Researchers at Pennsylvania State University have developed a self-powered integrated circuit that harvests energy from ambient light, detects chemicals in liquid and performs computing without a battery. The chip vertically integrates a graphene sensor, semiconductor logic and a silicon solar cell in a three-layer structure using 2D materials such as MoS2 and WSe2. The team said tighter integration can cut area, interconnect length, power loss and signal delay, with potential use in hard-to-access IoT and edge devices.

South Korea will foster semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centres as national growth engines based on large private-sector investment by companies including Samsung Electronics and SK. President Lee Jae-myung chaired a public briefing on three megaprojects and said he would directly oversee execution. Plans include accelerating chip plant construction, building regional production hubs, developing humanoid robots and foundation models, expanding AI data-centre capacity, and launching a manufacturing AI strategy with joint public-private investment.