Nikkei Asia’s artificial intelligence news and insights page aggregates a wide range of stories showing how artificial intelligence is becoming a central force across Asian technology, finance, and politics. Recent market coverage notes that Japan stocks jumped nearly 3% on the first trading day of 2026, with investors watching yen moves into the 157-range and focusing on gold and artificial intelligence rally strength. A Nikkei poll highlights expectations that Japan stocks will rise in 2026, although analysts are split on the scale of gains, underscoring how artificial intelligence optimism and macroeconomic shifts are intertwined. Roundups on investors getting ready for 2026 stress that Trump and a tech boom weigh on the market’s mind, while Asian currencies could benefit from possible dollar weakness.
On the technology and corporate side, the page tracks a series of artificial intelligence driven bets and corporate maneuvers. Previews of CES 2026 flag physical artificial intelligence and robotics as set to take center stage, with attention on Nvidia chief Jensen Huang and a potential Chinese tech comeback. Meta plans to acquire artificial intelligence startup Manus for at least $2bn, with the Singapore based company expected to cut ties with China after the deal. SoftBank completes a $23bn OpenAI investment, raising its stake to 11%, financed partly by a loan secured with shares in chip design house Arm, and separately moves to buy DigitalBridge in a $4bn deal to bolster its artificial intelligence push. Another listing story reports that China’s Zhipu and MiniMax aim to raise a combined $1bn in Hong Kong IPOs, while Chinese artificial intelligence chipmaker Biren soars on its trading debut with a stock price rise of 75% as it kicks off another strong Hong Kong IPO season.
Several pieces explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping industrial capacity and infrastructure. Japan’s JX Advanced Metals plans to boost output of materials for artificial intelligence data centers, with an Arizona plant a candidate for expansion in optical communications, and a feature on Asia’s artificial intelligence data center financing details soaring costs that are sending builders and operators toward new, potentially riskier funding strategies. Another report warns that India’s artificial intelligence data centers are feared to worsen host community water stress, with villagers forced to dig deeper, showing a dark side of the infrastructure boom. Policy and labor concerns are also prominent: Japan aims to stop manga piracy with an artificial intelligence translation training program and automated detection of illegal sites, while NTT Data is turning to generative artificial intelligence to develop entire IT systems via artificial intelligence native platforms to help solve the sector’s labor shortage. Additional coverage notes Japan’s plan to support development of artificial intelligence robots for shipbuilding within about a year, China’s job market bracing for an artificial intelligence storm amid a trade war and slowing economy, and a visual investigation using artificial intelligence video analysis of Kim Jong Un’s daughter as a potential heir in North Korea.
Market and sector features round out the page, situating artificial intelligence inside broader economic currents. Japan stocks rode an artificial intelligence boom and rate hikes to a record high in 2025 as manufacturing and finance revived with a shift from deflation to inflation. SoftBank and Fujikura take leads in Japan sector market caps on the artificial intelligence boom, while ASICS is described as deftly counteracting Trump tariffs to secure the top spot in its field. A separate equities piece highlights that ‘multibagger’ stocks tripled in 2025 amid a rush into artificial intelligence and defense, citing Japan’s Kioxia and China’s Zhongji Innolight among the big gainers. In semiconductors, Fujitsu joins a next generation artificial intelligence memory project led by SoftBank as the former industry heavyweight eyes a return to a field it had left, and Japan’s Fujitsu and Nvidia are developing a multi agent artificial intelligence platform for physical artificial intelligence applications to power industrial robots. Other stories point to winners and risks in the supply chain, from Chinese suppliers set to gain from the global artificial intelligence boom despite trade tensions, to Japan’s biggest data center, GigaStream Toyama, being touted as a model for rapid buildout to close a ‘tremendous’ supply demand gap. An end of year recap frames 2025’s top tech stories as a mix of supply chain shocks and artificial intelligence excitement, with Trump tariffs and concerns about an artificial intelligence bubble dominating attention.
