Alibaba-backed Chinese startup Moonshot unveils 'Kimi K2 Thinking' AI model that reportedly outperforms ChatGPT in autonomous task completion while costing just $4.6 million to train versus OpenAI's billions, as major U.S. companies like Airbnb embrace cheaper Chinese alternatives amid escalating global AI competition.
SoftBank and OpenAI launch joint venture 'SB OAI Japan' to deploy exclusive AI solution 'Crystal Intelligence' across Japanese enterprises in 2026, with SoftBank already creating 2.5 million custom GPTs internally as the first validation user.
Nvidia and Deutsche Telekom unveil a massive €1 billion AI factory in Munich featuring over 1,000 DGX B200 systems and 10,000 Blackwell GPUs, set to boost Germany's AI computing power by 50% when it launches in early 2026.
Global data center electricity consumption races toward nearly doubling by 2030 as AI-driven servers surge with 30% annual growth, with the US and China commanding 80% of this massive energy expansion that will consume 3% of world electricity.
Baidu's Apollo Go robotaxi service reaches 250,000 weekly driverless rides, matching Waymo's performance while operating across Chinese cities and expanding internationally to Hong Kong, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Switzerland with 140 million accident-free autonomous rides completed.
Pony.ai becomes the first company to receive a citywide robotaxi permit for all of Shenzhen, China, ending pilot zone restrictions as it plans to deploy over 1,000 cost-efficient seventh-generation autonomous vehicles in partnership with local taxi firm Xihu Group.
Chinese researchers at Peking University develop groundbreaking analog chip using resistive memory that delivers 1,000x faster performance than top Nvidia and AMD GPUs while consuming 100x less energy, solving precision issues that have plagued analog computing for decades.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang dismisses national security fears while targeting China's $50 billion AI chip market, warning against underestimating competitor Huawei's capabilities and expressing hope for approval to sell advanced Blackwell GPUs despite current restrictions.
Google partners with Reliance to provide free AI Pro access including Gemini 2.5 Pro model, enhanced media generation tools, and 2TB cloud storage worth ₹35,100 to millions of Jio 5G users for 18 months, initially targeting ages 18-25 before nationwide expansion.
Major Japanese publishers including Sony's Aniplex, Studio Ghibli, and Square Enix formally demand OpenAI stop using their copyrighted content to train the Sora 2 AI model, claiming the system produces outputs that closely resemble their works without permission and violates Japanese copyright law.