At a time when investor attention has been on the semiconductor industry, some hidden gems with businesses quite dissimilar to high tech have turned out to be market winners, riding the AI boom.

Toto is best known for high-end toilets, Nittobo makes textiles and glass fiber, and Ajinomoto makes MSG seasoning. Their shares have gained 78%, 63% and 61%, respectively, this year, as they make use of their core technologies to benefit from the AI supply chain.

Toto makes ceramic electrostatic chucks used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment, while Nittobo supplies advanced glass fiber used in semiconductor package substrates.

Ajinomoto makes insulating material, known as “build-up film” or ABF, used in semiconductor packaging for high-performance computers and data-center servers.

All three companies reported sharp growth in businesses tied to semiconductor demand for their full financial years ended March 31, highlighting the impact of the AI boom.

Toto, in its full year results, said it saw a decrease in sales and profits for its core 100-year-old housing equipment unit, but this was made up by increases in revenue and profits in its advanced ceramics business.

The segment saw a 34% increase in annual revenue and 42% jump in operating profit, almost single-handedly pulling the overall company into growth for the financial year.

The company’s expertise in ceramics led it to manufacture electronic chucks for semiconductor manufacturing equipment in 1988.

These chucks hold silicon wafers in place during the etching process inside semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Toto says that their ceramics significantly contribute to improving the manufacturing yield of advanced chips.

“However, we do not view one segment as superior to the other. Our Advanced Ceramics Business is a high-growth area, but we endured long periods of deficits over its 40-year history before reaching this point,” the company said to CNBC in an email.

It plans to grow both segments and “maintain a balanced ratio” for sustainable overall growth, and “absolutely no plans” to pivot away from its core housing equipment business, as it provides a stable foundation for the company’s balance sheet, while the chip sector remains volatile.

Apple‘s head of user interface design, Alan Dye, will reportedly join Meta, in a notable shift of executive talent in Silicon Valley.

Apple confirmed Dye’s departure and CEO Tim Cook said in a statement that the company prioritizes design and has a strong team. The statement said that veteran designer Stephen Lemay will succeed Dye.

“Steve Lemay has played a key role in the design of every major Apple interface since 1999,” Cook said in a statement.

Compared to other Silicon Valley companies, Apple has always emphasized design to customers and investors as one of its strengths. Apple prominently features its design executives to discuss interface changes at the company’s launch events.

Most recently, Dye revealed in June a redesign of Apple’s software interface for iPhones, Macs, and Apple Watch called Liquid Glass. The company described it as an “elegant” new design with translucent buttons, updated app icons, and fluid animations.

Dye said it was the “next chapter” of the company’s software and said it “sets the stage” for the next era of Apple products.

“Our new design blurs the lines between hardware and software to create an experience that’s more delightful than ever while still familiar and easy to use,” Dye said at the launch.

Reviews were mixed on the Liquid Glass update, which shipped with new iPhones in September.

For years, Apple design was embodied by executive Jony Ive, who left Apple in 2019 and is now working with OpenAI on artificial intelligence hardware alongside Sam Altman.

Dye took over user interface design and became one of the design studio’s leads in 2015 when Ive stepped back from a day-to-day role. Dye started at Apple in 2006 and worked on software for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and Vision Pro, according to his LinkedIn.

He was also partly responsible for the first iPhone in 2017 that did away with the home screen button at the bottom of the device and replaced it with a software-based swipe-up motion.

Meta has said in recent years that it wants to be a major maker of hardware and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said Apple is one of the social networking company’s biggest competitors.

Meta currently makes several virtual reality headsets under its Oculus brand, and recently scored its first hardware hit with Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which are stylish sunglasses equipped with cameras and the ability to run an AI model that can answer questions. Sales of the device tripled over the past year, the Ray-Ban parent company said in July.

Bloomberg first reported the move.

The report said that Dye will be in charge of a new design studio at Meta where he will be in charge of…