#SouthKorea‘s #LeeJaeMyung announced a 2027 budget of 820.9 trillion won, doubling #AIfunding and #semiconductorfunding and allocating 4.7 trillion won for a #sovereignAI model. Defence rises to 73.3 trillion won, with talent training and export growth cited. https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/02/south-korea-ai-spending-budget.html?eicker.news #tech #news #ainews

Technology giant's first US investment-grade bond sale since 2017 attracts orders worth more than £87bn as demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure outstrips supply.

Chinese companies building AI brains for robots raised about 13 billion dollars in 322 deals in the first half of 2026, Reuters reported. That is five times the year before.

Aramco has closed a deal to own 49 percent of Humain, Saudi Arabia's national AI company, the oil giant said. It is paying about 2.6 billion dollars in cash plus its own AI assets.

The Financial Times reported late on the 30th of October 2026 that OpenAI now seeks about 20 billion dollars, down from 30 billion. The price stays at 1.25 trillion dollars before the new money, after a cut from 1.4 trillion a week earlier.

Machenta, a London robotics start-up, has raised 40 million dollars to teach robots new tasks. Its AI model learns a task after seeing it done once.

Nvidia will invest 3 billion dollars in Meta's sale of new shares, the chipmaker said. The two companies will also widen their work on Muse, Meta's family of AI models and agents.

Bedrock Robotics raised 600 million dollars at a value of 4.1 billion dollars, the company said on the 26th of October 2026. The start-up makes kits that let building machines dig on their own.

Bank of America, Blackstone, Citi and Morgan Stanley announced a 63 billion dollar deal on the 26th of October 2026 to buy Broadcom AI chips and lease them to Anthropic.

Elon Musk wrote on X on the 25th of October 2026 that SpaceX has closed 40 billion dollars of debt to buy AI chips. SpaceX has not put out its own statement.

Anthropic filed Form S-1 with the U.S. SEC on the 26th of October 2026 to sell Class A shares to the public. It plans to list on Nasdaq under the ticker ANT. Share count and price are not yet set.

Meta launched share sales worth about 35 billion dollars on the 26th of October 2026 to pay for AI. It also plans a later program of up to 60 billion dollars.

SoftBank's Masayoshi Son plans 50 billion dollars of AI and data centre investment in Malaysia, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on the 24th of October 2026. SoftBank has not commented.

Musk’s reported $1B stake in Skydance raises influence questions at CBS and CNN. Nokia and ICEYE will help Ukraine build sovereign satellite comms amid Starshield restrictions. Iowa’s age-verification law prompted Pornhub and other adult sites to block users. Quest Diagnostics confirmed a breach exposing patient health data, while a scammer pleaded guilty to stealing U.S. military members’ benefits using stolen PII.

OpenAI is scrambling to lock in a $30 billion funding round before rival Anthropic goes public, and the stakes could not be higher. With both AI giants competing for the same pool of investors, OpenAI wants to set its own trillion-dollar valuation before side-by-side comparisons put it on the defensive. This is a two-horse race, and the finish line is anything but certain. https://qz.com/openai-30-billion-funding-round-anthropic-ipo-102026

Personal AI agent startup Instinct raised $1B from Sequoia, Benchmark and Coatue at a $10B valuation while its product remains in early access. Continue reading...

Global stock markets experienced significant declines on Thursday, October 15, 2026, as investors grappled with multiple challenges including concerns over artificial intelligence (AI) financing, potential Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, and escalating tensions in the Middle East. Asian markets led the downturn, with South Korea's Kospi plummeting 6.1% at the open, driven by sharp declines in major technology stocks. SK Hynix, a leading semiconductor manufacturer, saw its shares drop over 10%, while Samsung Electronics fell 7.1%. The small-cap Kosdaq index lost 5.7%, reflecting widespread selling pressure across the technology sector. Japan's Nikkei 225 also declined by 3.2%, and the Topix index dropped 1.8%. In Europe, stock markets opened mixed but were expected to fall, with Stoxx 50 futures down 0.9% and major indices like the FTSE 100, CAC 40, and DAX showing negative trends. The U.S. markets had already seen a decline the previous day, with the S&P 500 dropping 1% due to hot inflation data and a sell-off in AI-related stocks. Oil prices also fell as investors assessed potential supply disruptions following attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, with Brent crude dropping 1.66% to $104.31 per barrel. The International Energy Agency warned of continued diesel market constraints into 2027, adding to market concerns. Meanwhile, European chipmakers like ASML and Infineon Technologies saw premarket declines of 1.52% and 2.32%, respectively, following the Asian tech rout. The U.K. economy showed a slight growth of 0.1% in August, beating expectations, but this positive data was overshadowed by global market turmoil. CoreWeave, a cloud computing company, saw its shares drop 15.5% amid fears of excessive borrowing for AI projects, though the CEO dismissed market concerns. Overall, the day's trading reflected a combination of geopolitical risks, economic uncertainty, and sector-specific challenges, particularly in technology and energy markets.

AI funding this week moved into agents, cybersecurity, robotics, quantum, healthcare and infrastructure as investors backed the systems behind deployment.

Beijing forced Meta to unwind its $2 billion acquisition of AI startup Manus, but the company is not slowing down. Manus just closed a $500 million funding round that could value it at $4 billion, doubling its previous worth. The question now is whether it can prove scale, profitability, and regulatory alignment on its own terms. https://qz.com/manus-funding-round-meta-acquisition-china-100826