As AI agents integrate into enterprise operations, companies scaling deployment face rising challenges around runaway costs, permission controls, and cybersecurity governance. CloudMile founder and chairman Spencer Liu noted that many firms using AI still lack clarity on cost allocation or what data agents have accessed.

Taiwan-Asia Semiconductor Corporation (TASC) expects a stronger second half of 2026 as new Apple Watch demand lifts sensor orders. The company said weak consumer electronics demand has not materially affected its business, with smartwatch and earphone orders arriving faster than expected. More sensors per device and seasonal demand should lift fourth-quarter performance above the third, making the second half clearly stronger than the first.

A string of AI server smuggling prosecutions is showing that following US export-control rules to the letter has not stopped advanced Nvidia hardware from reaching China. The weak point lies less in the chips themselves than in the multi-layered server supply chain that carries them, where each participant checks its own slice, and no one owns the final destination.

Once the global leader in robot vacuums, iRobot is trying to regain ground after bankruptcy restructuring and its takeover by contract manufacturer Shenzhen Picea Robotics. The global home-cleaning robot market has since become increasingly dominated by Chinese vendors, leaving iRobot with a smaller share and a need to accelerate innovation.

The global artificial intelligence landscape is witnessing an accelerating divide. While Silicon Valley grapples with escalating safety debates and regulatory friction, Chinese tech developers are rapidly deploying lightweight models and domestic chips. Simultaneously, European players are stepping up to claim AI sovereignty through open-weight models designed for critical enterprise infrastructure.

Chinese AI company Z.ai is expanding its overseas commercialisation through Amazon Bedrock, with AWS adding GLM-5.3 on October 6 and sharing revenue with Z.ai based on model usage.

SpaceX launched its Starship super heavy-lift rocket on September 28, successfully reaching orbit for the first time and deploying 26 Starlink V3 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. Each Starship mission can carry up to approximately 60 Starlink V3 satellites. Although neither stage was recovered, both splashed down at sea and the satellite deployment was successful.

Taiwan's tech industry has grown rapidly in recent years on the back of strengths in semiconductors, servers and the data center supply chain, lifting overall GDP. But companies that keep chasing hardware specs or wait for technology to become perfect before deploying AI will face an endless cycle of catch-up pressure, according to former minister of science and technology Liang-Gee Chen.

Hwacom Systems has shifted its semiconductor-focused business to subsidiary SureWin, targeting growing demand from chipmakers for AI deployment, data governance, and cybersecurity, including post-quantum cryptography (PQC).

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek is poised to raise more than CNY80 billion (approx. US$11.9 billion) in its latest funding round, as it builds capital ahead of a potential domestic initial public offering (IPO).

TSMC will hold its third-quarter earnings call on October 15 this year.