Anthropic is offering Blackstone a total return of more than 10% to help finance a US$60 billion artificial intelligence (AI) chip procurement package, as higher infrastructure financing costs make expanding computing capacity more expensive. The proposed arrangement, reportedly code-named Project North Star, would fund purchases of Google tensor processing units (TPUs) with a combined capacity of approximately 1.5 GW.

Acer Inc. subsidiary Weblink International Inc. has secured agency rights for AvePoint in Taiwan and the Asia-Pacific region, expanding its enterprise solutions portfolio amid accelerating cloud and AI adoption and the growing importance of data governance and information security.

After two years of recovery, the digital camera market is slowing in 2026, with action cameras and handheld smart cameras taking over as the next growth engines. Optical industry observers say consumers no longer expect one camera to cover every scenario, instead choosing specialized devices for specific uses—a shift that has made action cameras the clearest winner.

Canon Marketing Taiwan President Hu Da-gang said the global camera market performed well in 2026, with demand rebounding after the pandemic and smartphone photography helping cultivate a new generation of photography enthusiasts. He also expressed optimism about 2027, as Canon and other brands prepare to launch more new models and capitalize on market momentum.

Toyota plans to transition its entire lineup of approximately 50 vehicle models to software-defined vehicles (SDVs) by 2030, equipping them with advanced software capabilities that allow owners to upgrade vehicle functions through over-the-air (OTA) updates after purchase.

Anthropic has opened its fifth Asia-Pacific office in Singapore and signed a memorandum of understanding with the city-state's digital ministry, broadening cooperation on AI safety, security, evaluation, and adoption. The move expands the company's presence in a market where Claude use is among the highest in the world, with implications for governance.

China's precision manufacturing giant Lens Technology is expanding into AI server infrastructure through a proposed US$25 million acquisition of a controlling stake in PMG International, gaining access to server rack manufacturing and liquid-cooling technologies. The transaction marks a further diversification beyond the company's established consumer electronics and automotive components businesses.

Anthropic has signed its first data center lease in Canada, taking capacity at the Point Tupper data center campus planned by energy company EverWind Fuels in Nova Scotia. The facility will be built in two phases, with the first 95-megawatt phase scheduled to open by the end of 2027.

Taiwan-based iBase Solution is expanding from industrial computers (IPCs) and energy storage into liquid-cooled prefabricated modular data centers, targeting AI infrastructure construction and engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contracts. The company aims to leverage its energy storage expertise, system integration capabilities, and customer relationships to capture opportunities in power, cooling, and data center development as global AI investment grows.

China is moving to tighten oversight of technology transfers that support its companies' overseas expansion, proposing export bans and licensing requirements for artificial intelligence (AI), biomedicine, and solar manufacturing, and requiring exporters to register covered transactions immediately.

TECO Electric & Machinery is shifting from a motor-focused manufacturer to a platform-based provider of integrated power, energy, drive-system, and AI infrastructure solutions, as chairman Morris Li says artificial intelligence is accelerating demand for autonomous power, microgrids, virtual power plants, and faster data center construction worldwide.