Corporate adoption of artificial intelligence tools has cooled as firms across technology and consumer sectors flagged soaring token costs and uncertain returns, according to recent reporting by The Information, Axios, and Fortune. Executives said mounting compute expenses have, in many cases, exceeded labor costs, prompting moves to curb usage and rethink vendor choices as cost-control measures accelerated in the first half of 2026.

China moved in late 2025 to prohibit companies from citing AI adoption as a reason for layoffs, directing employers to justify any workforce reductions as unrelated to AI, executives said. The policy followed meetings between senior officials and major employers to assess AI's impact on jobs and aimed to avoid social instability as firms accelerate AI deployment.

South Korean internet giant Naver said it has formed a dedicated defense AI organization to pursue military AI transformation, deploy field engineers to client sites, and develop defense-specific AI capabilities. The move was disclosed by South Korean media outlets Seoul Economic Daily and Maeil Business Newspaper, which reported that Naver Cloud has established a "Defense AX Special Task Force" to commercialize AI services for defense customers.

At his Copmutex 2026 keynote, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon said the presentation was not about Qualcomm itself, but about all the companies driving technological progress, including suppliers and development partners. Reflecting that message, the stage backdrop prominently featured numerous Taiwanese supply chain partners and customers.

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek said it will permanently cut the API price of its flagship model by 75% from June 1, prompting debate across the global AI industry. Amazon AWS said the move may matter less as a price war than as a bid to change how AI infrastructure is built and sold.

During Global Connect Show (GCS) 2026 in Shenzhen, China, Pixverse AI presented and demoed its AI video platform, reflecting the exceptional rate at which AI video is transforming. According to the Chief Representative of Singapore and Global PR Head at Pixverse AI, Robyn Tan, the platform supports three creation paths: text-to-video, image-to-video, and multi-image cinematic production.

Foxconn said its Genesis smart manufacturing project has delivered measurable gains in AI-driven factory operations, with production-line scheduling efficiency up 50%, misjudgment rates down 50%, and root-cause analysis accuracy rising to 90%. The company also said the time needed to build new plants and deploy production lines has been cut by more than 60%.

GSEO expects a traditional peak season in the second half as smartphone camera customers prepare to ramp new-model orders from mid- to late June, while AI glasses have become its second-largest product line behind mobile phones.

Asus chairman Jonney Shih said the company is extending its AI strategy beyond servers into agentic AI, edge AI, and physical AI, while treating humanoid robots as a major future market. He said the company's AI server shipments are surging and that physical AI has already been made a long-term priority.

India's biggest business groups are ramping up spending on digital infrastructure, with Reliance Industries and Adani Group focusing on data centers, energy, and artificial intelligence. Their plans point to a wider shift in the Indian industry toward building the infrastructure needed for AI domestically.

Chinese consumer electronics and tech brands have made significant strides in quality and innovation over the past few years, yet trust remains a persistent challenge in Western markets. Ongoing geopolitical tensions and media framing have added further complexity to that dynamic.