ByteDance is weighing capital expenditure of as much as $70 billion this year as the TikTok owner accelerates an artificial intelligence push aimed at strengthening its position in China’s intensifying technology contest. The Beijing-based group is discussing one of the largest spending programmes by a private technology company outside the United States, with funds expected to go into data centres, AI chips, networking equipment and model development. […]
The arrangement makes BlockShoals the approved local intermediary under the SEC’s StratBox framework, while Binance supplies technology, security systems, operational support and compliance expertise developed across regulated markets. The sandbox phase is expected to begin in the second half of 2026 and run for at least two years, giving regulators direct oversight of product testing before any wider rollout to users.
The move marks a notable shift in Binance’s strategy in the Philippines. Rather than seeking to restore access through an offshore model, the exchange is now pursuing market participation through a domestic company operating under SEC supervision. BlockShoals, a Philippine-incorporated fintech firm, secured approval under the crypto asset intermediary framework after a multi-year process involving regulatory conditions, compliance checks and investor-protection requirements.
Binance’s online presence in the Philippines was blocked in 2024 after the SEC said the platform had offered investment and trading services without the necessary licence. The regulator had warned the public about the exchange in November 2023, then moved to restrict website access through telecommunications authorities the following year. The action became one of the clearest signals that Manila intended to bring offshore digital-asset platforms under local rules.
That enforcement drive has since widened. The SEC’s crypto-asset service provider rules, issued in 2025, require firms serving Philippine users to register, maintain sufficient capital, observe marketing standards, and meet operational and reporting obligations. The framework is intended to protect retail investors while allowing controlled innovation in a market where crypto use remains high by regional and global standards.
The Philippines ranked ninth in the 2025 global crypto adoption index, reflecting strong activity across retail centralised services and digital-asset platforms. Usage has been driven by a young, mobile-first population, remittance demand, online work, gaming-linked crypto activity and a broad appetite for alternative financial products. That adoption has also heightened regulatory concern over fraud, weak disclosures, market volatility and the risks of foreign platforms serving users without domestic accountability.
Seker, Binance’s head of Asia-Pacific, described the Philippines as one of Southeast Asia’s most dynamic digital economies, saying frameworks such as StratBox create a channel for regulators and industry participants to work together while maintaining user protection and market integrity. The company has presented the BlockShoals partnership as part of a compliance-first approach rather than a conventional market relaunch.
BlockShoals has framed its role around local accountability. A company representative said the partnership was an opportunity to show that global digital-asset platforms and domestic regulatory frameworks could operate constructively together, adding that the firm would work under direct SEC supervision while building a secure platform for users.
The sandbox structure gives the SEC room to monitor how products are configured, how customer onboarding is handled, how risks are disclosed, and how safeguards such as know-your-customer checks, anti-money-laundering controls and transaction monitoring are applied. It also gives Binance a pathway to rebuild trust after a period in which its Philippine operations were defined by access restrictions and licensing concerns.
The Philippine approach mirrors a broader shift across Asia, where regulators are moving away from informal tolerance of offshore crypto activity and towards domestic licensing regimes. Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia and Japan have tightened rules for exchanges, stablecoin activity, custody, marketing and investor suitability. The result is a more fragmented operating environment for global platforms, with access increasingly dependent on local registration, capital commitments and regulator-facing governance.
For Binance, the Philippine partnership carries strategic value beyond one market. The exchange has spent the past several years seeking to repair relations with regulators after facing scrutiny in multiple jurisdictions. A successful sandbox test in Manila would support its argument that global crypto platforms can adapt to local rules through partnerships, product controls and supervised deployment.
Immutable and XDC Network have recorded their largest exchange withdrawals of 2026, signalling a shift in investor behaviour as holders move tokens away from trading venues and into private wallets. On-chain data showed net outflows of about 4.67 million IMX, worth roughly $760,000, and 10.38 million XDC, valued at about $756,000, from exchange-linked wallets in a single day. The moves mark the strongest withdrawal readings for both […]
Humanity is consuming resources at a rate the planet cannot sustain, a new peer-reviewed study has warned, placing pressure on food systems, climate stability, biodiversity and living standards as the global population moves deeper into ecological overshoot. Researchers led by Corey J. A. Bradshaw of Flinders University found that the world’s population has already surpassed Earth’s sustainable carrying capacity, with today’s 8.3 billion people well above the […]
Microsoft has issued fixes for a high-severity SharePoint Server vulnerability that could allow authenticated attackers to run code remotely on affected on-premises systems, sharpening security concerns for organisations that continue to rely on self-managed collaboration platforms. Tracked as CVE-2026-45659, the flaw affects SharePoint Server Subscription Edition, SharePoint Server 2019 and SharePoint Enterprise Server 2016. The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS score of 8.8, placing it in […]
Bitcoin slipped towards $75,000 as traders watched a developing “golden cross” on its chart, leaving the world’s largest cryptocurrency at a critical technical point even as global equity markets pushed to record highs. The token traded near $75,800 after touching an intraday low close to $75,200, extending pressure across major digital assets. Ether also weakened, hovering just above $2,080, while traders identified the $2,400 area as an […]
Ripple has filed new United States trademark applications covering prime brokerage, securities lending, clearing, treasury operations and investment services, marking a deeper push into institutional finance after its $1.25 billion purchase of Hidden Road. The applications, covering Ripple’s word mark and Triskelion design, point to a broader strategy that goes beyond cross-border payments and blockchain settlement. They list services linked to asset management, investment advisory, hedge fund […]
Microsoft is preparing to scale back internal use of Anthropic’s Claude Code and move thousands of developers towards GitHub Copilot CLI, marking a sharper push to consolidate AI coding work around tools it owns and governs more directly. The reported shift affects the company’s Experiences and Devices division, which covers major product groups including Windows, Microsoft 365, Outlook, Teams and Surface. Engineers using Claude Code have been […]
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 27 May 2026 – As the European Union prepares to transpose the EU Pay Transparency Directive into law by June 2026, employers will soon be required not only to disclose pay scales but to provide unprecedented clarity on how pay decisions are made.
This movement is not confined to Europe. Across the US, UK, Canada, Brazil, Australia, and Japan, a combination of strict regulation and rising employee expectations is pushing organisations toward a new standard of openness.
According to the latest Pay Transparency E-guide from the world’s most trusted talent solutions company Robert Walters, 48% of job seekers say they only apply for roles where salary ranges are disclosed upfront, which reflects salary transparency is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’ but prerequisite for even engaging in the hiring process.
In Hong Kong, where salary disclosure has traditionally remained limited and highly individualised, these global developments are beginning to prompt new conversations around how pay is determined and benchmarked in the hiring process.
Growing public debate over current hiring practice to benchmark offers in Hong Kong
The common practice of requesting candidates’ current or previous salary is beginning to attract more discussion in Hong Kong. While employers have traditionally used this information to benchmark offers, some professionals question whether it places too much emphasis on past earnings rather than the value of the role or prevailing market rates.
“Candidates are increasingly asking how compensation is determined, not just what is being offered,” said John Mullally, managing director at Robert Walters Hong Kong. “Where decisions appear to be anchored to previous salary rather than the scope of the role, it can shape perceptions of fairness during the hiring process.”
At the same time, candidates are also paying closer attention to the amount of personal information requested during recruitment, reflecting broader expectations for transparency and consistency.
Wage secrecy culture under reassessment as Gen Z shows greater openness toward salary disclosure
Traditionally, salary has been a deeply private matter in Hong Kong, often viewed as a “confined personal message” that is rarely shared even with family members, which can make it difficult for employees to understand how pay decisions are made or how they compare with peers in similar roles.
However, data from the Robert Walters Salary Survey suggests that Gen Z is beginning to dismantle these long-standing cultural roots.
While only 5.5% of Hong Kong professionals overall are comfortable discussing their compensation with colleagues, that openness jumps to 24% among Gen Z. This stands in stark contrast to the 4% of Millennials and 2% of Gen X who are willing to share such information. This shift indicates that as the younger workforce grows, the cultural resistance to pay transparency is starting to fade.
“For Gen Z, transparency is a marker of fairness, equity, and social responsibility,” says John Mullally. “Candidates today have more access to market information and are making more informed decisions. Greater transparency can help build trust earlier in the process and support more constructive conversations around expectations.”
Global standards, local implications
With stricter requirements emerging in regions such as Europe, practices in one location are increasingly shaping expectations in others. Companies that operate across borders may find that consistency in how compensation is communicated becomes more important in attracting and retaining talent.
“For multinationals, this is more than just a compliance task. Operating transparently in one market while remaining opaque in another creates an ‘information asymmetry’ that erodes internal trust. We are seeing forward-thinking firms ‘level up’ by adopting a consistent, global standard of transparency, even before local legislation mandates it.” comments John Mullally.
While standardisation is difficult in industries like sales or professional services, where pay is often tied to commissions and individual portfolios, companies may need to balance flexibility with clearer communication. As expectations evolve, greater openness may become an important factor in securing and retaining talent.
Navigating complexity: how organisations can prepare
To prepare for this shift, Robert Walters advises Hong Kong organisations to move beyond simple disclosure toward building a robust job architecture. This framework must clearly explain the logic behind pay decisions, ensuring that transparency provides clarity rather than confusion when employees compare compensation.
Businesses should also prioritise internal equity audits to resolve any unjustified pay gaps before they lead to friction. Ultimately, the success of this transition depends on communication; managers must be trained to lead data-driven, honest conversations about pay to ensure transparency becomes a foundation for trust and a stronger employer brand.
“While full transparency on pay is still some way off in Hong Kong, expectations are clearly evolving,” Mullally said. “Organisations do not need to replicate other markets overnight but taking steps towards clearer and more consistent communication around pay will become increasingly important in staying competitive.”
Hashtag: #RobertWaltersHongKong #HongKongHiringMarket #HiringTrends #Benefits #Salary #Hiring #2026 #PayTransparency
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About Robert Walters – Robert Walters is the world’s most trusted talent solutions business. Across the globe, we deliver recruitment, recruitment process outsourcing and advisory services for businesses of all shapes and sizes, opening doors for people with diverse skills, ambitions, and backgrounds. We help organisations find the skills and solutions to reach their goals and assist talented professionals to power their unique potential.
The Hong Kong office specialises in placing high-calibre professionals on a permanent or contract basis in the following specialities: accounting & finance, construction, property & engineering, financial services, HR & business support, legal & compliance, sales & marketing, supply chain, logistics & procurement, and tech & transformation.
About the Robert Walters Pay Transparency E-guide
With landmark legislation going live in Europe this June and conversations around salary openness gaining momentum worldwide, the era of “confidential” compensation is rapidly coming to an end. In its place is a new corporate landscape defined by transparency, clarity, and open dialogue around pay. This comprehensive e-guide explores the practical realities of this global shift, defining what pay transparency actually looks like in practice and examining why open compensation structures matter now more than ever in the modern workplace.
The guide also provides deep insights into how employee and job applicant expectations are shifting on a global scale, highlighting the direct link between pay transparency and a company’s Employee Value Proposition (EVP). Ultimately, it offers actionable, strategic advice for businesses and hiring managers on how to successfully navigate the cultural and structural transitions within their own organisations.
To download the full Robert Walters Pay Transparency E-guide, please contact us or visit: https://www.robertwalters.com.hk/insights/hiring-advice/e-guide/global-pay-transparency.html
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai United Nations Security Council members have unanimously condemned a drone strike on the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant in Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra region, warning that any attack on a civilian nuclear facility carries grave risks for human life, critical infrastructure and the environment. The 15-member council said the strike on an electricity generator outside the plant’s inner perimeter amounted to “a flagrant violation […]
A record 142,000 millionaires are expected to relocate internationally this year alone — and most investors still do not fully understand what this means for markets. The movement of globally mobile wealth is rapidly becoming one of the defining investment forces of the decade. Capital is shifting across borders faster, more strategically and in greater volumes than at any point in modern financial history. I sincerely believe […]
The summit signaled a clear “cross‑border restructuring.” With computing power collaboration entering a new phase, AI competition is expanding from single‑model parameters to industrial scenarios like math, life sciences, financial risk control, and complex macro decisions. Chow Kit Hui argues that extensive competition based on capital and model scale is shifting to refined competition—the future AI ecosystem hinges on integrating technology, data, and scenarios.
At the summit, Chow Kit Hui and NVIDIA launched a new strategic collaboration on algorithm optimization, AI training architecture, vertical data assets, and decision‑model integration, aiming to boost computing efficiency and drive deployment of industry‑level AI agents and autonomous reasoning in complex scenarios.
Chow Kit Hui unveiled his strategically positioned AI fund, AlgoVision AI Growth Partners Foundation. Driven by computing power, capital, and application scenarios, it backs upstream tech breakthroughs and high-value downstream applications, bridging AI research with industrial use. From academic discourse to computing coordination, the summit revealed a new competitive landscape: core advantage now lies in integrating technology, data, scenarios, capital, and resources—not the capability of a single model. With data-driven rationality and risk control, Chow injected lasting long-termism into global AI deployment.
Hashtag: #KitHuiGrowthFinancialAcademy
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Kit Hui Growth Financial Academy was founded by Chow Kit Hui. Chow Kit Hui has long focused on global asset allocation, corporate mergers and acquisitions, private equity, derivatives, risk management, macroeconomic research, and financial valuation modeling. The academy does not center on short-term market predictions or teaching investment “tricks.” Instead, it helps learners establish a rational, long-term, and structured path to financial understanding. The academy emphasizes structured comprehension of market mechanisms, risk-prioritized decision-making, and independent judgment.
Official website: https://www.kithuiacademy.com/
| Name | SYNC Design & Innovation in SITE 2026 |
| Date | Friday, June 26, 2026 |
| Venue | Paragon Hall, 5th Floor, Siam Paragon, Bangkok, Thailand |
| Admission | Free (advance registration required) |
| Languages | Thai / English / Japanese |
| Website | https://syncforum.asia |
| Organizer | Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. |
| Production & Co-organizers | FOURDIGIT Inc., National Innovation Agency (NIA), Thailand |
| Supported by | Creative Economy Agency (CEA) |
| Production partners | Y’s Connection Inc., J-WAVE, Inc., iDID |
Hashtag: #FOURDIGIT
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Dubai has opened the Dubai Esports & Games Festival 2026 with a stronger emphasis on gaming as a career pathway, placing digital skills, education and competitive play at the centre of a citywide programme running from May 22 to June 7. Organised by Dubai Festivals and Retail Establishment, part of the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism, the festival is being positioned as more than an entertainment […]
Qualcomm has secured a major opening in artificial intelligence infrastructure through a deal to supply ByteDance with chips for AI data centres, giving the San Diego-based group a high-profile customer as it pushes beyond its traditional smartphone processor business. The agreement covers application-specific integrated circuits, or ASICs, designed to support AI workloads in ByteDance’s expanding data-centre operations. The chips are expected to be used for AI agent […]
The renewed memorandum of understanding was signed on 25 May by Rear Admiral Saif bin Nasser Al Rahbi, Commander of the Royal Navy of Oman and Chairman of the Maritime Security Committee, and G. V. Srinivas, India’s Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman. Oman was represented by the Maritime Security Centre, underlining the agreement’s operational focus on maritime safety, information-sharing and cooperation at sea.
The renewal keeps in place a mechanism that has gained importance as shipping routes through the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz face heightened risks from regional conflict, trafficking networks, drone threats, piracy-linked activity and disruptions to commercial navigation. For both countries, maritime security is tied not only to defence cooperation but also to energy flows, trade resilience and the protection of expatriate and commercial links across the Gulf.
The agreement aims to sustain joint cooperation and facilitate the exchange of expertise in maritime security, with the stated objective of contributing to the safety and security of maritime navigation. Its scope fits into a wider pattern of bilateral defence engagement involving naval interaction, coast guard cooperation, training, port calls, high-level meetings and operational contact between maritime agencies.
Oman’s location gives the pact strategic weight. The Sultanate sits close to the Strait of Hormuz, through which a significant share of the world’s seaborne oil trade passes, and faces the Arabian Sea, a route connecting the Gulf with East Africa, South Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific. India’s energy imports, diaspora links and commercial shipping make stability in these waters a central security interest.
The renewed document also reflects a continuity in defence ties that have developed through structured mechanisms over two decades. India and Oman have maintained regular military cooperation, including joint committee meetings, staff-level exchanges and service-to-service engagement. Earlier maritime arrangements between the two sides covered cooperation against crimes at sea, including piracy, armed robbery, arms trafficking, drug smuggling, illegal immigration and people-smuggling by sea.
Coast guard engagement has become a practical arm of that relationship. The Indian Coast Guard and Royal Oman Police Coast Guard have used high-level meetings to discuss capacity-building, cross-ship visits, the Sea Rider programme, pollution-reporting links and cooperation against transnational illegal activity at sea. Such measures are aimed at creating working-level familiarity before crises emerge, particularly in areas where law-enforcement, search-and-rescue and environmental response overlap.
The agreement comes as maritime security has moved higher on the regional agenda. Attacks on merchant vessels in and around the Red Sea, tensions linked to the Israel-Gaza war, risks around Iran-linked flashpoints and the vulnerability of energy shipping have pushed Gulf and Indian Ocean states to strengthen coordination. Oman has also positioned itself as a diplomatic and maritime actor with an interest in keeping sea lanes open while maintaining dialogue with multiple regional powers.
For India, Oman remains one of its closest defence partners in the Gulf. Access, trust and geography make the relationship important for deployments, evacuation contingencies, anti-piracy coordination and wider maritime domain awareness. Oman has historically provided India with a reliable western Indian Ocean partner, while Muscat benefits from deeper technical, training and operational interaction with a major naval power.
The security renewal also sits alongside a growing economic relationship. Bilateral trade has crossed the $10 billion mark, and the two countries signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement in December 2025 to expand market access for goods and services. The trade pact gave exports from India zero-duty access across most Omani tariff lines, while New Delhi agreed tariff reductions covering a large share of imports from Oman by value.
That economic backdrop makes maritime security more than a defence concern. Smooth shipping flows affect energy supplies, fertilisers, minerals, food products, pharmaceuticals, textiles and engineering goods. Oman’s ports and logistics infrastructure are also relevant to India’s westward trade links, particularly as supply chains adjust to geopolitical tensions and route disruptions.
The renewed memorandum is expected to support more sustained institutional contact between the two sides rather than a one-off diplomatic gesture. Its emphasis on expertise-sharing suggests cooperation may cover surveillance practices, response protocols, training modules, information exchange and coordination against illegal activities at sea. It also offers a framework for strengthening maritime navigation safety at a time when commercial vessels increasingly require layered protection across contested waters.
China-linked cyber operators have targeted edge routers across Southeast Asia with a custom Linux implant, widening concern that network infrastructure has become a prime entry point for long-term espionage rather than a peripheral security risk. The campaign centres on Linux-based border and edge routers used by organisations to manage traffic entering and leaving enterprise networks. By compromising these devices, the attackers place themselves at a strategic point […]
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – Media OutReach Newswire – 26 May 2026 – South Africa’s emerging developers are building close to the ground, with many of the strongest solutions at the inaugural Huawei Code4Mzansi finals focused on systems people use every day: township retail, healthcare, energy, agriculture, payments and the creative economy.
The competition was held in partnership with the Department of Small Business Development. “The Code4Mzansi competition is not just a celebration of achievement, it is a launchpad for the future,” said Minister Stella Ndabeni, whose department co-hosted the event and delivered the closing address.
The finals revealed a clear shift from building abstract digital products to practical tools that help small businesses trade better, communities access services more easily, and local industries solve problems faster.
Four finalist teams focused directly on the township economy, with solutions covering food safety verification for spaza shops, offline point-of-sale systems built for load-shedding, WhatsApp-native marketplaces for informal retailers, and community credit systems for SASSA grant recipients.
Others addressed AI-driven healthcare access, electricity theft detection, smart agriculture, financial infrastructure for the creator economy, and AI-generated African music.
Held at Huawei Office Park in Woodmead, the finals brought together more than 100 attendees, including government representatives, academic partners, industry leaders and media.
“The quality of the finalist solutions demonstrated the potential of local innovation to respond to real market needs,” said Steven Chen, Cloud CEO of Huawei Technologies South Africa.
Academic partners included the University of Pretoria, the University of Johannesburg, the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Cape Town.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and technology is their greatest accelerator. The participants here today are future entrepreneurs who will drive South Africa’s digital economy forward,” said Professor Thokozani Shongwe, Vice Dean of Postgraduate Studies, Research and Internationalisation at the University of Johannesburg’s Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment.
Industry partner rain also attended. Leon Nortje, Principal and Senior Architect at rain, said the competition offered a strong view of the country’s emerging technology pipeline.
“It is always good to see new projects and new teams working on solutions that are valuable and industry-related. We will be looking out for potential new employees,” said Nortje.
The winners
The finalists competed for a prize pool of R800,000. MAAT by SIMVAK was named the overall grand winner and received the Business Value Award, taking home R300,000. The platform addresses food safety and regulatory compliance in South Africa’s informal retail sector through AI agents, real-time product recall alerts, and counterfeit detection for the spaza shop ecosystem.
“The spaza network is the supply chain for most South African households,” said SIMVAK founder Shingirayi Mandebvu.
HealthHive by FTCK received second prize in the Business Value Award category, taking home R200,000, for its AI telemedicine platform that matches patients with the right medical practitioners based on their symptoms.
Auraa received the Grand Innovation Award for its AI music engine built to generate authentic African sound. The platform has been associated with an album that has crossed one million streams.
The Future Star Award went to e-Khadi, a community credit and stokvel platform giving SASSA grant recipients access to essentials at their local spaza shops, supported by AI-assisted credit scoring and fraud detection.
The People’s Choice Award, voted by the public on Huawei’s social media channels, went to DevRift, a semi-finalist in the competition, who took home R100,000.
Minister Ndabeni delivered the closing address, positioning Code4Mzansi within the government’s agenda for youth entrepreneurship, small business development and digital inclusion.
“Our task is to ensure that innovation does not remain a moment of applause, but becomes a pathway to enterprise creation, digital inclusion, and sustainable growth,” she said.
“Thank you to Huawei for being a perfect partner on the journey that we are travelling, and of course, those that matter most, the developers who dared to compete,” she said.
Code4Mzansi forms part of the global Huawei Cloud Developer Competition. In its inaugural edition, South Africa attracted more participants than any other country: 1,041 across 353 teams, including 176 enterprise teams, resulting in the highest enterprise participation rate among all competing markets. Twenty semi-finalists were selected before the top nine advanced to the final.
For the finalists, the work is just beginning. As Minister Ndabeni said, “Go home today proud. But tomorrow, wake up, build again.”
Hashtag: #Huawei #Code4Mzansi #SouthAfrica
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Abu Dhabi motorists weighing new-car purchases are being offered up to three years of free fuel on selected Nissan models, as Al Masaood Automobiles seeks to sharpen showroom demand during the summer travel season and ease ownership costs at a time of elevated petrol prices. Al Masaood Automobiles, the authorised distributor of Nissan vehicles in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Al Dhafra, has launched the limited-time campaign […]
Donald Trump has urged Saudi Arabia and Qatar to move first in a renewed push to expand the Abraham Accords, linking wider recognition of Israel to US efforts to secure a deal with Iran and recast the Middle East diplomatic order. The US president said countries involved in the Iran negotiations should join the normalisation framework, naming Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey and Jordan among those […]
Wes Streeting has intensified pressure on Keir Starmer to impose tougher curbs on children’s access to social media, warning that Britain’s current approach to mobile phones and online platforms amounts to “giving children a hammer and saw” without enough protection from the harm they can cause. The former health secretary, who quit government this month after accusing Starmer of lacking the ambition needed to improve Britain, said […]
Global enterprise AI expenditure is expected to reach about $940 billion in 2026 and climb to roughly $2.1 trillion by 2029, reflecting a shift from experimental deployments to large-scale use across manufacturing, finance, logistics, health care, energy and public services. China is emerging as one of the fastest-expanding markets within that cycle, helped by heavy infrastructure spending, state-backed industrial policy and a corporate race to build domestic alternatives to foreign chips, models and cloud platforms.
The acceleration is no longer confined to model development. China’s AI buildout is moving across the full technology stack, from data centres and accelerators to enterprise software, robotics and agentic systems capable of handling complex workflow tasks. The first phase of the investment wave was dominated by computing power, foundational models and large infrastructure projects. The next phase is being shaped by applied AI, intelligent services and automation across production lines, offices and consumer platforms.
That transition is putting pressure on global rivals. US technology groups still lead in advanced chips, frontier models and hyperscale cloud capacity, but China’s market has advantages in deployment speed, manufacturing depth and policy coordination. Companies including Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, Huawei and ByteDance are expanding AI services while also trying to reduce dependence on restricted US semiconductor supplies. Alibaba has unveiled a new AI chip through its T-Head unit and is directing tens of billions of dollars into cloud and AI infrastructure over several years. Huawei’s Ascend processors have become central to China’s domestic accelerator strategy as export controls limit access to top-tier Nvidia products.
Infrastructure remains the foundation of the race. Worldwide AI infrastructure spending is on course to exceed $1 trillion by 2029, with accelerated servers accounting for the overwhelming share. China remains the second-largest AI infrastructure market after the US, even though export restrictions have created supply constraints for high-end accelerators. Those restrictions have encouraged domestic chip design, local server ecosystems and more efficient deployment models for inference, where many commercial AI applications run after models have been trained.
China’s data centre expansion is also moving into more specialised formats. AI workloads demand dense computing power, stable electricity supply and advanced cooling, all of which are raising costs and straining grids. Projects near Shanghai and other technology hubs are testing alternative energy and cooling systems, including offshore and renewable-powered facilities. These efforts reflect a broader attempt to manage the energy burden of AI while supporting national ambitions in cloud services, industrial software and smart manufacturing.
Robotics is becoming a central pillar of the spending wave. China already has the world’s largest industrial robot base and is pushing into embodied intelligence, where AI systems are integrated into machines that operate in factories, warehouses, homes and public spaces. Forecasts for China’s robotics market point to rapid expansion over the next five years, with demand coming from electric vehicles, electronics, logistics and elder care. The combination of AI models, sensors, batteries and manufacturing scale gives domestic firms a route to compete internationally beyond software alone.
Policy support is reinforcing corporate investment. Beijing’s “AI Plus” strategy, issued in 2025, aims to embed artificial intelligence across the economy by expanding access to data, compute and talent while promoting open-source ecosystems and industrial adoption. Local governments have added funding programmes, innovation parks and procurement support, creating competition among cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hangzhou. That model can accelerate deployment, though it also raises the risk of duplicated capacity, uneven standards and projects driven more by subsidy incentives than commercial demand.
The competitive picture remains mixed. China leads in AI publication volume, citations, patent output and industrial robot installations, while the US continues to produce more frontier models and higher-impact patents. The performance gap between leading US and Chinese models has narrowed, aided by open-source releases and engineering efficiency from Chinese labs. DeepSeek’s breakthrough earlier in the cycle demonstrated that capable systems could be produced with fewer resources than previously assumed, intensifying debate over whether raw spending alone will determine leadership.
Tether plans to launch GEL₮, a stablecoin representing the Georgian lari, with backing from Georgia’s government, placing the South Caucasus state among the earliest jurisdictions to test a privately issued digital version of a national currency under a dedicated stablecoin framework. The initiative, announced on 25 May 2026, is designed to support cross-border commerce, digital payments and fintech development by putting the lari on blockchain-based payment rails. […]
Bitcoin’s recovery attempt is losing momentum as equity markets push higher, leaving traders focused on whether the largest digital asset is forming another lower high after a two-week pullback. The token was trading near $77,000 on Tuesday, after falling about 7 per cent over two weeks and failing to regain the stronger technical posture it held earlier this month. Ether was near $2,120, still trapped in a […]
