Silicon Valley stories

GlobalLogic hires LuJean Smith as CMO to sharpen global brand, push VelocityAI and align with Hitachi’s Inspire 2027 growth strategy.

OpenAI backs a new California ballot measure with child-safety group Common Sense Media to impose strict rules on youth use of AI chatbots.

Elon Musk’s xAI raises USD $20 billion, turbocharging Grok model training and GPU build-out as rivalry in frontier AI heats up.

India, Vietnam and South Korea are set to be the fastest-growing markets for UK tech in 2026, a leading consultancy has forecast.

Airwallex secures USD $330m at a USD $8b valuation and names San Francisco a dual global HQ as it ramps US expansion and AI investment.

AMD maps ‘yotta-scale’ AI future with Helios platform, new chips across data centre to edge, and a USD $150m education pledge.

Databricks secures over USD $4bn in fresh funding, lifting its valuation to USD $134bn as demand for AI data infrastructure surges.

ServiceNow buys AI assistant specialist Moveworks to create a single conversational ‘front door’ into automated workflows across the enterprise.

CMC says AI, energy, robotics, defence and store-of-value trades will be the “Furious Five” megatrends steering markets into 2026.

Singulr AI hires veteran tech leader Bask Iyer as Strategic Advisor to guide CIOs on governance amid rapid enterprise adoption of agentic AI.

Netflix’s USD $72 billion bid for Warner Bros raises a stark question: is Hollywood’s future in the hands of Silicon Valley’s algorithms?.

Canadian merger and acquisition activity is set to surge in 2026 as domestic startups gain favour, driven by local firms seeking labour-saving tech solutions.

AI-native legal firms will reshape law by building smart platforms from scratch, moving beyond traditional firms to deliver repeatable, data-driven solutions.

Established tech firms thrive in innovation hubs like Silicon Valley and New Zealand's Waikato by accessing fresh ideas, talent, and collaboration opportunities.

Yarra City Council partners with TechnologyOne to upgrade IT, enhancing management of AUD $2 billion assets and speeding up customer service delivery.

Wasabi launches AI-ready Fire storage and opens new Silicon Valley region, offering USD $19.99/TB cloud storage designed for AI and ML workloads.

Riskified urges shoppers and merchants to stay vigilant against rising AI-driven eCommerce fraud as holiday online sales may hit USD $311 billion in 2025.

Singapore-based Agnes AI has surpassed two million users, with half of its 150,000 daily active users hailing from Southeast Asia, signalling rapid regional growth.

ANYbotics appoints Marc Villard as VP Operations and Alessandro Norscia as Chief Product Officer to boost growth in industrial robotics.

Australian startup Heatseeker won top prize in L'Oréal's Big Bang Beauty Tech competition, advancing AI beauty tech across the South Asia Pacific region.