Economy — 1,096 insights
US officials threaten to sanction Chinese AI startups after Moonshot release
Economy

US officials threaten to sanction Chinese AI startups after Moonshot release

Surge in popularity of China-origin open-source models spurs anxiety in Washington Moonshot AI's latest model, Kimi K3, is said to trail only Anthropic's Claude Fable 5 and OpenAI's ChatGPT-5.6 in terms of performance. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Getty Images) HONG KONG -- Officials in the Trump administration are threatening sanctions and other actions against Chinese artificial intelligence startups including Moonshot, alleging they are stealing intellectual property from American frontier AI labs.

July 23, 2026
Foxconn EV chief says driverless technology to arrive sooner than expected
Economy

Foxconn EV chief says driverless technology to arrive sooner than expected

Jun Seki sees Level 4 and higher going mainstream by 2040 as costs fall and reliability improves Jun Seki, Foxconn's chief strategy officer for EVs, speaks to Nikkei Asia on July 21 in Tokyo. (Photo by Yuki Kohara) TOKYO -- The executive in charge of the electric vehicle business at Taiwan electronics manufacturer Foxconn says the adoption of advanced autonomous driving technology is likely to come sooner than previously expected.

July 23, 2026
Australian tungsten miner gets billionaire backing as prices soar
Economy

Australian tungsten miner gets billionaire backing as prices soar

China curbs fuel concerns over supply for industry, defense and semiconductors Prices of tungsten, which has a vast range of industrial uses, have surged since last year. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Reuters) CANBERRA -- China's continued squeeze of tungsten supplies is fueling a scramble in Australia and elsewhere to boost output as prices of the strategically vital critical metal soar.

July 23, 2026
Hong Kong’s trophy offices surge as financial firms fuel uneven recovery
Economy

Hong Kong’s trophy offices surge as financial firms fuel uneven recovery

Secondary districts struggle to keep pace despite broader improvement Two IFC in Central towers over other buildings on Hong Kong's skyline. Demand for premium offices in the business district recovered in the first half of 2026. (Photo by Anne Chan) HONG KONG -- Jason Yao, a senior managing director at private equity firm Ardian, wishes he had leased a bigger office in Hong Kong.

July 23, 2026
Indonesia’s LGBT community faces rising threats from new regulations
Economy

Indonesia’s LGBT community faces rising threats from new regulations

Recent vigilante attacks on trans women reflect 'quickly deteriorating' situation An activist carrying a rainbow flag takes part in a rally to support women's and LGBT rights outside the National Monument complex in Jakarta in March 2022. © Reuters SURABAYA, Indonesia -- Human rights watchdogs are sounding the alarm about escalating persecution of Indonesia's LGBT community, in the wake of recent vigilante attacks against transgender women and new regulations fueling fears of further threats.

July 23, 2026
Thai firms pivot to defense as government pushes local procurement
Economy

Thai firms pivot to defense as government pushes local procurement

NacDrone CEO Asawin Rompasert poses at the company's booth at a defense industry exhibition in Bangkok on July 8. (Photo by Joseph Rachman) BANGKOK -- Thailand's push to increase local defense procurement is creating new opportunities for businesses, driving companies from other areas such as agricultural drones and satellite services to pursue military contracts.

July 23, 2026
Japan’s AI play and Taiwan’s space ambitions
Economy

Japan’s AI play and Taiwan’s space ambitions

The inside story on the Asia tech trends that matter, from Nikkei Asia and the Financial Times Hello, this is Kenji presenting the latest edition of our #techAsia newsletter from Tokyo. The FIFA World Cup came to an end with Spain's magnificent victory in a nailbiter of a World Cup final against Argentina early Monday in our time zone. But the heat of competition was quickly replaced with a less enjoyable kind of heat, as Japan's most intense wave of high temperatures so far this summer struck after the annual rainy season ended in most of the country. My hometown of Nagoya and its surroundings in central Japan's Tokai region have been hit the hardest, with temperatures reaching 40.6 C in Kuwana on Wednesday and 40.3 C in Tajimi on Tuesday. Japan's tech sector heated up as well, starting with a visit last week by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to Tokyo. Huang showed up at an izakaya, or Japanese-style pub, in the downtown area of Kanda. Gathered there were top executives from Japanese chip, electronics, chemical and material companies, such as Kioxia, Tokyo Electron, Panasonic, Murata Manufacturing and Shin-Etsu Chemical, among others.

July 23, 2026
Geely and Ford team up to revive Spanish auto plant
Economy

Geely and Ford team up to revive Spanish auto plant

Joint venture targets 500,000-unit output after Valencia overhaul Ford-Geely's collaboration highlights growing reliance on Asian technology and capital. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Reuters) HONG KONG -- Geely Automobile on Thursday signed a deal with Ford Motor on shared production at the American carmaker's underutilized factory in Spain.

July 23, 2026
Hyundai profit falls 21% on US tariffs, supply chain disruption
Economy

Hyundai profit falls 21% on US tariffs, supply chain disruption

Automaker confirms it is buying out SoftBank's stake in robotics startup Boston Dynamics A Hyundai Motor production line in South Korea. The automaker's output in the second quarter was hit by a fire at an engine valve supplier. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Suzu Takahashi and Kotaro Hosokawa) SEOUL -- Hyundai Motor's operating profit fell more than 20% in the second quarter of this year as it was hit by high U.S. tariffs and a fire at an engine valve supplier that hurt production of premium models.

July 23, 2026
Thailand’s new investment jumps 37% in Jan-June on AI boom
Economy

Thailand’s new investment jumps 37% in Jan-June on AI boom

Data centers flourish, but analysts raise concerns over real economic gains Bangkok skyline: Total investment in Thailand was up by over a third in the first half of 2026 amid the global AI boom. © Reuters BANGKOK -- Thailand's new foreign and domestic investment jumped 37% year on year in the first half of 2026 to $43.6 billion, official data released on Thursday showed, and was boosted by the digital sector amid the global artificial intelligence boom.

July 23, 2026
Asia braces for new US tariffs as global 10% levy expires
Economy

Asia braces for new US tariffs as global 10% levy expires

Trump administration works to rebuild tariff regime as companies frontload orders Importers have been rushing goods into the United States as they prepare for more tariff uncertainty. © Reuters NEW YORK -- Asian trading partners are bracing for new U.S. tariffs as a temporary 10% rate President Donald Trump applied to all imports is set to expire Friday.

July 23, 2026
Global corporate bond sales hit $3.7tn in first half on AI funding race
Economy

Global corporate bond sales hit $3.7tn in first half on AI funding race

Boom driven by hyperscalers like Amazon, Oracle starting to widen credit spreads Big U.S. tech companies are issuing tens of billions of dollars in bonds to fund AI-related projects such as data centers. (Source photos by Getty/Kyodo and Reuters) TOKYO -- Corporate bond issuance worldwide reached $3.68 trillion in the January-June period for another first-half record as companies vie to fund artificial intelligence investments, though concern about the aggressive borrowing has investors starting to seek higher yields.

July 23, 2026