Alphabet is offering Australian dollar bonds in four maturities, including a 20-year tranche, seeking about AUD 5 bln (~$3.6 bln), sources said. The move follows Alphabet raising its full-year capital expenditure forecast to as much as $205 bln, renewing focus on how big tech will monetize AI investments. Alphabet is second only to Amazon among U.S. corporates in tapping global debt markets to finance AI projects. The company also plans bond issues in 2026 in CHF, GBP, EUR, CAD and JPY.

Beijing, Aug 14 — A seminar hosted by the China Electronic Information Industry Development Research Institute and its AI chip evaluation/key lab said China’s new high-compute substrate materials are at an industrialization window but face material–equipment–process–terminal coordination gaps, missing standards and absence of pilot production platforms. Experts flagged risk of new supply-chain chokepoints in critical materials, specialized equipment and advanced packaging from supply–demand mismatches and supplier concentration, and said lack of reliability data and unified testing standards is deterring investment and end-user adoption. They recommended strengthened capacity monitoring and early warning, diversified supply and technical backups, cross-disciplinary joint R&D and creation of demonstration application zones to drive scenario-led domestic substitution and close the lab-to-line, materials-to-terminal industrial loop.

Head of Iran’s interests section in Egypt said Iran’s military and political victories are evident.