Microsoft Commits $10B to Japan AI Infrastructure
Microsoft pledges $10B to Japan for AI data centers, cybersecurity cooperation, and workforce training from 2026 to 2029, partnering with SoftBank and Sakura Internet.
Geopolitics
After Pentagon Feud, UK Woos Anthropic to London
Britain is offering Anthropic a £40M research lab and a dual London Stock Exchange listing after the Pentagon branded the AI company a supply-chain risk.
Microsoft Pledges $5.5B for Singapore AI and Cloud
Microsoft commits $5.5B to Singapore's cloud and AI infrastructure through 2029, one day after a separate $1B+ Thailand pledge, as Brad Smith tours Asia cementing Microsoft's position as the West's preferred AI infrastructure partner in the region.
NeurIPS Bans Sanctioned Chinese Labs - CCF Calls Boycott
NeurIPS enforces US sanctions compliance for the first time in its history, barring researchers from Huawei, SenseTime, and other SDN-listed firms, prompting China's Computer Federation to urge a full boycott.
USCC: China's Open-Source AI Now Runs 80% of US Startups
A new USCC report finds Chinese open-source models now dominate US AI startup stacks, with Qwen surpassing Llama in global downloads and Chinese models taking 41% of all Hugging Face downloads.
NVIDIA Fires Up H200 for China After 10-Month Wait
Jensen Huang confirmed at GTC 2026 that NVIDIA has export licenses for multiple Chinese customers and is restarting H200 production, with 82,000 GPUs ready to ship after nearly a year of zero deliveries.
Tencent Plans to Double AI Investment to $5B in 2026
Tencent's 2025 results beat estimates, with the company spending $2.6B on AI last year and planning to at least double that in 2026 despite ongoing GPU supply constraints from US export controls.
North Korea Targets Europe with AI Deepfake Workers
DPRK operatives use real-time deepfake video and LLM-generated CVs to pass European hiring pipelines, funneling income back to Pyongyang's weapons programs.
Iran Targets US Tech Facilities - What It Means for AI
Iran's IRGC designated facilities of Amazon, Nvidia, Microsoft, Google, Oracle, IBM, and Palantir across Israel and the Gulf as legitimate targets - with AWS data centers already struck by drones.
China Unveils $70B AI and Chip Subsidy to Counter US Controls
China announced up to $70 billion in semiconductor and AI subsidies during the Two Sessions - one of the largest government chip programs in history, aimed at full self-sufficiency as US export controls tighten.
US Drafts Rules Requiring Permits for All AI Chip Exports
The Commerce Department has drafted regulations requiring government approval for all AI chip exports worldwide - not just to China - giving Washington unprecedented gatekeeper power over global AI development.
US Weighs 75K-Chip Cap on Nvidia H200 Sales to China
The Trump administration is considering limiting Chinese companies to 75,000 Nvidia H200 GPUs each - less than half what Alibaba and ByteDance want - while zero chips have shipped despite months of export approvals.
