Following inventory corrections and demand adjustments in the global ICT industry from 2023 to 2025, the sector's economic landscape has shown clear divergence. AI server demand centered on data center construction continues to expand rapidly, standing out as one of the few high-growth areas. In contrast, industrial applications such as industrial PCs (IPCs), automation equipment, and machine tools have seen slower-than-expected recovery due to high inflation, rising geopolitical risks, and cautious corporate capital expenditures.
Chinese AI startup Z.ai issued a rare public apology on February 21 after its new large model, GLM-5, rollout triggered user backlash over billing, throttling, and flaws in its upgrade mechanism, underscoring operational risks as large AI models rapidly advance.
In an interview with DIGITIMES, Patrick McGee, author of 'Apple in China,' joined DIGITIMES vice president Eric Huang in dissecting the complex, decades-long interdependence between "the world's greatest company" and its primary manufacturing hub. The interview highlighted a critical crossroads: as Chinese "red supply chain" firms squeeze out traditional partners, Taiwanese giants are leveraging their Apple-honed expertise to lead the global AI revolution.
Amazon has officially banned its internal engineering teams from using Anthropic's coding assistant, Claude Code, mandating a full shift to Amazon's self-developed AI system. This move reveals the cloud giant's deep strategic battle in the AI era.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC) has signed a contract with US-based Agility Robotics to deploy its Digit humanoid robots. Prior to the formal agreement, Toyota is understood to have conducted a year-long pilot program to validate the stability of Digit robots in automotive production environments. The robot features bipedal locomotion and dual-arm operation, and will be deployed in tasks spanning logistics, empty box retrieval, and parts delivery.
IBM on February 22 inaugurated an AI GovTech Innovation Center in Lucknow, India, as part of a broader push to position artificial intelligence (AI) as core infrastructure for public-sector modernization, while also outlining plans to expand investments in quantum computing, cloud, and semiconductor design in the country.
China Central Television's 2026 Spring Festival Gala became a showcase for humanoid robots. Unlike last year's polarizing yangko performance, this year's high-difficulty routines drew broad approval. Four humanoid robot companies appeared in rotation, as the national platform would likely boost their capital market appeal.
Acer is marking its 50th anniversary in 2026 by redefining its core and non-core businesses, aiming to strengthen group resilience through expansion into four promising non-core sectors: industrial PCs (IPCs), healthcare, energy, and home appliances. Chairman and CEO Jason Chen outlined the company's forward-looking strategy to balance growth between core and emerging areas.
Generative AI has prompted market doubts about the traditional software-as-a-service growth model, contributing to recent weakness in SaaS stocks and eroding investor confidence, Appier CEO and co-founder Chih-han Yu said. He argued that the greatest impact falls on non-native AI SaaS providers.
In an interview with Germany's Handelsblatt, Infineon CEO Jochen Hanebeck said the emerging robotics market is expected to generate significant revenue growth and help support the company's stable performance amid margin pressures.
Around the 2026 Lunar New Year, China's large model market entered its most concentrated launch cycle to date. Z.ai, MiniMax, Alibaba, and ByteDance released or upgraded models across reasoning, image generation, and video generation.
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