The years-long tug-of-war between the US and China has witnessed a head-on showdown over technological might, as stringent export controls and tightening restrictions continue to push the world's two largest economies into increasingly tense competition across critical technology infrastructure.
China is moving to address one of autonomous driving's most contentious and long-unresolved questions: when a Level 3 advanced automated driving system is engaged and a traffic violation or crash occurs, should the driver or the automaker bear responsibility? Beijing appears inclined to align with the classification standards set by SAE International (Society of Automotive Engineers), shifting liability to the automaker while Level 3 functions are active.
Tesla once tried to license its electrification and automated driving technologies to mainstream automakers through tech-transfer agreements, but none of those deals materialized. Today, the company is charting a different course, building out its own cloud service provider (CSP) capabilities and its Grok model while pushing into Robotaxis and Optimus humanoid robots. In China, though, regulatory reality has forced a pivot: Tesla is setting aside Grok in favor of ByteDance's localized large language model (LLM), Doubao.
Proton said its vehicle sales rose 38.7% in the first seven months of 2026, as the Malaysian automaker highlighted new electrification and connected mobility technologies at GATE 2026. The company tied the growth to a broader push to strengthen its engineering and manufacturing capabilities while supporting Malaysia's automotive industry competitiveness.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently said the company's upcoming AI5 inference chip could deliver two to three times the performance per watt of Nvidia products when deployed in autonomous vehicles and Optimus humanoid robots, potentially at just around 10% of the cost.
The surprising convergence at the intersection of two fundamental applications of embodied AI — EVs and robotics — has given rise to an intensifying trend across both sectors. The supply chain is witnessing a major power imbalance unfold, alongside increasingly blurred lines in product lifecycles and, ultimately, an economic restructuring of broader supply-chain dynamics.
Tesla's senior director of AI hardware design, Shishuang Sun, joined DensityAI in July 2026, taking charge of packaging and system hardware development. The move came as Tesla continued to pursue custom AI and robotics chips amid the loss of another senior hardware leader.
GATE 2026 is set to bring together automakers, suppliers, and technology firms in Kuala Lumpur as Southeast Asia deepens its focus on electric vehicles, smart manufacturing, and industrial upgrading. The event's scale and timing could make it a key indicator of where the region's auto supply chains are heading next.
Global demand for AI and high-performance computing (HPC) has lifted investment returns for Taiwan-listed companies in China, with Foxconn continuing to lead the pack. According to CRIF, Foxconn's total China investment returns in the first half of 2026 reached NT$117.6 billion (US$3.7 billion).
Samsung SDI said it will sell about one-third of its stake in Samsung Display for KRW4.45 trillion (US$3.2 billion), converting part of its affiliate holding into cash as it prepares to invest in future battery businesses.
Toyota and Honda are accelerating US manufacturing as tariffs, local-content rules, and policy shifts reshape the auto industry. The move is defensive, but it is also a growth strategy. With American demand likely to stay steady rather than surge, Japanese automakers appear to be betting that expansion will come from taking share from rivals.
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