IBM's third quarter went some way towards answering whether the deal slippage that hit its second quarter reflected weaker demand or delayed timing. Revenue rose 5% year on year, or 6% at constant currency, to US$17.1 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, an acceleration after a second quarter that led the company to cut its full-year outlook in July.

Meta Platforms' third quarter showed that its core advertising business is still growing fast enough to carry one of the largest infrastructure programs in the technology industry. Still, it also showed legal liabilities becoming a material cost line. Revenue rose 26% year on year to US$64.6 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, while the operating margin fell to 20% from 40% a year earlier.

Grab Holdings' proposed acquisition of Delivery Hero's Foodpanda operations in Taiwan has been rejected by Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission (FTC). The commission made the announcement on October 21, blocking the deal on the grounds that it would restrict market competition. Grab issued a statement saying while it was disappointed with the decision, it will continue developing its core businesses in its existing Southeast Asian markets.

AMD and Intel plan to consolidate their PyTorch optimizations for x86 processors in oneDNN, aiming to give AI developers a common path to performance improvements across both companies' CPUs and reduce the work of maintaining separate software paths.

The US imposed sanctions on five Chinese entities tied to ex-Google engineer Linwei Ding for theft of trade secrets. The action follows his conviction for stealing confidential AI technology from Google, apparently to benefit Chinese firms.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang urged German businesses to embrace AI at an industry summit in Berlin on October 19, aiming to revive the economy and modernize industry. Huang specifically called on Germany's automotive and industrial machinery sectors to adopt physical AI by leveraging the country's extensive manufacturing data and expertise.

Intel has asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a waiver to the US ban on advanced foreign robots, citing worries that its machines will not receive equipment updates, which could hinder its ability to produce semiconductors in the US. The request comes after the US banned imports of foreign-made robots in July.

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek products and third-party services built on the Chinese AI model from their information technology (IT) systems, escalating Washington's scrutiny of Chinese AI.

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.

Singapore is moving its AI strategy beyond pilot-heavy experimentation toward a more deployment-focused model centered on enterprise adoption, sector transformation and resilient access to compute.

Nvidia is expanding its presence in China's gaming market by bringing its next-generation Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) 5 neural rendering technology to titles from major Chinese developers, including NetEase, Tencent, Perfect World's Hotta Studio, and Beijing Lingyoufang Network Technology.

Japan is stepping up its push into physical AI, with major technology companies and research institutions showcasing advances in autonomous robot learning, motion sensing, and agricultural automation at CEATEC 2026.

As interest rates fluctuate, bond yields rise, and Chinese AI models intensify competition, market attention is shifting from technological development and infrastructure expansion to investment returns and long-term debt-servicing capacity. The AI industry continues to attract capital but must also prove that its business models can generate profits.

As Manus, one of China's more distinctive AI startups, became entangled in the high-profile unwinding of its acquisition by Meta, the startup's failed attempt to capture opportunities beyond China left the industry speculating about its next steps after an abrupt regulatory reversal.

AI is clearly making an enormous impact on the global economy, with capabilities extending from language chatbots to agentic teams and the physical realm within just a few years. A new report by consulting firm Bain takes stock of AI's effects on businesses so far and projects how it could shape the near future.

LINE Taiwan marked its 15th year in the market with a strategy shift that signals broader ambitions beyond messaging. The company is expanding into AI-powered daily services, aiming to connect users, brands, and merchants through agentic AI tools, while also strengthening account security and anti-fraud defenses.

An international AI research team has detected a fleet of more than a dozen AI agents operating in a suspected Tencent Cloud infrastructure sandbox and repeatedly attempting to penetrate Amap, the mapping service owned by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

Synopsys CEO Sassine Ghazi said that fully autonomous chip development has not yet crossed the final hurdle to become reality, although the company has advanced from AI-assisted engineering to models that coordinate more than 40 task agents. He made these comments during the CEO Summit at SEMICON West 2026, adding that AI-era chip development requires co-optimization across physics, materials, processes, architectures, software, and models.

South Korean inspection equipment manufacturer Hanwool Semiconductor has secured an order to supply ultrasonic inspection equipment for multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) to a subsidiary of Taiwan's Delta Electronics Group.

The debut of Google's Gemini 4 family marks a major milestone in frontier artificial intelligence, and Gemini 4 Argon is set to lead this next-generation launch. As autonomous AI capabilities scale rapidly, security incidents across the tech landscape highlight why robust containment controls have become the industry's top priority.

OpenAI is in early talks to acquire Trail of Bits, a cybersecurity research firm specializing in software vulnerabilities and open-source security, The Information reported on October 13, as the ChatGPT maker expands its push into enterprise cybersecurity.

SEMI announced at a media event during SEMICON West 2026 that the exhibition will move to Phoenix, Arizona, in 2027 and shift to a spring schedule. SEMI Americas President Joe Stockunas confirmed at a pre-show press conference that the organization has signed a three-year agreement with Phoenix to host SEMICON West.

As custom AI silicon proliferates alongside growing demand for heterogeneous compute, the ability to move and optimize workloads across different accelerators is becoming an increasingly important capability for AI developers.

Uber Technologies appointed a single general manager for Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau on October 13, combining leadership across the three markets as the ride-hailing company seeks to expand regional operations and partnerships. The appointment places responsibility for strategy, operations and market development across the three markets under one regional leader.

Sora, the AI video generation model created by OpenAI, may someday be revived after its services were shut down this year. A startup is reportedly in talks with OpenAI over access to the tool, with the aim of possibly modifying it and selling software or other services based on it.