China is funneling $10 billion into over 50 major technology projects in Shanghai’s Pudong district in 2026. The plan, backed by local party chief Chen Jinning, aims to accelerate AI, semiconductor, and aviation industries with minimal regulatory interference. This is a direct move to turn financial
AI isn’t just for writing emails anymore—it’s becoming a primary shopping companion. Data from Adobe and Salesforce suggests AI tools influenced hundreds of billions in holiday sales, marking a major shift in consumer behavior.
Elon Musk’s AI startup, xAI, has secured a massive $20 billion in its latest funding round. The cash is earmarked for a rapid expansion of its data center infrastructure to power its Grok chatbot and future AI models. The build-out, however, is facing pushback from local communities over its environ
The push for faster data center networks is accelerating. Industry groups are already planning for 400G-per-lane Ethernet and new standards to manage AI traffic congestion by 2026.
New data reveals ChatGPT is handling a massive volume of healthcare queries, from symptom checks to insurance battles. It’s filling gaps in access, especially after hours and in underserved areas. But this new “front door” to medicine comes with serious risks.
A California state senator has introduced a bill to ban AI chatbot toys for children for four years. The move follows alarming reports of unsafe interactions and aims to give safety regulators time to catch up with the technology.
Sapphire has launched a powerful new embedded motherboard designed for AI at the edge. The EDGE+ VPR-7P132 combines AMD’s Ryzen AI Embedded P132 Series with a Versal AI Edge Gen 2 SoC to handle complex, latency-sensitive workloads.
Accenture is making a major move to bolster its AI consulting capabilities by acquiring UK-based startup Faculty. The deal brings 400 AI specialists and the Frontier decision intelligence platform into the fold.
Japan is fighting back against manga piracy, which costs an estimated $55 billion annually. The government is funding AI translation training and developing tools to automatically find and shut down illegal sites.
At CES 2026, Asus is all-in on AI PCs with its new Zenbook lineup. The focus is on extreme portability paired with local AI processing, headlined by the Snapdragon-powered A-series and the innovative dual-screen Duo.
