24-Hour AI Briefing · November 24, 2025: Qwen App Explodes, CoWoS Capacity Crisis, Nokia’s $4B Deal, Europe’s First HBM Chip
The past 24 hours delivered a fresh wave of major shifts across the global AI landscape. China’s consumer AI market saw historic momentum, chip packaging constraints tightened further, the U.S. moved to rebuild its network infrastructure backbone, and Europe finally achieved a critical milestone in semiconductor independence. Here is today’s full briefing.
1. Qwen App Surpasses 10 Million Downloads in One Week, Becoming the Fastest-Growing AI App in History
Alibaba’s Qwen App has crossed 10 million downloads within just one week of public testing, outpacing DeepSeek, ChatGPT, Sora, and other major players.
Commentary:
This marks a pivotal moment for Alibaba in the consumer AI market, signaling China’s transition from “open-source model race” to “mass-market AI entry points.”
The explosion demonstrates two truths:
— Large-model performance is now competitive with GPT-5 and Gemini 2.5 for many common tasks
— When user experience is strong and everyday scenarios are well-covered, adoption can scale at lightning speed
Thanks to Alibaba’s ecosystem—e-commerce, office tools, search, device-side models—Qwen has the potential to become a daily-life AI gateway, not just another chatbot.
But a key question remains:
Downloads do not equal retention, nor monetization.
Even ChatGPT still burns cash today—so what is Qwen’s real path to commercial success?
2. TSMC’s CoWoS Packaging Bottleneck Intensifies; Marvell and MediaTek Consider Intel EMIB
TSMC’s CoWoS advanced packaging will face shortfalls of 400,000 and 700,000 wafers over the next two years. Marvell and MediaTek are now evaluating Intel’s EMIB packaging as an alternative.
Commentary:
AI compute demand is expanding far faster than TSMC’s CoWoS capacity. CoWoS remains the gold standard for high-performance AI processors because of its high-bandwidth interconnects, reliability, and robust supply chain.
But when “the optimal solution” is no longer available, “the workable solution” becomes strategically necessary.
This gives Intel a rare opportunity for a packaging-driven comeback.
Still, Intel has missed many windows in recent years—can it take advantage of this one?
3. Nokia Secures a $4B U.S. Investment to Build AI-Ready Network Infrastructure
The U.S. government will invest $4 billion in Nokia, with $3.5 billion allocated to domestic R&D and $500 million to manufacturing expansion.
Commentary:
Why Nokia?
Because after the U.S. banned Huawei and ZTE, the global telecom market effectively became a two-player arena—Ericsson and Nokia.
With AI-era data traffic surging, the U.S. aims not only to regain influence in chip supply chains but also to rebuild control over the networks that connect those chips.
Nokia is also pivoting from a traditional telecom vendor toward becoming a foundational player in AI-age network infrastructure.
Could this investment mark Nokia’s return to global prominence?
4. Europe Produces Its First HBM Inference Processor: VSORA Jotunn8
Developed by GUC (a TSMC-affiliated ASIC design provider) and manufactured on TSMC’s 5nm process, VSORA Jotunn8 becomes Europe’s first HBM-based data center inference chip.
Commentary:
HBM is the central bottleneck for all AI accelerators. Europe has long lacked homegrown AI chip capabilities and has depended heavily on U.S. GPUs.
Jotunn8 represents a meaningful breakthrough. Its strengths include:
— Built on TSMC’s 5nm process
— Designed using GUC’s advanced packaging and ASIC expertise
— Positioned to integrate into global supply chains
If it reaches mass production, this could mark the beginning of Europe’s semiconductor independence in the AI era.
Key AI Events from the Past 72 Hours
Buffett Bets on Alphabet, Intel Admits Its AI Miss, Meta Unveils WorldGen (Nov 22, 2025)
Conclusion
From consumer-level surges to deep structural shifts in chips and infrastructure, the global AI race is accelerating on every front. The coming months will likely bring even more volatility—and more breakthroughs.
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