The popular AI framework Virtuals Protocol will host an in-person meet-up in Hong Kong on Friday, January 17.

Micron Technology announced it will distribute record 2026 fiscal year bonuses to its employees in Taiwan, China, with some staff receiving bonuses equivalent to up to 68 months of salary, and the minimum cash compensation reaching 1.7 million New Taiwan Dollars (approximately $53,800). Entry-level engineers are set to receive an average total bonus of around 3.4 million New Taiwan Dollars, plus annual equity grants. However, the Taoyuan Union, which represents roughly two-thirds of Micron’s workforce in Taiwan, China, still rejects the current plan, insisting that 15% of the company’s operating profit be allocated to employee bonuses. The union added that it will proceed with strike procedures if Micron does not respond to its demands. Micron currently employs about 15,000 people in Taiwan, China, with cumulative investments exceeding 1.6 trillion New Taiwan Dollars. The increased bonus payouts are widely viewed as tied to the profit-sharing mechanisms of South Korean memory chip makers. This year, Samsung Electronics, under pressure from union strikes, ultimately agreed to establish a special bonus pool equal to 10.5% of its semiconductor division’s operating profit. As labor negotiations between Micron and its staff in Taiwan, China enter a critical phase, a potential full-scale strike could disrupt Micron’s production schedule and further roil the global memory chip supply.

Oracle management explicitly stated during its earnings call that its fiscal 2027 capital expenditure (capex) of $90 billion to $95 billion will be focused on expanding AI data centers, naming suppliers including Dell and HPE. Boosted by this news, Dell Technologies’ U.S. stock surged 11.98% on Friday, hitting a record high, with its market capitalization exceeding $360 billion, bringing its year-to-date gain to nearly 350%. Oracle previously disclosed that its fiscal 2027 capex will increase significantly, primarily for purchasing AI server racks, liquid cooling systems, and networking equipment. Meanwhile, the company’s AI cloud orders continue to grow, further boosting visibility for Dell’s future AI server orders. RBC Capital initiated coverage on Dell and assigned it an "Outperform" rating, noting the company will continue to benefit from the multi-year AI infrastructure investment cycle, and highlighting its supply chain capabilities as a competitive moat. Dell currently has over 6,500 AI server customers; its AI server revenue hit $16.4 billion in the second quarter, up 100% year-over-year, with AI server backlog reaching $95 billion at the end of the quarter. As cloud providers like Oracle continue to ramp up AI infrastructure investments, Dell is emerging as a key beneficiary of the current AI capex expansion cycle.

The BRICS Leaders' Summit was held in New Delhi, India. As the ongoing conflict involving Iran continues to disrupt the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea, and international oil prices have topped $100, Iran emerged as one of the core topics at this year's summit. Member states including China, Russia and India have direct communication channels with Iran, a diplomatic advantage the U.S. currently lacks. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called on member states ahead of the summit to establish alternative financial instruments to reduce reliance on the Western-led financial system, and criticized the U.S.-dominated global order. Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, advocated for advancing the establishment of a BRICS platform more independent from Western rules, with a focus on strengthening cooperation in payments, investment, technology and infrastructure. However, it will not be easy for BRICS to position itself as a mediator in the Middle East crisis. Iran is on opposing sides of a conflict with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), another BRICS member, which has previously suspended trade and financial exchanges with Iran; India, meanwhile, must balance its relations with the U.S., Gulf states, Russia and Iran. Divergences among member states previously led to the foreign ministers' meeting failing to issue a joint statement. What the market is currently more focused on is whether BRICS can reach a minimal consensus on energy security, cross-border payments and the Middle East situation. With ongoing disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, whether the summit can ultimately deliver a unified stance will also serve as an important window for observing global energy and geopolitical trends.

Liz Miller, founder and president of U.S. wealth management firm Summit Place Financial Advisors, said that while markets widely expect the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next week, further policy tightening is "fundamentally unnecessary" given the overall economic stability. Miller noted, "I think most investors believe the Fed will raise rates next week, and I also think that’s highly probable. But it’s fundamentally unnecessary. I’d be interested to hear the discussions at the policy meeting, as some Fed officials firmly believe action is needed before overall inflation picks up to push it back to the 2% target. However, if we take a patient view of other parts of the economy, they are actually performing quite stably. I’m not sure a broad rate hike is truly necessary. We can continue to monitor whether rising oil prices will spill over and watch core inflation gradually fall."

On his personal channel, blockchain investigator ZachXBT stated that fintech firm Revolut allegedly failed to detect a forged government agency request, leading to the leakage of some users’ personal identifiable information (PII). According to his disclosure, Revolut received a customer information retrieval request that appeared to come from a legitimate government agency, sent via the agency’s official email domain. Since the email had valid domain authentication details, Revolut deemed the request authentic and responded. The potentially involved data includes users’ names, dates of birth, occupations, addresses, emails, phone numbers, as well as copies of passports or driver’s licenses, identity verification selfies, account statements, IBANs, withdrawal records, and full transaction histories—including Bitcoin transactions. In its notification to users, Revolut said no biometric facial telemetry data was leaked. ZachXBT noted that the incident’s scale may be limited, but it appears to target primarily high-net-worth users. Multiple Revolut users received alerts about the security incident yesterday. Revolut officials have previously reminded users to verify suspicious communications via in-app customer service and avoid providing personal or financial information.

US August inflation data heats up again. China International Capital Corporation (CICC) research report shows that US August CPI rose 0.4% month-on-month, core CPI rose 0.3% month-on-month, both indicators accelerated compared to the previous period; core CPI rose 2.4% year-on-year, slightly above market expectations. CICC believes that August inflation has reached the threshold for the Federal Reserve to resume rate hikes, and expects the Fed may raise interest rates by 25 basis points at its September 16 policy meeting, lifting the federal funds rate target range to 3.75% to 4%. In terms of structure, rising energy prices and resilient service prices remain key drivers of inflation, while some AI-related price pressures have also begun to emerge. CICC forecasts that the Fed may lower its unemployment rate forecast, raise its inflation forecast, and lift its 2027 and 2028 interest rate paths at this meeting, signaling a more hawkish policy stance. CICC also warns that a bigger risk is the Fed may raise rates further this year or next, meaning the market’s current pricing for a rate-cut cycle still has room for readjustment.