OpenAI has confidentially filed for an initial public offering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), setting the stage for closer scrutiny of its related-party transactions and potential conflicts of interest involving CEO Sam Altman's extensive personal investment portfolio.
A name largely absent from the global supercomputing stage for years returned to the spotlight at ISC 2026 in Hamburg, Germany.
Nvidia does not make robots, but it is becoming a key force behind embodied intelligence companies. At Automate 2026, North America's largest industrial automation show, on June 22, Deepu Talla, vice president of Nvidia's robotics business, said on stage that the company hired 18,600 man-years of engineers to bring the safety architecture of autonomous driving to robots.
Hurun Research Institute released its Hurun Global Unicorn List on June 25, a ranking covering 1,603 companies across 52 countries and 299 cities. The number of companies is up 5.3% from the prior year, while total global unicorn value has surged 43% year on year to US$8 trillion, far outpacing growth in the number of companies.
Apple's latest round of price increases for Macs, MacBooks, and iPads has unsettled investors and weighed on Asian technology markets, but the reaction may be disproportionate to the likely impact on demand. While higher prices will inevitably slow some purchases, Apple's premium positioning, loyal customer base, and selective pricing strategy suggest the broader implications for shipments and the supply chain are likely to remain manageable.
Enterprises are increasingly moving AI deployments from public cloud to on-premises systems as demand rises for data sovereignty, compliance, and local data control. Irene Sun, general manager for Red Hat Taiwan, said the same shift is taking hold in Taiwan, where companies are paying far more attention to who controls critical data, core models, and computing environments.
Kunlunxin, the semiconductor subsidiary of Chinese search engine giant Baidu, is targeting a US$50 billion valuation for its Hong Kong public offering. The company is also asking investors to commit to buying its chips as a condition of participation, according to The Information, underscoring the competitive dynamics shaping chip makers as Beijing moves to strengthen its domestic AI supply chain.
Chengxi Information said on June 26 that the Taipei Exchange board approved its listing application, with Mega Securities serving as the lead underwriter. The company also held its shareholders' meeting the same day, approving the 2025 financial report and a profit distribution plan that includes a cash dividend of NT$5.3 per share and a payout ratio of more than 80%.
Generative AI is driving a sharp rise in electricity demand from data centers and AI computing infrastructure, prompting China to release its 15th Five-Year Plan for the Construction of a New Energy System (2026–2030). The plan incorporates AI power demand into China's national energy strategy for the first time, calling for closer coordination between electricity supply and computing capacity to support AI, advanced manufacturing, and other strategic industries.
Chinese artificial intelligence developer Zhipu AI, also known as Z.ai, is narrowing the performance gap with leading US AI companies in cybersecurity-focused models, underscoring intensifying technological competition as Washington tightens oversight of advanced AI systems.
As Physical AI moves closer to commercial reality, its global impact may depend less on humanoid robots that can run or dance and more on their ability to safely grasp, lift, and manipulate objects. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor said the central challenge is touch, force, and real-world control, not simply bigger models or faster computing.


