Asian Shares Follow Wall Street Higher Amid Easing AI, Middle East Concerns

• Asia-focused hedge funds experienced record losses in July, marking the worst month on record for regional equity long-short managers according to Goldman Sachs. • The downturn was driven by a sharp sell-off in AI-related stocks as investors questioned the sustainability of the sector's massive capital expenditures.

• Asian stock markets rallied following gains on Wall Street, with South Korea’s KOSPI jumping over 3% and the Australian ASX hitting a record high. • Tech stocks led the rebound, featuring significant gains for SK Hynix (over 6%), Samsung Electronics (nearly 4%), and Foxconn Industrial Internet (nearly 9%).

• Goldman Sachs projects that China's AI revenue will reach US$13 billion, driven by significant technological breakthroughs and increased adoption. • The bank specifically raised year-end Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) forecasts for Hong Kong-listed firms Zhipu AI to US$2.5 billion and MiniMax to US$1 billion.

• The EU AI Act's transparency requirements took effect on August 2, 2026, mandating that companies clearly disclose the use of AI chatbots and AI-generated content. • While transparency rules are now active, the implementation of more stringent provisions regarding "high-risk" AI systems has been delayed until 2027.

• Established European tech firms, including SAP, Capgemini, Sopra Steria, and OVHcloud, are seeing a surge in demand and faster growth. • This trend is driven by a market shift as businesses transition from merely experimenting with artificial intelligence to deploying it across their core operations.

• Infineon reported record financial results for its third fiscal quarter, with revenues increasing 13% year-on-year to 4.2 billion euros. • The company's profit saw a significant surge of 39%, reaching 423 million euros.

• European tech giants including SAP, Capgemini, and Sopra Steria are seeing increased growth as clients transition from AI experimentation to full-scale deployment. • Demand is strongest in the defense, aerospace, and critical infrastructure sectors, where sovereignty, security, and regulatory compliance are primary concerns.

• Over 1,100 AI researchers and executives, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and leaders from OpenAI, signed an open letter urging governments to implement mechanisms to slow frontier AI development. • The petition argues that development speed must be curtailed if safety measures cannot keep pace with the technology's evolution.

• The European Union has launched the Scaleup Europe Fund with a target of €5 billion to support the growth of the region's leading technology companies. • The fund specifically targets high-growth "scaleups" operating in critical frontier sectors, including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology, and clean tech.

• Chinese AI unicorn Moonshot is seeking a fundraising round of approximately US$50 billion as it prepares for a potential initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong by the end of the year. • The company is currently dismantling its offshore corporate structure to facilitate the listing process, following a surge in investor interest triggered by the release of its Kimi K3 model.

• Cybersecurity startup Zenity has raised $125 million in a Series C funding round led by Norwest Venture Partners. • The company provides tools designed to help enterprises secure and govern autonomous AI agents integrated across their internal systems.