Smartwatch shipments are expected to continue rising faster than broader IT hardware in 2026, even as smartphones and notebook PCs see weaker growth due to higher memory costs. For global consumers, the shift signals that wearables are becoming a more essential, health-focused purchase, while top brands fight for share.

Uber and its partner fleets expanded ride-hailing coverage in July 2026 to 19 counties and cities across Taiwan proper, underscoring how mobility platforms are reaching farther beyond major urban centers. The move comes as global transport markets balance convenience, safety, and regulation, while demand grows for more flexible options in both cities and smaller communities.

Anthropic is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) and plans to tell investors its total addressable market exceeds US$30 trillion, according to people familiar with the matter. The company is expected to present the figure as part of its case for a high valuation and continued heavy infrastructure spending.

Ablecom Technology said it had joined a private placement for Jochu Technology and become the listed company's largest shareholder, giving the Taiwan-based chassis and thermal solutions provider access to additional capacity for AI server racks and liquid cooling products. The move is designed to help Ablecom address rising demand from global data centers for high-density computing, while the two companies plan to work more closely on production and technology.

Nvidia is aggressively expanding into open-source models and positioning itself as the world's largest open AI contributor, as CEO Jensen Huang reshapes the company from a supporter of the open AI ecosystem into a builder. The company recently spent US$6 billion to license Poolside's technology and hire about 100 of its engineers, adding momentum to the US open-model push.

The 2026 Taiwan Sustainability Summit opened in Taipei on August 25, bringing together government representatives, industry leaders, and experts from Taiwan and Germany to focus on how digital twin and industrial AI can accelerate net-zero deployment in manufacturing, buildings, energy management, and rail transport. The summit closed with a five-point joint declaration, outlining Taiwan's next 10-year development blueprint.

India's data center story has split in two. The pipeline forecasts keep getting bigger, but the money actually landing has thinned sharply since June — and the reason is no longer demand or capital availability. It is environmental clearance, temple land, water accounting, and grid load, questions that courts, local residents, and state governments are all now asking before the concrete is poured.

Anthropic has reportedly agreed to spend US$45 billion over six years to rent artificial intelligence computing capacity from Nscale's planned data center campus in West Virginia, underscoring the growing importance of securing large-scale infrastructure as AI companies scale their services.

Lambda, the Nvidia-backed neocloud provider, is seeking to raise as much as US$3 billion before a planned 2027 listing, with its valuation potentially reaching US$12 billion, according to people familiar with the matter. Bloomberg reported that Lambda’s 2026 revenue is projected to exceed US$1.5 billion, and that the company has already received several investment term sheets, though the deal terms have not been finalized.

AI is already sweeping Wall Street, but Goldman Sachs partner Chris Churchman is warning that overuse of AI could lead to "cognitive decline." A CEPR-backed study cited by The Economist found that generative AI lifted homework scores among 26,811 Chinese secondary school students by 18% but cut closed-book monthly exam scores by 20% within six months.

China's open-weight AI models have surged in usage and have now overtaken proprietary models for the first time. South China Morning Post (SCMP), citing data from US web development platform Vercel, reported that on August 25, Chinese open-weight AI models accounted for 54% of total token usage across its own calls and the agent layer AI Gateway, surpassing proprietary models for the first time.