Asia

Amid escalating economic and geopolitical uncertainty, nearly half of governance leaders in Asia (48 percent) are prioritizing artificial intelligence (AI) adoption as a top strategic priority for 2026, a recent report showed.

Sunway Innovation Labs (Sunway iLabs), the innovation lab and corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of Sunway Group, and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) Kuala Lumpur, have concluded the J-StarX Malaysia Deep Tech Program (MYTech) 2025 to accelerate four Japanese startups’ expansion into Malaysia and the ASEAN region.

WeRide, a China-based autonomous driving technology firm, and Uber Technologies, have on Wednesday announced the launch of Level 4 fully driverless Robotaxi commercial operations in Abu Dhabi.

Gobi Partners, one of Asia’s most active venture capital firms, has entered Japan through JR East’s TAKANAWA GATEWAY Link Scholars’ Hub (LiSH) as a Global Network Partner, marking a decisive step in connecting Japan’s innovation frontier with Southeast Asia’s growth markets.

Japan-based SoftBank Group Corp. announced Wednesday that it has completed the acquisition of all equity interests in Ampere Computing Holdings LLC, a U.S.-based semiconductor design company, through its subsidiary Silver Bands 6 (US) Corp.

BENEFIT, the Bahraini fintech firm, and Ant International, a digital payment firm headquartered in Singapore, have partnered to launch cross-border QR payments between Bahrain’s BENEFIT QR payment scheme and Ant International’s global wallet gateway, Alipay+, during 2026 to support the transition to toward a more inclusive digital payments ecosystem.

Hong Kong-based digital assets firm Animoca Brands announced Monday it has received in-principle approval (IPA) from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of ADGM, the international financial center of Abu Dhabi, the Capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to operate as a regulated Fund Manager.

Pioneer Asset Management, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Tykhe Capital Group, and Skyvast Digital, part of the Malaysia-based Skyvast Corporation Group, have announced the launch of the world's first global-grade artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure tokenized fund – the SKYD Token, with an initial size of $150 million.

Open Campus, the community-led DAO building the blockchain-powered financial layer for education, and Animoca Brands have formed a strategic partnership with Rich Sparkle Holdings Limited (ANPA), for $50 million EDU token strategy.

Vantage Data Centers, a global provider of hyperscale data center campuses, announced Monday that it has completed a $1.6 billion equity investment into its Asia-Pacific platform led by an affiliate of GIC, a global institutional investor, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).