All-photonic networks (APN) are emerging as critical infrastructure for 6G, AI computing and smart cities. Nvidia's plan to expand its AI footprint in the US underscores why dark fiber is essential for distributed AI computing centers, according to Chau-Lyan Chang, director general of Taiwan's National Center for High-performance Computing (NCHC).
SpaceX's rapid growth in AI, satellite connectivity, and space infrastructure is widening the strategic challenge for China beyond any single industry, as Musk's companies increasingly compete across sectors Beijing considers priorities. The combination of Starlink's expanding orbital footprint, SpaceX's accelerating AI business, and Tesla's manufacturing scale could give Musk an unusually integrated platform spanning technologies central to China's efforts to build competing capabilities and reduce dependence on foreign systems.
Anthropic's US$10 billion computing agreement with seven-month-old startup Volta Infra Holdings Ltd. is the latest sign that the Claude developer is treating compute procurement less like a vendor relationship and more like a hedging strategy.
Apple has asked a US federal judge to issue a preliminary injunction preventing OpenAI and two former Apple employees from accessing, using, or disclosing what the iPhone maker says are its confidential trade secrets, escalating a legal fight that could shape competition in the emerging AI hardware market.
AI demand is giving Taiwan's contract manufacturers a rare opening, and Wistron expects the opportunity to broaden in the second half of the year as new customers and products arrive. For global tech buyers, the shift signals tighter supply, firmer prices, and stronger leverage for a small group of server makers.
Roborock Technology, which started out in Xiaomi's ecosystem, has staged a comeback to become the global leader in robot vacuums. After launching its own brand in 2017, the company has spent nine years shedding the label of a Xiaomi contract manufacturer, and now holds a 27% global market share, far ahead of Xiaomi's 8.3%.
Global venture capital has rebounded on the AI boom after the pandemic freeze, with total investment in the first half of 2026 already topping full-year 2025. But the recovery is coming with a warning sign: capital is becoming highly concentrated in AI, while China is pouring money into robotics and drawing scrutiny from the US.
