The Indian government introduced a 0.4% MDR fee on UPI payments above 2000 rupees (capped at 300 rupees for payments of 75,000 rupees or more). Paytm shares rose 7%, and Jefferies and Goldman Sachs raised revenue and profit estimates for fintech companies.
Data center developer Crusoe raised $3.9B in a round co-led by Atreides, Valor, and Mubadala. The company's post-money valuation reached about $30.9B. Funds will go toward developing factory-built data centers.
LIAN Group, which develops infrastructure for AI and computing, is considering an initial public offering that could raise about $500 million.
Rhodium Group estimated the combined revenue of all Chinese AI models at about 10% of OpenAI and Anthropic. DeepSeek ARR is $500 million, MiniMax $800 million, Moonshot $1 billion, Z.ai $1.8 billion, versus $40 billion for OpenAI and $65 billion for Anthropic. Chinese startup valuations are inflated: 50x and 163x revenue versus 34x and 21x for US companies.
Google partnered with Sweden's Stegra to launch the first large-scale green-hydrogen steel plant in Boden, Sweden. The technology cuts emissions by up to 95%, and Google will receive certificates for 91,000 tonnes of first-year steel and use the material in data centers to reduce embodied carbon by up to 40%.
Singapore-based blockchain platform Partior, backed by Temasek, and LSEG DiSH are testing a cross-border settlement system with Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered.
India's UPI payment system processed a record 24.51 billion transactions worth ₹29.82 trillion in August 2026. Volume grew 3.6% from July and 22% year-over-year, while average ticket size fell to ₹1,217. The number of participating banks rose to 752.
UK fintech Revolut has applied for a Swiss banking license and plans to invest 150 million francs ($182 million) in Switzerland over five years. The company already has 1.3 million customers in the country, served by Lithuania-licensed Revolut Bank UAB.
HubSpot expanded its partnership with OpenAI and became the first CRM platform integrated with ChatGPT Ads. The company also announced an AI bundle for marketing.
The US Midwest is becoming a semiconductor hub with Intel's $28+ billion Ohio fab, SK hynix's $4+ billion HBM packaging plant in Indiana, and Hemlock's $825 million polysilicon expansion. The main challenge is a shortage of skilled workers.
ING Bank notes that India's outsourcing industry is barely losing ground to AI: the country is moving toward more complex services that are harder to automate.
Bahrain-based Tarabut raised $50 million (187 million riyals) from Riyad Bank, X-Tech Fund, GIB Saudi Arabia, and other investors. The deal awaits SAMA regulatory approval. The open banking and embedded finance platform operates in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain and has processed over 5 billion API calls.
Tabby announced a $233 million Series F at a $6.5 billion valuation, led by Blue Pool Capital. The company has been profitable since 2023, with annual volume exceeding $18 billion, 25 million users, and 70,000 partners. The deal awaits regulatory approvals, including SAMA.
Per a Cushman & Wakefield report, by the end of 2030 Hyderabad and other new Indian hubs will expand data centre capacity nearly sixfold to 1.1 GW (58% annual growth). As of June 30 they provided 178 MW, or 10% of the country's operating capacity; Chennai and Bangalore are losing market share.
The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) reported transaction volume growth of about 1,000% in 2025-2026, with value up 120%. From 2027 the system will shift from network building to scaling adoption; it operates in more than 30 African countries and connects 24 central banks and over 200 banks.
The US DFC will invest up to $155 million in South Africa's Wiocc Group, which owns subsea cables, fibre and data centers in more than 30 African countries. It is the DFC's largest equity investment and part of a US strategy to displace Chinese suppliers such as Huawei.
BofA raised its semiconductor market growth forecast to 18% CAGR in 2026-2030 and expects a $3.2 trillion market by 2030. Drivers are memory and data center components; its 2026 fab equipment spending forecast was raised to $156 billion.
Taiwanese server maker Wiwynn said demand for AI infrastructure will drive growth for years ahead, despite growing opposition to data center construction in the US.
Doosan is investing about 970 billion won (roughly $700 million) to expand output of high-end copper clad laminates (CCL) for AI accelerators, network switches, and optical modules. 420 billion won will go to a line in Korea, 550 billion to a new plant in China; production starts in phases from H2 2028.
Mastercard introduced Wallet Pay, a global platform for digital wallets with NFC, QR code, and online payments. Partners include Alipay+, Axian, CRED, DaviPlata, Mercado Pago, MTN, and TenPay Global, as well as GCash, KakaoPay, and TNG eWallet.
UK AI startup Emulate, founded a month ago by former Google DeepMind researchers, is in advanced talks to raise up to $700 million at a $3.7 billion valuation, according to Financial Times sources.
LG Group gathered about 40 executives led by Chairman Koo Kwang-mo for an 8-hour meeting in Icheon. They discussed investments in AI factories, physical AI, semiconductor materials and substrates, and AI transformation (AX).
SK Hynix is exploring options to expand memory production in the US as customers begin booking 2027 supply in advance. The memory shortage is pressuring manufacturers to consider additional capacity.
Chinese chipmaker D-Robotics raised $400 million in a round led by Mirae Asset. The company's platform is designed for robot development, including humanoid robots.
Waymo has partnered with Allianz Partners to build insurance, claims, and research infrastructure ahead of commercial launches in London and Munich. The partnership cites data showing a 16-fold reduction in serious accidents compared to human drivers.
Tim Cook, Sam Altman, and Jensen Huang will attend a state dinner at the White House on September 24, 2026, honoring Xi Jinping. Discussions are expected to cover AI regulation and export restrictions amid a split among tech leaders on AI risks.
Nvidia has agreed to acquire Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, announced on September 2, 2026, with the deal expected to close in the first half of 2027. The platform serves over 18 million developers and more than 200,000 companies. Huang promises to keep it open to the entire AI ecosystem.
Naver requested a police investigation into Toss over a referral program that allegedly distorts search results, while Toss plans to file a complaint with the KFTC, claiming Naver did not connect its TossPos POS system to Place Plus. The dispute concerns offline payments worth 652 trillion won annually.
Foxconn Industrial Internet Chairman Brand Cheng said Foxconn is combining four key competencies—technology, manufacturing, management, and vertical integration—to move from supplying individual products to system solutions for AI infrastructure.
LG Electronics signed a multi-year partnership with Monumental Sports & Entertainment to modernize Capital One Arena in Washington. LG will install direct-view LED screens, digital signage and commercial TVs, including "Visibowl" — 152 meters of corridor walls for immersive displays.
