The estimate is based on nearly $384 billion invested in the first half of 2026 and assumes the current pace continues through the year. It compares with $145 billion invested in the technology in 2025, making AI infrastructure and model architectures the largest-funded technology trend covered by McKinsey.
Global concerns about AI's existential risks have risen after the heads of America's leading AI labs came together in a show of unity over the weekend to call for a pause in the development of the technology.
The US has outpaced China and other countries for years in AI model capabilities, research, citations and other areas. But China has been rapidly catching up as an AI superpower even as US-led restrictions have blocked China from accessing some of the most advanced technologies, including the cutting-edge chips and the machines to make them.
MediaTek unveiled its Dimensity 9600 Pro, the first mobile processor built on TSMC's 2‑nanometre process, and also introduced the Dimensity 9600M using a 3‑nanometre node for a wider flagship segment. The launch marks the Taiwanese foundry’s most advanced technology entering mainstream smartphones.
The heads of America's leading AI labs came together in a rare show of unity over the weekend to call for a pause in the technology's development, warning that it
As the school year started, the country's two largest school districts, New York City and Los Angeles, announced they were putting the brakes on student use of AI for one year, as they study how to best incorporate the technology into education.
India marked Engineers' Day on 15 September 2026, honoring Sir M Visvesvaraya’s enduring impact on the nation’s engineering sector. Government officials and professional bodies highlighted the role of engineers in shaping infrastructure and technology.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) announced plans to modernise its 1033 helpline with artificial intelligence, real‑time location tracking and smart emergency‑response tools. An Expression of Interest has been issued for firms to design, deploy and operate the next‑generation platform.
Xi's announcement at the concluding session of the BRICS summit is widely seen as an effort to position Beijing as a central technology partner for the BRICS amid the communist State's growing AI competition with the US.
The National Assembly passed the revised Criminal Act on February 26 after years of criticism that existing laws were ill-suited to punish technology and industrial espionage involving non-North Korean actors.
The Chhattisgarh government approved the creation of 100 Emerging Technology Labs and a NIPUN JOB Engine to equip youth with practical skills in new-age technologies. The Rs 500‑crore initiative, announced in a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, will run for five years across all 33 districts.
TSMC Vice President of Advanced Packaging Technology and Service Jun He said the company is working with Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Kaohsiung City government on the expansion, which is expected to boost validation efficiency by 25-50 per cent.
Palo Alto Networks beat fourth-quarter earnings estimates on Tuesday and announced the acquisition of AI-native platform Console, saying advances in artificial intelligence are making cybersecurity a higher priority for corporate technology leaders.
Happy Monday! Big industrial groups are vying to get a piece of ISRO’s heavy rocket technology. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.
OpenAI said it was not confident that SpaceX would use its technology "within our terms of service."
Experts have long touted quantum computers' potential to solve problems regular computers cannot and speed up scientific discoveries, but the technology remains error prone because of its extreme sensitivity to any disturbances including sound.
The 8.5-acre campus will be funded through a grant from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). Classes are expected to begin from September 2026 at a temporary facility at Acharya Nagarjuna University in Guntur, before shifting to the permanent Amaravati campus.
The payments company, once the crown jewel of American financial technology, received a $60.50-per-share bid from Stripe and private equity firm Advent International, which valued it at more than $53 billion, Reuters reported in July, citing sources.
Artificial intelligence could unlock approximately USD 230 billion in annual value across the global upstream oil and gas sector as the technology matures and autonomous operating modes become more common, according to a report by McKinsey & Company.
Deeptech startup Theranautilus has won the Top Innovator award at the ET Startup Awards 2026 for its work on microscopic robots that can navigate the human body for targeted treatments. Founded in 2020, the Bengaluru-based startup is developing the technology for dental care, with human trials planned for September 2026.
