Chinese authorities now require chip manufacturers to prove that at least 50% of their production equipment is domestically made before approving new plant construction or expansion. According to people familiar with the process, this unwritten rule is enforced through procurement reviews and has accelerated since U.S. export controls tightened in 2023, pushing fabs toward local suppliers and boosting sales at firms such as Naura and AMEC.

In a survey of 24 enterprise-focused venture capitalists, most respondents indicated that enterprises plan to raise their AI spending in 2026 while concentrating budgets on a smaller set of tools and vendors. The findings suggest a shift away from broad experimentation toward products that clearly demonstrate results, with emphasis on safeguards, data foundations, and post-training optimization. This consolidation could benefit a limited number of AI providers and hurt many startups, especially those competing directly with large enterprise suppliers.

Grayscale Investments has submitted an S-1 registration statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission to list shares of its Bittensor Trust (TAO) on NYSE Arca under the ticker GTAO. The move would shift its over-the-counter TAO product into an exchange-traded structure following SEC review, while TAO was trading around $222.54 and had recently undergone its first halving toward a 21 million token cap.

On December 11, 2025, Grayscale's Bittensor Trust began trading on OTC Markets, marking its transition to an SEC-reporting entity via a voluntary Form 10-12G filing. The firm has now filed a Form S-1 to support public market access to TAO, offering U.S. investors the first publicly quoted exposure to Bittensor and its decentralized AI network. As of December 30, 2025, TAO traded at $219.92 with a market cap of 2.32 billion, reflecting growing interest in decentralized intelligence infrastructure.

From January 6 to 9, 2026, major companies including Nvidia, Samsung and Lenovo will present AI‑centric consumer devices at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Exhibits will range from smart glasses and wearables to humanoid robots and next‑generation TVs, as the industry attempts to overcome doubts about consumer appetite for AI hardware. The event will also feature robotics‑focused halls and potential new form‑factor smartphones, highlighting how tech firms aim to bring AI into everyday life.

As AI agents and large capital pools move on‑chain, Aleo policy chief Yaya Fanusie warned that radical transparency is becoming a security liability. In a recent interview, he cited research on AI probing DeFi, urged privacy‑by‑design via zero‑knowledge systems, and cautioned that institutional pilots may stall amid compliance and surveillance risks.

Visa and Mastercard are building payment rails that let AI agents search, compare, book, and pay within chat interfaces, a model positioned as agentic commerce. Company leaders say pilots with select users and merchants are live, and a Visa executive allegedly indicated commercial rollout could start as soon as Q1 2026 on platforms such as ChatGPT and Gemini.

South Korean tech companies reiterated concerns on December 28, 2025 as the AI Basic Act nears its January 22 start. Firms say definitions for "high-impact AI" and content labeling remain vague, complicating compliance. A recent survey found only 2% of startups have concrete response plans, while the government intends to suspend fines for a year, a move industry players say won't resolve uncertainty.