On February 9, 2026, the European Commission said it has issued a statement of objections to Meta over WhatsApp’s AI access policies and may impose interim measures amid a dominance probe. The dispute centers on a January policy and a January 15 rollout prioritizing Meta AI Assistant, which regulators claim could harm rivals. Meta disputes the case.

Nintendo said it will maintain its goal of selling 19 million Switch 2 units in the year to March 2026, after shipments reached 17.37 million by December, including 7 million during the holiday quarter. In the fiscal third quarter, revenue rose to 806.32 billion yen and net profit to 159.93 billion yen, both up year on year.

On January 26, 2026, Synopsys CEO Sassine Ghazi said AI-driven demand for high-bandwidth memory is set to keep the chip shortage going into 2026/2027. He flagged rising prices across smartphones, PCs and data center hardware as capacity lags, while Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron expand production. Lenovo's Winston Cheng warned lower-end devices will feel cost pressure first.

Kazakhstan's new artificial intelligence law, which took effect on January 18, establishes a human-centered framework that prioritizes individual rights, freedoms, and safety while regulating AI development and use. The legislation bans certain manipulative and discriminatory AI practices, mandates clear labeling of synthetic content, and clarifies rules around copyright and AI training data. On January 19, the government also launched the AI Governance 500 program to train around 100 public-sector executives, alongside a UNESCO-led assessment of the country's readiness for human-centered AI.

On January 15, 2026, WhatsApp suspended enforcement of its new AI chatbot restrictions in Brazil after the country's regulators intervened. The policy would block third-party general-purpose AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Grok from using WhatsApp's business API, while leaving customer-service bots for businesses unaffected. Brazil's antitrust regulator CADE has opened an investigation into whether Meta's updated terms could undermine competition and favour its own Meta AI on WhatsApp.

Chinese AI server maker xFusion has appointed Citic Securities as its investment bank and begun formal IPO preparation following strong 2024 revenue of over 40 billion yuan. The IPO tutoring phase is slated to run from early January through as late as April or May 2026, as the company moves to join a wave of Chinese AI and chip firms listing in Shanghai and Hong Kong amid intensified state backing for domestic technology.

On January 6 2026, regulators across multiple countries were reported to be intensifying scrutiny of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek over data security, privacy compliance and national security risks. Authorities in Australia, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, South Korea, Italy, the Netherlands and Taiwan have launched bans, restrictions or investigations, while US officials are weighing export curbs, military blacklisting and further probes into chip access and data practices.

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.

On December 24, 2025, Italy's competition authority AGCM said it issued an interim order directing Meta to suspend a WhatsApp policy that bars rival general‑purpose AI chatbots from the platform. The watchdog warns the conduct could threaten competition in Italy, and Meta also faces a parallel EU antitrust probe triggered after the company's October policy announcement.