is relatively expensive because of high construction and financing costs, yet customers are asking for more AI workloads there. McKinsey estimates that Asia-Pacific demand reached 28 gigawatts last year, about a third of the global total.

Businesses in Japan and South Korea have recently been targeted by a series of major cyberattacks, with millions of customer records stolen. The targets included banks, retailers, restaurant chains and car rental services. These attacks have raised concerns that AI could help hackers expand cyber threats. According to CrowdStrike, Anthropic's Claude Code agent and ARTEX, an open-source tool of Chinese origin, were used to help break into South Korean banks' networks. Trend Micro said more than 600 unauthorised access incidents and similar cyber events had been reported in Japan by the end of September this year.

Huawei has made a significant breakthrough in its intellectual property portfolio, signing a cross-licensing agreement that covers 5G, artificial intelligence and networking technologies. The deal also involves the US chipmaker buying some of Huawei's US patents, and because the transaction's total value exceeds the $133.9 million threshold, it is set to trigger regulatory scrutiny in Washington. In a relationship spanning 25 years, it is the first time that Qualcomm has been the party paying for intellectual property.

The patents cover Huawei's new semiconductor and system design principles, known as the Tau Scaling Law. Unveiled in May, the technology was developed to circumvent strict US export controls, which have deprived Huawei of advanced chip technologies from abroad. The announcement by the two companies came just after US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping concluded their formal summit in Washington, while tensions between the world's two most powerful countries persist.

Meanwhile, China is rapidly building data centres in its energy-rich interior regions, aiming to turn abundant electricity and cheap land into an advantage in the race to develop artificial intelligence. According to FT reporters Eleanor Olcott and Zijing Wu, who visited Ulanqab in Inner Mongolia, 89 data centres there have either been built or are at the planning stage. Around 15 gigawatts of computing capacity have been allocated in this remote farming city, and by some estimates it is Asia's fastest-growing data centre hub. Nevertheless, the big question remains whether China's chip factories can produce enough advanced processors to fill all these facilities, given the restrictions on selling Nvidia chips to China.

Sydney-based hyperscale data centre operator AirTrunk plans to triple its investment in Japan to $30 billion over the next five years, in an attempt to capture demand for AI infrastructure in Asia. CEO Robin Khuda expects demand in Japan to be "massive", and the company also intends to raise its committed capacity there from 530 megawatts to more than 1 gigawatt. He said that customers are asking the company to take on more AI workloads in Japan, even though the market is relatively expensive owing to high construction and financing costs.

Businesses in Japan and South Korea have recently been targeted by a series of major cyberattacks, in which millions of customer records were seized, fuelling concern that AI may enable hackers to amplify cyber threats. On Wednesday, cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said it had found that Anthropic's Claude Code agent and ARTEX, an open-source tool of Chinese origin, had been used to help infiltrate the networks of South Korean banks.

The scramble to build AI infrastructure has pushed Asia's technology supply chain to its limits, with shortages now running from basic DRAM memory to virtually every other type of chip and component. A long-standing components supplier in Taipei complained for over 20 minutes about being swamped since the summer, accompanying Taiwanese clients on trips to Japan, all with the same aim: securing more supply from a Japanese component maker. At one Nvidia server provider, an executive texted during the Moon Festival that while everyone else enjoyed the long holiday, they were at the factory with other senior executives, engineers and staff, filling customers' orders. "I'm exhausted, but very happy," the executive said.

Huawei has made a notable breakthrough in its intellectual-property portfolio, signing a cross-licensing agreement with Qualcomm that covers 5G, AI and networking technologies. The deal also allows the US chipmaker to buy some of Huawei's US patents, and because the transaction's total value exceeds the $133.9 million threshold, it will draw regulatory scrutiny in Washington. Never before in its 25-year relationship with Huawei has Qualcomm been the party paying for intellectual property. The patents cover Huawei's new semiconductor and system-design principles, known as the "Tau Scaling Law", a technology unveiled in May and developed to get around the strict US export controls that deprive the company of advanced chip technology from abroad.

China, for its part, is racing to build data centres in its energy-rich interior, hoping to turn abundant electricity and cheap land into an edge in the race to develop AI. Ulanqab, a remote farming city in Inner Mongolia known for its potatoes and yoghurt snacks, has roughly 15 gigawatts of computing capacity allocated, which by some estimates makes it Asia's fastest-growing data-centre hub. Engineers there are even converting an abandoned high school into a data centre, and the playground where students once spent their breaks will soon be filled with rows of computing racks. Experts say Inner Mongolia probably has the largest "local electricity surplus" of any administrative region in the world, and its data centres pay less than half of Beijing's average hourly tariff. The big question, however, is whether China's chip fabs, given the restrictions on Nvidia chip sales to the country, can produce enough advanced processors to fill all these facilities.

Sydney-based hyperscale operator AirTrunk plans to triple its investment in Japan to $30 billion over the next five years, in a bid to capture Asia's demand for AI infrastructure. In an exclusive interview with Nikkei Asia, CEO Robin Khuda said he remained optimistic about the market and expected demand in Japan to be "huge". Although Japan is a relatively expensive market because of high construction and financing costs, customers of AirTrunk, which Blackstone bought in 2024, are asking it to take on more AI workloads there. McKinsey & Co. estimates that data-centre demand in Asia-Pacific stood at 28 gigawatts last year, roughly a third of the global total, and capacity is expected to triple by 2030.

Businesses in Japan and South Korea have recently been hit by a string of major cyberattacks, with millions of customer records seized and fears mounting that AI could enable hackers to magnify cyber threats. The targets included banks, retailers, restaurant chains and car-rental services. On Wednesday, the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said it had found that Anthropic's Claude Code agent and ARTEX, an open-source tool of Chinese origin, were used to help infiltrate the networks of South Korean banks. According to Trend Micro, companies and organisations in Japan reported more than 600 unauthorised-access and similar cyber incidents by the end of September this year. Another firm, ThreatBook, said Japan and South Korea ranked among the five markets in Asia-Pacific most targeted by cyberattacks between June 2025 and June 2026.