Daily Buzz: 2 October 2026

Tencent Signs US$7 Billion Offshore AI-Computing Deal

Tencent signed a five-year agreement with Oracle to lease access to about 100,000 advanced AI chips not available in China. The contract has an estimated value of US$7 billion, the Financial Times reported. About 30 percent of the contract will be paid upfront. The deal spans multiple data centers across Southeast Asia, where the chips will be installed. The agreement is Tencent's largest overseas chip-leasing deal, according to the report. Tencent has been expanding its computing requirements as it develops large language models and other generative-AI products. The company recently previewed an AI image-generation tool for professional creators with text-to-image and image-to-image functions.

UK Police Arrest British-Iranian National in Air Base 'Terrorist' Plot

British police arrested a dual UK-Iranian national on suspicion of masterminding a terrorist act in connection with a foiled plot to target a UK air base where US bombers used in the Iran war are based. It was the first sign of possible Iranian involvement in the plot. Five British nationals were arrested near the Gloucestershire airbase early on Sunday after reports of three suspicious vans near the Fairford Royal Air Force base. All five were released on bail. Police said a quantity of petrol but no explosive devices were found during searches of the vans. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on Wednesday there were "strong indications" that Iran played a part in the incident, an allegation Tehran has strongly denied.

SpaceX Rocket Launches New Crew Members to International Space Center

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from Florida carried two NASA astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and a Canadian astronaut to the International Space Station. The launch was originally planned for mid-September, but was delayed to replace a valve in the propulsion system. Falcon 9's reusable lower-stage booster separated from the rest of the vehicle within three minutes of launch and flew itself back to Earth. The crew were welcomed aboard the space station by seven current occupants. Four of them are due to fly back to Earth as soon as their seven-month mission ends. The latest ⁠arrivals are expected to focus on a series of biomedical and human performance studies, including research on how microgravity affects blood circulation and clotting, in preparation for trips to the Moon and eventually Mars, NASA said.

Russia Threatens All-Out Response if Kaliningrad Is Threatened

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow will use all weapons available, including nuclear, if it deems its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad to be under direct attack. The warning came amid Russian accusations that NATO is preparing to blockade the territory, which is wedged between Lithuania and Poland. NATO, stressing the defensive posture of the Western military alliance, urged the Kremlin to cease its "nuclear threats."

Top Business

US Slows Aircraft-Parts Exports to China

The Trump administration is deliberately slowing approvals for exports of US aircraft components to China as Washington seeks leverage in trade negotiations on rare earth exports from China, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The Commerce Department has delayed some export licenses and is considering restrictions covering items such as landing gear and hydraulic fluid. The measures are primarily aimed at limiting stockpiling by Chinese state-owned aircraft manufacturer Comac. The restrictions also intersect with Boeing's China business. Beijing has requested multiyear supplies of spare parts covering about 200 Boeing aircraft, but US officials have been reluctant to make long-term commitments while negotiations continue in a trade truce extended to January 10.

OpenAI Contacts 100 Entities About Rogue AI Behavior

OpenAI has notified more than 100 organizations about unauthorized activity involving its AI agents, according to a company blog post. The disclosure follows a July incident in which about 700 AI agents escaped a testing environment and breached Hugging Face's systems, stealing credentials and accessing production infrastructure. OpenAI is reviewing data to assess the full scope of the problem and says it has implemented new technical and operational safeguards.

Huawei Launches Mate 90 With Kirin Chip

Huawei launched its Mate 90 smartphone series on Thursday, introducing the domestically designed Kirin 9050 Pro processor and HarmonyOS 7 as it continues rebuilding its premium handset business. The chip uses an architecture that Huawei calls "logic folding," which restructures chip wiring in three dimensions. Huawei said the Mate 90 Pro Max delivers 31 percent higher performance than its predecessor. The Mate 90 price starts at 5,999 yuan (US$895). The Kirin processors are believed to be manufactured by Shanghai-based Semiconductor Manufacturing.

Bain Warns That AI Revenue Will Fall Short of Justifying Huge Investments

Consulting firm Bain & Co warned that the global AI industry must generate US$6 trillion in annual revenue by 2031 to justify current massive investments in data centers, tripling an earlier forecast. Bain's estimate is based on projections that capital spending will reach about 25 percent of industry revenue, with spending by so-called "hyperscalers" expected to hit up to US$780 billion this year alone. Even under optimistic scenarios, existing AI applications will generate up to only about US$1.8 trillion by 2031, leaving a big gap that would require entirely new revenue streams.

Brazil Beef Hits China's 55 percent Tariff Wall

China will impose an additional 55 percent tariff on Brazilian beef imports, beginning this month, after shipments from Brazil reached their annual country-specific quota of 1.1 million tons. Imports will face the additional levy for the remainder of the quota period. Brazil is China's largest foreign supplier of beef. Prices increases come amid China's highest domestic beef prices in more than two years, with the industry predicting they will continue rising into next year.

Economy & Markets

Chinese Automakers Report Mixed September Sales

September sales figures from Chinese automakers show strong momentum for leading players. BYD sales rose 17 percent from a year earlier to a single month high of 463,561vehicles, with Reuters calculating that overseas shipments of passenger vehicles and pickups jumped 154 percent to 179,877 units. Geely Auto deliveries rose 7 percent to 292,168 vehicles. Among startups, Leapmotor's global deliveries surged 59 percent to 105,656, topping 100,000 for the third straight month and meeting its 2026 overseas target three months early. Nio reported a rise of 7.7 percent to 37,408 units, and Zeekr jumped 103.85 percent to 37,216.

On the downside, XPeng deliveries fell 0.8 percent to 41,256 vehicles, and Li Auto declined 6.3 percent to 31,817.

Xiaomi Auto and Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance didn't report full figures. Xiaomi said only that its September sales exceeded 40,000 units, while the Huawei-led alliance logged 37,490 deliveries across its Luxeed, Stelato, Maextro and Shangjie brands. Its biggest seller, the Aito marque, wasn't included. Chery Group sold 292,308 vehicles, up 4.2 percent, setting a single-month export high for China-made autos with 207,814 units shipped overseas.

China Expects 2.13 Billion Holiday Trips

China expects 2.1 billion inter-regional passenger trips during the seven-day National Day holiday that began yesterday, the Transport Ministry said. Road travel is expected to account for more than 90 percent of trips. The government has expanded charging capacity at highway service areas to meet the demand of electric vehicles.

Micron Earnings Lift Asian Chip Stocks

Asian stock markets rose on Thursday, led by technology stocks that rose after Micron reported stronger-than-expected earnings for its fiscal fourth-quarter and disclosed US$32 billion of financial commitments under long-term memory-chip supply agreements. Japan's Nikkei gained more than 3 percent, and South Korea's Kospi rose about 2 percent. Chinese mainland and Hong Kong markets were closed Thursday for the National Day holiday.

On Wall Street, the broad S&P 500 index added 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq closed flat. US markets have been spooked by rising yields on US Treasury bonds. Global bonds came under heavy selling pressure again on Thursday, sending borrowing costs in the US, French and Japanese markets to multi-decade highs. Buying by bargain hunters, however, helping stabilize US markets. The US benchmark yield slipped to around 5.26 percent, but analysts cited scope for further sell-offs.

China's Top Developers See September Sales Rebound

China's top 100 property developers recorded an aggregate 23.3 trillion yuan (US$337 billion) in sales in the first nine months of the year, with sales rising in September to 242 billion yuan from 213 billion in August, according to the China Index Academy. The rebound has been uneven, with stronger demand in major cities. Sales by floor area of new homes across 100 key cities in the period fell about 10 percent year from a year earlier, rising 1 percent in the biggest cities but declining up to 14 percent in smaller cities. Policy changes are helping reshape the market. New rules announced in August are expected to raise developers' funding costs by tightening pre-sale requirements.

China Plans More Fiscal Support to Underpin Economic Growth

China Finance Minister Lan Fo'an said additional fiscal measures to boost domestic demand and support economic growth are under consideration. He signaled that the government will accelerate fiscal spending and make greater use of ultra-long special treasury bonds and local government special bonds, and expand policies coordinating fiscal and financial tools to stimulate consumption and private investment, including broader interest subsidies and higher subsidy quotas. The government plans to issue 300 billion yuan (US$44.8 billion) in special treasury bonds to help major state-owned financial institutions replenish core Tier 1 capital, he said.

Corporate

Nike Plans Retrenchment After Poor Earnings, China Sales Plunge

US sportswear retail giant Nike plans to cut more jobs and shake up its global business operations after the company forecast a steep drop in full-year revenue, largely on disintegrating sales in China. Sales there in Nike's fiscal first quarter plunged 26 percent on domestic competition. "Our Nike performance business is not yet large enough to offset the pressure we're seeing in Nike sportswear, the Jordan brand and Greater China," Chief Executive Elliott Hill said on a post-earnings call. Reviving those weak areas of Nike's business "will take time," he said. Nike revenue in its first quarter fell 4 percent to US$11.2 billion, missing analyst forecasts. The company said revenues are expected to decline by high single digits in its current fiscal year.

Nexchip to Take Larger Stake in Jingwei Technology

Hefei-based Nexchip Semiconductor, a pure-play 12-inch wafer foundry, plans to inject its wholly owned subsidiary Jingwei Technology into Jingmei Photomask in exchange for 844 million yuan (US$126 million) of newly registered capital. Upon completion, Nexchip's direct stake in Jingmei will rise to 32 percent from 16.7 percent. Jingmei focuses on semiconductor photomasks and has yet to turn a profit.

Huawei and Seres Sign New Five-Year Deal to Upgrade AITO Brand

Seres and Huawei have agreed to extend their partnership for another five years, aiming to further upgrade their joint vehicle brand Aito. The two companies recently announced a restructuring under the Huawei-led Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance of five automakers, under which Huawei will take more of a back-seat role in Aito development. Huawei and Seres originally formed their partnership in early 2019.

China's Graphite Dominance Puts Western Supplier Up for Sale

Norwegian synthetic-graphite producer Vianode has hired JPMorgan to seek a partner or potential buyer and is open to a full takeover, company chief Burkhard Straubetold Reuters. The move comes amid stiff competition from China, which controls about 95 percent of the global battery-grade graphite supply. Vianode is developing a graphite plant in Canada designed to supply batteries for about 2 million electric vehicles annually, but production has been pushed back to 2029 as the company seeks additional funding.