As a leading global food enterprise, Japan's Ajinomoto Co., Inc. embarked on its journey with the monosodium glutamate (MSG) business and has since expanded its horizons to encompass diverse fields, including food, amino acid derivatives, and semiconductor materials. In 1996, Ajinomoto pioneered the development of ABF film, utilizing by-products from MSG production. This innovative insulating material is instrumental in packaging high-performance semiconductors (such as CPUs and GPUs), effectively preventing circuit interference and short circuits. In 1999, Intel embraced ABF film in the development of its Pentium III processor, overcoming the challenge of finding suitable insulating materials for semiconductor packaging. This marked Ajinomoto's official foray into the semiconductor industry, establishing it as a pivotal supplier to Intel. At present, Ajinomoto's ABF film commands a near-total global market share for insulating materials in high-end semiconductor packaging, with virtually all semiconductor components incorporating it as a non-conductive insulating layer. Recently, the UK-based activist investment firm Palliser Capital has taken a stake in Ajinomoto, asserting that the company holds a near-monopoly on key materials for AI infrastructure yet has not fully leveraged this advantage through price hikes. Consequently, Palliser Capital is urging Ajinomoto to raise the price of ABF film by over 30% and to establish its electronic materials business as an independent division. Capitalizing on the burgeoning demand for chips spurred by AI and high-performance computing (HPC), Ajinomoto, on February 5, 2026, revised its revenue and profit projections for the electronic materials business upwards.