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The European Union will allocate 10 billion euros (about 11.4 billion US dollars) to fund enterprises in building seven artificial intelligence factories. The initiative aims to boost AI infrastructure and competitiveness in the region.
China’s new infrastructure buildout advanced steadily in the first half of 2026, with the core industry scale hitting 2.98 trillion yuan. Smart computing power reached 2,185 EFLOPS, surging 177% year-on-year, and 5G base stations exceeded 5.05 million. Technology-focused lending expanded, with loans to tech SMEs up 20.1% to 4.15 trillion yuan. A-share new-infrastructure-related financing surpassed 48 billion yuan, an 8.5-fold increase, while 169 listed companies in core new-infrastructure tracks reported combined H1 net profit of nearly 96.2 billion yuan, up over 59%. Low-orbit broadband constellations began regular launches, a 6G trial spectrum was granted, and 5G-Advanced networks covered 330 cities.
China's real GDP rose 4.3% year-on-year in Q2 2026, moderating from Q1. Nominal GDP growth increased to 5.9%, the highest in five years, and the GDP deflator turned positive at about 1.5% for the first time since Q2 2023. Exports gained momentum, but fixed-asset investment slipped, consumption growth was weak, and the real estate sector continued to shrink.
Hangzhou's 'Six Little Dragons' have all become unicorns valued over US$1 billion, with Qunhe Technology listing in Hong Kong and Yushu Technology passing its IPO review. DeepSeek set a record with over 50 billion yuan in a single fundraising round. In 2025, core digital economy industries contributed 29.5% of Hangzhou's GDP. The city's innovation ecosystem includes platforms like Zhejiang Lab and the National AI Application Pilot Base. GeoGPT, a geoscience model, serves 50,000 researchers globally. New drivers contributed over 40% to China's economic growth in the first half of 2026.
Meta Platforms Inc. projected third-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue between $61 billion and $64 billion. The company also narrowed its full-year capital expenditure forecast to $130 billion-$145 billion, raising the lower end from $125 billion. Meta relies on advertising revenue to fund its artificial intelligence and infrastructure investments. CEO Mark Zuckerberg earlier raised the spending plan to as much as $145 billion. Meta shares closed at $585.61 in New York on Wednesday and fell about 4% in after-hours trading.
Tencent Video's intelligent creation platform division is testing WorkSolo, an AIGC content creation platform that integrates AI short drama, interactive film, and free canvas modes. It follows the industrial-grade WorkRally for comic-to-animation projects. WorkSolo adopts a free trial, membership, and credit-based model: free users get 100 credits, basic members 900 credits per month for 900 images and 200 videos, and premium members 3,000 credits for 3,000 images and 750 videos. The platform remains in beta, with official launch details pending.
Hikvision reported record first-half results for 2026, with revenue of RMB 46.823 billion, up 11.97% year-on-year, and net profit of RMB 7.896 billion, up 39.57%. Innovation business revenue reached RMB 15.17 billion, accounting for 32.4% of total revenue, a new high. The company's stock rose over 4% on the first trading day after the release. Operating cash flow fell to RMB 3.231 billion, while inventory rose 44% to RMB 29.488 billion. The company plans interim dividends of RMB 5.041 billion, equivalent to 63.84% of net profit.
Payment giant Stripe is negotiating to acquire AI model aggregator OpenRouter for about $10 billion, nearly seven times its $1.3 billion valuation from a B-round funding two months ago. OpenRouter, founded in 2023, offers over 400 models and connects 70-plus providers, processing 25 trillion tokens weekly. Stripe processed $1.9 trillion in payments in 2025.
Huawei plans to mass-produce AI chips using glass substrate technology by 2027, collaborating with domestic suppliers including BOE and Visionox. It will also import key materials from South Korea to ensure process maturity. Glass substrates offer advantages in flatness, thermal stability, and power efficiency, helping Huawei compensate for limited access to EUV lithography through advanced packaging. With Nvidia largely exiting China due to regulatory pressures, Huawei now holds about 60% of the domestic AI chip market.
Chinese AI startup DeepSeek has suspended its second funding round after founder Liang Wenfeng's remarks at a closed-door meeting on May 20 were leaked online. The company, valued at about RMB 500 billion, had raised US$7.4 billion in its first external round. Liang discussed purchasing potentially non-compliant processors and disclosed details on computing capacity and hardware gaps with US rivals, amid US investigations into DeepSeek's access to restricted chips.