Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz are reshaping their growth strategies as the global auto market enters a low-growth era, with profitability under pressure and EV demand slowing. Instead of chasing volume, the three German automakers are focusing on multi-powertrain platforms, deeper AI integration, and cross-border partnerships.

Rising computing demand in AI data centers is turning liquid cooling from a premium option into a core infrastructure element for high-power AI racks and newly built facilities.

IBM lowered its full-year revenue growth target after a second-quarter miss, saying clients shifted spending toward scarce hardware and away from software deals. Management framed the weakness as delayed demand rather than lost business, while reaffirming free cash flow growth, margin expansion plans, and confidence in the company's long-term software and mainframe franchises.

Wistron opened its D1 AI smart factory in Fort Worth, Texas, on July 21 local time, and began mass production of the first Nvidia GB300 compute baseboard made in the US. The nearly US$700 million plant, which spans about 324,000 square feet, was unveiled by Wistron chairman Simon Lin and Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang.

Nvidia is moving to lock down the networking layer of the world's largest AI data centers, unveiling its Spectrum-6 Ethernet switch as the backbone for what it calls "gigascale" AI factories built around its next-generation Vera Rubin platform. The launch, detailed on the company's blog on July 21, is a reminder that networking — not just GPUs — has become a central battleground as operators scale toward clusters of more than 100,000 accelerators.

Xpeng is transforming into a physical AI supplier over the next 10 years, with robotaxi, humanoid robots, and flying cars as its three core product lines, chairman Xiaopeng He told Automotive News. The company also aims to move beyond the carmaker label and adopt a Tier 1 supplier model, working with operating partners around the world to build a business model that can be replicated globally.

Specialty chemicals maker Johnson Fine Chemical has won approval from the Taiwan Stock Exchange for its listing plan and is now targeting an IPO as soon as late 2026 to early 2027. In recent years, the company has used specialty amine curing agents to break into the AI server and high-end tech hardware supply chains, meeting the demanding requirements of next-generation high-frequency, high-speed copper-clad laminates (CCL) for heat resistance, dimensional stability, low water absorption, and long-term reliability.