AI Is Moving from Hype to Hardware — and from Pilots to Scale

<span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">AI Is Moving from Hype to Hardware — and from Pilots to Scale</span> <span><time datetime="2026-09-04T09:30:09-05:00" title="Friday, September 4, 2026 - 09:30 CDT" class="datetime">Sep 4, 2026</time> </span> <div class="field field--name-field-terms-reference field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item content-tag content-tag--news"><a href="https://www.electronics.org/primary-categories/news" hreflang="en">News</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><h6>Key Summary</h6><ul depth="0" node="[object Object]"><li index="0" node="[object Object]" data-list-item-id="e4a35655ff2ad1b9b79327e6e17b37d96">AI investment is accelerating, with major spending flowing into servers, semiconductors, networking and infrastructure.</li><li index="1" node="[object Object]" data-list-item-id="e2c1ecd267f9c6c104abf266a953e1e93">Inference cost and efficiency are creating new demands across memory, advanced packaging, power and cooling.</li><li index="2" node="[object Object]" data-list-item-id="e5960157b31aa938843a070620a4d7b4d">PCB manufacturers are adopting AI, but few have scaled it across factory operations.</li><li index="3" node="[object Object]" data-list-item-id="e17ce1db6991af9b227b087e758eee747">AI’s long-term impact will depend on electronics infrastructure, data quality, operating discipline and human judgment.&nbsp;</li></ul><hr><p><em>by Sydney Xiao, president, East Asia, Global Electronics Association</em></p><p>I’ve been reading a few pieces on AI recently, and three of them stayed with me for different reasons.</p><p>The first is about where the <strong>money is going</strong>.</p><p><a href="https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-05-19-gartner-forecasts-worldwide-ai-spending-to-grow-47-percent-in-2026"><strong>Gartner — Worldwide AI Spending Forecast</strong></a></p><p>Gartner expects worldwide AI spending to grow 47% in 2026, reaching about $2.6 trillion. A significant share of that is going into the infrastructure behind AI — servers, semiconductors, networking and the systems needed to run AI at scale.</p><p>What I find interesting is the speed&nbsp;at which investment is moving into real capacity. AI is becoming a major infrastructure build-out as well as a technology cycle.</p><p>The second is about where <strong>AI itself is going.</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/semiconductors/our-insights/frontiers-of-compute-the-technologies-to-reduce-ai-inference-costs"><strong>McKinsey — Frontiers of compute: The technologies to reduce AI inference costs</strong></a></p><p>McKinsey’s “Frontiers of compute: The technologies to reduce AI inference costs”&nbsp;makes a point that stayed with me: the next breakthrough in AI may come from a cheaper token.</p><p>As AI becomes more widely used, inference cost and efficiency matter more. That creates new demands — and opportunities — across memory, networking, advanced packaging, power and cooling.</p><p>From an electronics perspective, this is where AI becomes very tangible. The economics of AI increasingly depend on the hardware and systems underneath it.</p><p>The third read is closer to home: <strong>Global Electronics Association’s “</strong><a href="https://go.electronics.org/ai-in-pcb"><strong>AI in PCB Manufacturing: From Pilots to Scale</strong></a><strong>.”</strong></p><p>One number stood out to me: 68% of PCB manufacturers are already using AI, while only 8% have reached real scale.</p><p>That gap feels very familiar. Starting a pilot can happen quickly. Scaling it across a factory requires good data, clear processes, the right skills and strong operating discipline.</p><p>For companies, the key question is whether AI is genuinely improving quality, productivity and decision-making.</p><p>For individuals, AI can help us move faster. Experience, curiosity and judgment still matter, and the real value comes from knowing when and how to use the technology well.</p><p>For me, these three reads point in the same direction: AI is attracting serious investment, creating new demands across the electronics value chain, and moving from experimentation into real operating capability.</p><p>&nbsp;</p></div> <div class="field field--name-field-paragraphs-reference field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"> <div class="page-section paragraph paragraph--type--page-section paragraph--view-mode--default"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-paragraphs-reference-2 field--type-entity-reference-revisions field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"> <div class="page-section paragraph paragraph--type--page-section paragraph--view-mode--default"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-terms-reference-2 field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item content-tag content-tag--artificial-intelligence"><a href="https://www.electronics.org/secondary-categories/artificial-intelligence" hreflang="en">artificial intelligence</a></div> <div class="field__item content-tag content-tag--pcb-manufacturing"><a href="https://www.electronics.org/secondary-categories/pcb-manufacturing" hreflang="en">PCB Manufacturing</a></div> </div> <drupal-render-placeholder callback="Drupal\node\NodeViewBuilder::renderLinks" arguments="0=7751&amp;1=rss&amp;2=en&amp;3=&amp;4" token="QT4ahzxxyKmi62So4gsunouwKWhmADBtjOQXmX_2dW0"></drupal-render-placeholder><drupal-render-placeholder callback="flag.link_builder:build" arguments="0=node&amp;1=7751&amp;2=bookmark_to_favorites" token="Z32YCJ0PJ540Dl_uZChoBo2jrGtlFSrCfT_RHS96YcA"></drupal-render-placeholder>

Publication

Global Electronics Association (formerly IPC) - news and market reports RSS · Trade Publication

Published

4th September 2026

Original report

electronics.org

ProcIntel stores what the source published in its feed — a headline, a summary and a link. It does not store or reproduce the full article.