Asian enterprises raise AI budgets as security and costs constrain deployment - Tech Edition

• Malaysia and Western China are collaborating to develop a new tech and trade corridor to reshape Asian commerce through digital technology and physical connectivity. • The initiative was highlighted by YB Senator Datuk Nur Jazlan bin Tan Sri Mohamed, Deputy President of the Senate in the Parliament of Malaysia.

• The Bank of England is investigating global investment banks to assess their concentrated exposure to AI-related stocks, specifically focusing on SK hynix and TSMC. • This probe follows significant market volatility, with semiconductor ETF losses approaching 40% and retail leverage losses reaching 56 trillion won.

• Asian chipmakers and AI-related stocks experienced a significant surge following positive momentum from Wall Street tech shares and month-end buying activity. • Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, saw its shares rally by 10%.

• Venture capitalists in Southeast Asia are reducing funding for consumer startups as investment focus shifts heavily toward artificial intelligence. • Struggling firms are seeking alternative financing or pivoting business models, such as livestreaming platform Kumu launching a paid data annotation service.

• Cyera has announced its intent to acquire Oasis in a deal valued at approximately $1 billion. • The acquisition highlights the strategic importance of agentic AI and AI agent security, which remain top priorities for industry leaders.

• European venture capital funding rebounded by 27% to €44.1 billion in H1 2026, though the overall number of deals plummeted to a six-year low. • Artificial intelligence dominated the landscape, absorbing 60.3% of all VC deal value, while seed-stage deal counts dropped by 44% in Q1.

• Irish construction firms are expanding their operations into Europe following a surge in data center growth, leveraging expertise gained from Ireland's domestic boom. • While grid capacity concerns have slowed new projects within Ireland, companies like Sisk are now securing contracts in Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands.

• The European Union is preparing a strategic initiative to expand its AI capabilities by funding the construction of new data centers. • Member states are splitting into two camps: Germany, Greece, Portugal, Italy, and Spain are pushing for larger facilities, while Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, and Poland are competing for smaller-scale centers.

• South Korea’s Kospi index surged nearly 18% as artificial intelligence-related chipmaking stocks rebounded following losses earlier in the week. • Other Asian markets saw significant movement, including an 8% jump in Taiwan’s Taiex driven by a 10% increase for chipmaker TSMC and a 0.9% gain for the Shanghai Composite.

• The KOSPI index surged 15%, climbing past the 6,400 mark as the AI chip rally returned to Asian markets. • The rally was driven by sharp rebounds in Samsung and SK Hynix, following strong cloud earnings reports from Microsoft and Amazon.

• Guotai Haitong Securities hosted the "AI Foresight, Co-Creating the Future" forum during the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference held from July 17 to 20. • The event gathered nearly 1,000 experts and business leaders to showcase the company's "All in AI" strategy and its deployment across the securities industry chain.