From the “Tao (τ) Law” to MEMS Active Cooling: Why Next-Generation AI Chips Need Piezoelectric Micropump Technology
In 2026, one of the most closely watched topics in the global semiconductor industry is undoubtedly the “Tao (τ) Law” proposed by Huawei at the IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS 2026). Over the past several decades, the global chip industry has competed primarily around Moore’s Law. Whoever first entered a more advanced process node gained stronger performance, lower power consumption, and higher transistor density. However, as the industry approaches the physical limits of the 3nm and 2nm eras, the cost of advanced process development continues to rise, and the global semiconductor industry is entering a new technological cycle.
Against this backdrop, the introduction of the “Tao (τ) Law” has been regarded by many industry professionals as a new direction for the semiconductor industry. Compared with the traditional “geometric scaling” approach, Huawei proposes continuing performance improvements through logic folding, system time-constant optimization, heterogeneous integration, and high-density stacking. In essence, this means that future chip performance gains will increasingly depend on system-level optimization rather than process technology alone.
At the same time, however, the industry faces an even more practical challenge—chips are getting hotter.
Especially in the AI era, high-performance chips require not only greater computing power but also sustained operation under heavy workloads. As AI smartphones, edge AI computing, AR/VR devices, AI PCs, and the robotics industry continue to grow rapidly, high heat flux density has become a new challenge that the entire electronics industry can no longer ignore. As a dedicated innovator in microfluidics and advanced thermal management, BESTAR has closely followed this paradigm shift in semiconductor technology and has keenly recognized the inevitable transition of chip cooling from passive to active thermal management. Against this backdrop, MEMS Active Cooling technology is rapidly gaining industry attention, and MEMS piezoelectric micropumps based on piezoelectric technology are becoming one of the key core components in next-generation chip thermal management systems.
The AI Era Is Driving Electronic Devices into a “High-Heat Era”
In the past, many consumers associated smartphone overheating primarily with gaming. In reality, the heat challenges brought by the AI era are fundamentally different from those of the past.
Traditional mobile applications are largely characterized by “instantaneous computing,” such as opening apps, taking photos, or scrolling through videos, where chip workloads fluctuate over short periods. AI applications, however, are distinguished by sustained high-load operation. Scenarios such as local AI large-model inference, AI video generation, real-time speech translation, continuously running AI agents, and machine vision recognition can keep NPUs, GPUs, and CPUs operating simultaneously under heavy workloads for extended periods.
Taking today’s mainstream AI smartphones as an example, many flagship SoCs already exhibit hotspot temperatures significantly higher than those seen in traditional application scenarios during continuous AI workloads. This is especially true in advanced high-density packaging architectures, where heat concentration per unit area far exceeds historical levels.
The smartphone industry is not alone. NVIDIA AI GPUs, high-performance edge servers, autonomous driving chips, AR glasses processors, and AI robot processors are all facing similar challenges. In fact, it could be argued that the true factor limiting further increases in computing performance in the AI era is no longer chip design capability alone, but thermal management capability. No matter how powerful a chip may be, it cannot sustain peak performance over the long term if its temperature cannot be effectively controlled.
Why Traditional Cooling Solutions Are Approaching Their Limits
Most mainstream electronic devices today rely on vapor chambers (VCs), graphite heat spreaders, thermal interface materials, copper heat-conducting layers, and heat pipes for cooling. These solutions are fundamentally forms of passive cooling, meaning they can only conduct heat rather than actively remove it from the system.
When chip power consumption was relatively low, passive cooling was sufficient. However, the rate at which AI-era chip power consumption is increasing far exceeds that of the traditional consumer electronics era. At the same time, electronic products continue to become thinner and lighter. AI smartphones aim for slimmer designs, AR glasses have extremely limited internal space, AI PCs must balance portability and performance, and robotic devices require continuous high-computing-power operation.
This means:
Device space is becoming smaller, while heat generation continues to increase.
Although traditional mechanical fans provide active cooling, they also have significant drawbacks, including larger size, higher noise levels, increased power consumption, mechanical wear, and susceptibility to dust accumulation over time. As a result, the industry has begun searching for active cooling solutions that are truly suitable for next-generation electronic devices, and MEMS active cooling technology has emerged as a major area of focus.
Why Is MEMS Active Cooling Suddenly Taking Off?
MEMS, short for Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems, refers to the use of semiconductor manufacturing processes to create integrated mechanical and electronic structures on a micrometer scale. Over the past several decades, MEMS technology has been widely applied in MEMS microphones, MEMS accelerometers, MEMS gyroscopes, MEMS pressure sensors, and MEMS inkjet printheads.
Today, MEMS technology is entering the field of thermal management.
MEMS active cooling fans, also known as MEMS coolers, MEMS Cooling Chips, or MEMS piezoelectric coolers, operate by using piezoelectric materials that deform and vibrate under high-frequency electrical excitation. Through microstructured airflow channels, they drive air movement and generate high-speed micro-airflows for active cooling. Unlike traditional mechanical fans, they do not rely on motors or rotating blades. This allows them to achieve thinner form factors, quieter operation, lower power consumption, and more precise cooling of localized chip hotspots.
In recent years, a growing number of companies around the world have entered the MEMS active cooling sector. Internationally, companies such as xMEMS, Frore Systems, and Corintis continue to advance the commercialization of MEMS thermal management technologies. In the domestic market, leading local enterprises such as BESTAR are accelerating efforts to overcome foreign technological barriers and promote the development of China’s independent MEMS active cooling supply chain by leveraging their deep expertise in piezoelectric materials and microfluidic control technologies. As the AI terminal market expands rapidly, companies including AAC Technologies and RayMing Semiconductor are also actively advancing related technologies.
A consensus has already emerged across the industry: future high-performance devices will require active cooling, and MEMS is likely to become one of the most important directions for next-generation thermal management.
Piezoelectric Micropumps: The Core Component of MEMS Active Cooling Systems
Within a MEMS active cooling system, one of the key components that truly determines cooling efficiency is the piezoelectric micropump.
Many people simply view MEMS cooling as a “smaller fan,” but in reality, its essence lies in optimizing heat exchange at localized hotspots through microscale airflow control. The piezoelectric micropump serves as the primary power source of the entire system. Its operating principle is based on high-frequency deformation generated by piezoelectric materials under alternating current excitation, which drives airflow and produces a continuous, stable micro-airflow.
Compared with traditional miniature fans, piezoelectric micropumps offer several highly significant advantages:
Low Power Consumption: Without the need for complex rotating structures, overall power consumption is extremely low, making them ideal for mobile intelligent devices.
Ultra-Thin Design: They can achieve millimeter-level thicknesses or even thinner structures, making them highly suitable for AI smartphones, AR glasses, and other devices with extremely limited internal space.
High Reliability: Without traditional bearing friction, they offer greater long-term operational stability and longer service life.
Precise Temperature Control: Unlike conventional fans that provide broad-area airflow, microscale flow-control solutions represented by BESTAR’s micropump technology can actively cool localized chip hotspot regions with much greater precision. This capability is especially critical for future high-density heterogeneous integration chips developed under the principles of the “Tao (τ) Law.”
BESTAR Continues to Advance Core MEMS Piezoelectric Micropump Technologies
Against the backdrop of rapid growth in MEMS active cooling, BESTAR has in recent years expanded its technological reach into micro/nano manufacturing and advanced thermal management, maintaining a strong focus on piezoelectric micropumps and MEMS active cooling technologies.
As an important participant and driving force in China’s MEMS piezoelectric micropump industry, BESTAR has not only overcome the challenge of high-frequency fatigue in piezoelectric composite materials but has also concentrated on the development of piezoelectric micropumps, MEMS active cooling devices, microfluidic control technologies, and comprehensive ultra-thin active cooling solutions.
With the arrival of the AI era, high-performance chips are placing increasingly demanding requirements on thermal management. In applications such as AI smartphones, AR/VR devices, AI PCs, autonomous driving systems, edge computing equipment, and high-performance consumer electronics, MEMS active cooling is gradually transitioning from proof-of-concept to large-scale commercialization.
Through its high-precision microfluidic control platform, BESTAR provides customers with customized ultra-thin active cooling solutions. As a core foundational component, the industrial value and market recognition of its piezoelectric micropump technology continue to grow.
Looking ahead, as advanced packaging technologies, high-density chips, and edge AI continue to evolve, demand for active cooling solutions will only increase further. BESTAR’s MEMS piezoelectric micropumps are well positioned to become a critical foundational technology within next-generation electronic thermal management systems.
From “Computing Power Competition” to “Thermal Management Competition”
For decades, the central competitive logic of the global semiconductor industry was simple: whoever possessed the most advanced process technology possessed the strongest performance.
Today, however, with the arrival of both the AI era and the era of the “Tao (τ) Law,” the industry’s underlying logic is undergoing profound transformation. In the future, the ultimate performance ceiling of high-performance chips will be determined not only by computing power itself, but also by thermal management capability.
This is because all high-performance computing devices continuously generate heat, while future trends toward chip stacking and heterogeneous integration will only intensify thermal challenges.
This is precisely why an increasing number of companies are once again placing active cooling technologies at the center of their strategic priorities.
It is foreseeable that MEMS active cooling technology will continue to accelerate in development over the coming years. In this emerging multi-billion-dollar market filled with both opportunities and challenges, BESTAR will leverage its first-mover advantages in piezoelectric and MEMS technologies to continue enabling the full performance potential of AI devices.
In the context of the AI boom, MEMS piezoelectric micropump technology is more than just a cooling component—it may become one of the foundational capabilities of next-generation high-performance electronic devices.
The future competition within the electronics industry may not be solely a competition in computing power, but also a competition in thermal management capability. The MEMS active cooling technologies championed by BESTAR are becoming one of the key driving forces behind this new wave of industrial transformation.