AI News

AI news brief: Mainland Chinese chipmakers are aggressively expanding capacity in Singapore, as AI chip demand squeezes capacity for base chips and components, and the industry is also watching whether this shortage could flip into oversupply. This summary is from a Nikkei tech podcast episode intro, which only lists host and guest info plus two related headlines (a TSMC-affiliated company reportedly evaluating expansion after its first Singapore plant sold out; Broadcom and Toppan Chemical opening their first advanced chip substrate plant in Singapore), without further mechanism, capacity figures, or timeline details — see the original link for more.

AI News Flash: NTT Data Group is in final-stage negotiations with US AI company Anthropic to build a dedicated data center in western Japan (Osaka), according to multiple sources who spoke to Nikkei Asia. This would be Anthropic’s first dedicated data center in Japan, with processing capacity expected to rank among the largest in the country. The new facility could reportedly cost up to $6.3 billion to build, with partial operations expected to begin in 2028.

AI news brief: Japanese electronics giant Omron recently announced it will acquire US industrial computer maker OnLogic for about $675 million, with the deal expected to close as early as January next year. OnLogic makes and sells industrial computer equipment used in factory environments. The acquisition is seen as a major step in Omron’s push into physical AI, integrating OnLogic’s industrial computer lineup to strengthen its sales footprint in control equipment and automation across the Americas.

AI news brief: Harvey, a US legal AI startup, plans to open an office in Japan in early 2027, marking its formal entry into the Japanese market. CEO and co-founder Winston Weinberg says the company will target major Japanese law firms and corporate legal departments as its primary customers.

AI news brief: On Monday, Meta launched two new AI models, Muse Wonder and Muse Wonder Full, which the company calls its strongest models yet and a step toward ‘personal superintelligence.’ The new models introduce two capabilities: Active Memory, which carries relevant information across different conversations, and…

AI News Brief: Omron is reportedly planning to acquire US computer maker OnLogic for about 100 billion yen (around $630.5 million), with the deal possibly closing as early as January next year. Nikkei reported the deal on Tuesday. OnLogic is a US company that primarily makes and sells industrial computers for factory environments. The acquisition is seen as part of Omron’s push into physical AI, and gives Omron more room to expand its control equipment sales footprint in the Americas.

AI News Brief: Harvey CEO and co-founder Winston Weinberg says the US legal AI giant plans to enter the Japanese market in early 2027, targeting major Japanese law firms and corporate legal departments. The move is expected to accelerate AI tool adoption among Japan’s legal industry and its corporate clients, while also potentially putting pressure on the current billable hour model…

AI news brief: Before FTX’s bankruptcy, Alameda Research spent over $1 billion to acquire a roughly 20% stake in Genesis Digital Assets, and now these crypto mining assets have been repurposed for AI compute. Investment firm SWI Group announced it completed roughly 800 million euros (about $900 million) in funding to expand its data center and AI compute capacity in Europe and the US, which includes the Genesis Digital Assets mining business once tied to FTX.

AI News Brief: Microsoft President Brad Smith publicly called for AI regulation to happen now in a recent BBC podcast, pointing out that even consumer products like milk and washing machines face more oversight than the companies building AI. He described AI as both a ‘weapon and a tool’ that’s putting global cybersecurity at risk, saying ’the time has come’ to establish global safety rules. Smith specifically named the UK, rather than the US or EU, as best positioned to lead on global AI safety rules.

AI News Flash: WindBorne Systems has signed a new contract with the US Air Force worth up to $49 million, under which the Air Force will purchase data collected by the company’s fleet of autonomous weather balloons. WindBorne currently operates around 700 weather balloons worldwide, continuously gathering atmospheric sensor data that it both sells to customers and feeds directly into its own AI weather forecasting models.