🔥 Top Stories
Broadcom (AVGO) is raising up to $63 billion in financing to support AI developer Anthropic's purchases of chips. According to sources, Bank of America, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are helping arrange the deal, and other banks are expected to submit lending commitments in the coming days. The banking syndicate will provide about $42 billion in loans. As part of the plan, banks could issue up to about $21 billion in high-grade corporate bonds as soon as early next year, with up to half expected to be refinanced in the U.S. investment-grade bond market in the first quarter of 2027. The deal is closely watched on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley as a test of whether investors remain willing to fund AI projects.
A parent in Beitun District, Taichung, earlier alleged that a special-needs pupil was tied to a chair with two classmates. The Taichung branch of the Humanistic Education Foundation said a third-grade special-needs pupil in Dajia District was reportedly bound with tape by a teacher during one class. The school said it began verification after receiving a report, and the teacher involved admitted acting on impulse. A teacher evaluation meeting set for the 22nd was postponed because of Typhoon Qiangpi's class suspensions. The foundation questioned whether the school had first launched a suspension investigation.
According to reports, a teacher surnamed Tang in the resource room of an elementary school in Pingtung County has not taught classes as required since the new semester began. The teacher is alleged to have repeatedly brought a fruit knife to school, climbed through a window into a classroom, and taken a special-needs student away without notification. The principal has been criticized for passive handling of the matter and reportedly said police should be called only after a student is actually injured or in another emergency.
US artificial intelligence lab Anthropic has applied for an initial public offering, which would make it the first major US AI model developer to go public. The move is seen as a gauge of market confidence in AI's prospects and is expected to have a significant impact on Wall Street and Silicon Valley. Anthropic's compute-first strategy, backed by large spending and financing agreements, has tied it closely to major Silicon Valley technology companies.
Meta has expanded its common stock offering to $25 billion to fund AI investments, drawing subscription demand about five times the offering size. The sale is part of the company's $98 billion equity financing plan, which would rank among the largest on record if fully completed. Bloomberg reported that more than half of the shares went to long-only investment firms and existing investors, and the 15 largest buyers together received about 70%. The offering price is $625 per share, a 2.7% discount to the prior Friday's close. Meta shares fell as much as 1.4% intraday on Tuesday, to $621.47, below the offering price.
🏛 Politics
Interior Minister Liu Shih-fang said police agencies across Taiwan must fully prevent transnational repression and interference in the nine-in-one local elections by local gangs and local collaborators. The remarks came as the elections completed their ballot-number lottery and entered the final month of campaigning, amid a series of Chinese cross-border repression cases targeting Taiwan.
Japan's National Police Agency publicly disclosed on the 26th, for the first time, specific methods that foreign powers use to conduct influence operations in Japan. The methods include approaching Diet members through election support, using online media for political propaganda, and offering money or other benefits in an attempt to sway administrative decisions. The report also cites suspected overseas-linked accounts involved in online opinion manipulation during the February House of Representatives election. Current Japanese law lacks relevant regulations addressing these threats to democracy and national security.
The Taipei mayoral election held its ballot number draw yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party candidate Shen Boyang had a representative, Lydia Lin, identified as a citizen-democracy commissioner, draw on his behalf, and the number was 3. Kuomintang incumbent mayor Chiang Wan-an had youth representative Yakira draw on his behalf, and the number was 5. After the draw, Shen's side shouted a slogan built on the number three, while Yakira made a heart gesture and shouted "Taipei, encore."
Reuters, citing two sources, reported that Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro refused to comply with a Supreme Court request to surrender his passport after losing the presidential election, and has traveled to the United States.
U.S. midterm elections are scheduled for next week, with polls showing Democrats ahead of Republicans in support. President Donald Trump said today that if the election is conducted cleanly, he will respect the outcome regardless of the result.
Israel holds its election today. Prime Minister Netanyahu accused Arab-Israeli political figures of trying to steal the vote, citing the arrest of several individuals suspected of bribery. The accused side sharply criticized the claim.
The US military announced today that it struck a vessel suspected of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing five people.
💰 Finance
Broadcom (AVGO) is raising up to $63 billion in financing to support AI developer Anthropic's purchases of chips. According to sources, Bank of America, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are helping arrange the deal, and other banks are expected to submit lending commitments in the coming days. The banking syndicate will provide about $42 billion in loans. As part of the plan, banks could issue up to about $21 billion in high-grade corporate bonds as soon as early next year, with up to half expected to be refinanced in the U.S. investment-grade bond market in the first quarter of 2027. The deal is closely watched on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley as a test of whether investors remain willing to fund AI projects.
Oil prices fell today as parties resumed diplomatic efforts to resolve the Middle East conflict, while Israeli voters went to the polls for parliamentary elections.
International oil prices fell nearly $2 on Tuesday, with Brent crude futures closing at $113.88 per barrel. Markets are assessing whether Middle East diplomatic talks can ease the risk of supply disruptions. However, attacks on merchant ships near the Strait of Hormuz, continued Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, and the possibility of renewed U.S. and Israeli military action against Iran have kept prices near a six-month high.
Boeing reported higher third-quarter revenue and a sharp narrowing of its loss, but management said 737 MAX deliveries this year will fall below target. The company now expects to reach a production rate of 52 aircraft per month only in the second half of 2027, and has pushed its $10 billion annual free cash flow goal to 2029. Boeing shares fell 10.71% to close at $168.18. CEO Kelly Ortberg said the company is still working to stabilize production at 47 aircraft per month.
Markets widely expect the Federal Reserve to hold rates steady this week, with attention turning to its December 8-9 meeting. Tech giants' earnings and oil price moves could influence whether the Fed raises rates again this year. CME Group's FedWatch tool shows a 10% probability of a hike on Wednesday and 73% for December. Citigroup and Morgan Stanley economists expect the Fed to resume rate hikes in December if financial conditions do not deteriorate sharply.
US artificial intelligence lab Anthropic has applied for an initial public offering, which would make it the first major US AI model developer to go public. The move is seen as a gauge of market confidence in AI's prospects and is expected to have a significant impact on Wall Street and Silicon Valley. Anthropic's compute-first strategy, backed by large spending and financing agreements, has tied it closely to major Silicon Valley technology companies.
Anthropic's S-1 filing for a public listing lists more than 90 pages of risk factors, including slowing revenue, computing supply and growing opposition to data centers. The filing notes that most of the world's most advanced chips are still produced in Taiwan, mainly by TSMC, and warns that cross-strait geopolitical tensions could disrupt supply.
SpaceX and Tesla are discussing a potential merger through special committees set up by their boards. Musk said he will not take part in the negotiations because of a conflict of interest, leaving them to independent directors. A Bloomberg review found that several directors considered independent have long-standing personal or business ties to Musk, raising questions about whether the evaluation can remain independent. On SpaceX's earnings call last week, Musk described the arrangement as a kabuki-style performance. The committee members have not been made public, and no merger agreement has been announced.
Meta has expanded its common stock offering to $25 billion to fund AI investments, drawing subscription demand about five times the offering size. The sale is part of the company's $98 billion equity financing plan, which would rank among the largest on record if fully completed. Bloomberg reported that more than half of the shares went to long-only investment firms and existing investors, and the 15 largest buyers together received about 70%. The offering price is $625 per share, a 2.7% discount to the prior Friday's close. Meta shares fell as much as 1.4% intraday on Tuesday, to $621.47, below the offering price.
Citadel Securities warned in a research report that the economy and stock market are increasingly dependent on AI-related trading, leaving markets with almost no margin for error. The report said cutting AI investment could undermine confidence in growth, while continued spending faces financing, execution and return pressures, making AI capital expenditure a two-way risk. Technology stocks have recently sold off sharply, reflecting growing investor caution over whether massive AI spending will translate into sufficient profits.
💻 Technology
Amid an AI infrastructure boom that has left memory supply extremely tight, billionaire Musk said demand for memory from robots will be even greater, "exceeding everything on Earth." He added that the shortage is expected to worsen further once robots enter mass production.
Microsoft said on the 26th that it will offer a voluntary departure program to about 60,000 employees, equal to more than a quarter of its global workforce. The company said the move aims to cut costs, adjust its workforce structure and help fund large-scale investment in AI.
Apple on the 27th released a new 24-inch iMac and 14-inch MacBook Pro, both powered by the M6 chip, marking a full refresh of its Mac lineup. The launch also sets the stage for a touchscreen MacBook Pro expected later this week.
On Tuesday (27th), Oracle said it would expand its partnership with OpenAI, bringing ChatGPT and Codex into its applications to help enterprises use its database to develop and manage application services. Oracle also said it will offer Google's Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), OpenAI's in-house chips and Cerebras hardware in its cloud, widening customers' AI computing choices amid tight chip supply. Mahesh Thiagarajan, president of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, said at the Oracle AI World conference in Las Vegas that users can build, deploy and manage applications through ChatGPT. Oracle's databases are widely used in healthcare and finance.
Nikkei TRENDY has published a series on AI applications, with a feature on generative AI predictions drawn from Google I/O 2026. The report says Google is expanding across its AI offerings, with a focus on agentic AI. Google holds its annual developer conference in May.
Apple on Tuesday (27th) unveiled the 24-inch iMac and entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro, both powered by the M6 chip. The two computers look similar to their predecessors, with main upgrades in performance and wireless connectivity, including Bluetooth 6 and Wi-Fi 7. Apple said the new iMac's AI processing speed can reach up to five times that of the previous model, while the 14-inch MacBook Pro's graphics performance is 30% higher. According to Bloomberg, the M6 chip was first used in the Mac mini in September and is now being extended to the iMac and entry-level MacBook Pro.
After launching the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M6 chip, Apple has updated its desktop lineup with a new iMac powered by the M6 chip. The company claims its AI performance is up to five times faster. The iMac starts at NT$49,900.
🌏 International
Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Tuesday they had struck Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura oil refinery, the largest in the kingdom, with a ballistic missile.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo's health ministry reported on Tuesday (27th) that the current Ebola outbreak has recorded 10,060 cumulative cases and 4,887 deaths as of Sunday, a fatality rate of about 48.6%. The outbreak has spread to 8 of the country's 26 provinces. It is the largest and deadliest Ebola outbreak in the country's history.
Iranian-backed militias reportedly carried out a precision strike last month on pumping stations of Saudi Arabia's most important oil pipeline. Days later, another attack hit a Saudi military facility. Data and officials say Russian satellites helped enable the strikes.
According to television surveys, exit polls for Israel's parliamentary election show Gadi Eisenkot's bloc slightly ahead of Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, though neither is forecast to win a majority.
Israeli voters on Tuesday gave opposition parties a narrow edge over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, initial projections showed. The vote was the country's first election since the October 7, 2023 attacks, with turnout at a decades-high level. Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister, had campaigned on promises to fight enemies from Hamas to Iran. On election day, he raised concerns about Israeli Arab voters, who turned out in historic numbers against his hard-right government.
Exit polls indicate no clear winner in Israel's election, leaving Netanyahu's political future uncertain. Final results are expected in the coming days and may differ from the exit polls.
Israel held its first election since the October 7, 2023 attack, with turnout reaching its highest level in decades. The vote pits Netanyahu's far-right coalition against an opposition bloc in a knife-edge contest.
The White House has proposed renewed postwar business ties with Russia in an effort to bring President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. The proposal involves possible deals for US oil majors in Russia as part of Ukraine peace talks.
Three sources said on Tuesday that Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro has left Brazil for the United States after losing Sunday's presidential election to incumbent Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. The US State Department is due to grant him and his family entry visas. Bolsonaro has not conceded the election. Reports say he left after refusing to comply with a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports, a ruling tied to a money-laundering probe that he denies.
Court documents unsealed Monday show the U.S. Justice Department has again indicted former FBI director James Comey, accusing him of illegally leaking national defense information while in office in October 2016. Prosecutors allege he provided the information, through unidentified people, to a New York Times reporter not authorized to receive it. It is Comey's third criminal indictment, following charges in September and April. Comey and his lawyers accused the Justice Department of abusing its power.
Israel held a national election on Tuesday, the 27th, its first since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack. Turnout reached 55.7% by 4 p.m. local time, the first nine hours of voting, the highest for that point since 1973. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, posting on social media, accused the Arab-party alliance Joint List of mobilizing voters to "steal the election." The Joint List accused Netanyahu of inciting hatred against Arab citizens to set up a challenge to the result.
A UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry said in a report published Monday that Israel continued to commit genocide in Gaza after the US-brokered ceasefire last October. The report examined violations against Palestinian civilians, including children, since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas. Israel dismissed the report as part of a "misinformation campaign."
The King is embarking on a nine-day tour of three Caribbean countries, including the Bahamas, Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda.
Two attacks in Ethiopia's Oromia region killed at least 60 Orthodox Christians, according to the country's Orthodox Church. The church urged authorities to protect civilians and bring those responsible to justice.
The U.S. military said it attacked a boat it accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Tuesday, killing five people. The strike is part of continuing actions by the Trump administration against suspected drug trafficking vessels.
📰 Other
A parent in Beitun District, Taichung, earlier alleged that a special-needs pupil was tied to a chair with two classmates. The Taichung branch of the Humanistic Education Foundation said a third-grade special-needs pupil in Dajia District was reportedly bound with tape by a teacher during one class. The school said it began verification after receiving a report, and the teacher involved admitted acting on impulse. A teacher evaluation meeting set for the 22nd was postponed because of Typhoon Qiangpi's class suspensions. The foundation questioned whether the school had first launched a suspension investigation.
According to reports, a teacher surnamed Tang in the resource room of an elementary school in Pingtung County has not taught classes as required since the new semester began. The teacher is alleged to have repeatedly brought a fruit knife to school, climbed through a window into a classroom, and taken a special-needs student away without notification. The principal has been criticized for passive handling of the matter and reportedly said police should be called only after a student is actually injured or in another emergency.
A 29-year-old man surnamed Li from Tainan was arrested after returning to Taiwan. His wife, surnamed Jing, was stabbed to death while traveling in Japan with a tour group. A woman surnamed Yang, also from Taiwan and a member of the same tour group, is suspected of the stabbing. Both Yang and Jing were employees of Li. Prosecutors suspect the marriage was a sham entered into to have children.
A 38-year-old Taiwanese woman surnamed Jing was found dead in a hotel room in Kawaguchiko, Japan, on the 19th, two days after joining a group tour on the 17th. A woman surnamed Yang, who was on the same tour, is suspected of killing her. Reports say Jing's husband, a man surnamed Li, allegedly had a relationship with Yang and was in close contact with her while in Taiwan. Police and prosecutors are examining whether he instigated the crime. Jing reportedly messaged a friend after checking into her Japanese hotel, mentioning that Yang was also traveling alone.
Taiwanese woman Jing Yunrong was found dead at a hotel in Kawaguchiko, Japan, during a trip there. Investigators suspect her husband, a man surnamed Li, of plotting to obtain NT$30 million in insurance money by instigating a woman surnamed Yang to kill her. Legal experts said that if the death is ruled caused by external force, it would still be considered an accident, the insurer may pay the claim, and the payout could be inherited by the victim's parents.
A 38-year-old woman surnamed Jing was found dead in a hotel room in Kawaguchiko, Japan, on the 19th, days after joining a tour group on the 17th. A 27-year-old woman surnamed Yang, a member of the same group, is suspected of killing her, according to reports. Reports said Yang signed up on the day of departure and was initially refused by the tour guide. The travel agency said Yang was already a group member and had missed the original flight after forgetting her passport, and was not a last-minute addition.
The Central Weather Administration said the northeast monsoon has arrived, with scattered brief rain north of Taoyuan and in eastern Taiwan and heavier rain in Yilan today, the 28th. Experts said three northeast monsoon episodes will affect Taiwan over the coming week, with temperatures in open areas from Chiayi northward to Yilan dropping to 17 degrees Celsius tonight. Typhoon Yanhua is forecast to strengthen into a strong typhoon around the 30th, which would be the fifth consecutive strong typhoon in the western North Pacific, consistent with a strong El Niño year.
On the evening of the 27th, a van crashed into an electric utility pole on a road along an embankment in Zhenxing Village, Yanpu Township, Pingtung County, for reasons not yet known. A man surnamed Wu, the driver, was trapped inside the vehicle and had no breathing or heartbeat by the time he reached the hospital; he died. Seven migrant workers were also in the van and were injured, some seriously, and taken to hospital for emergency treatment. Ligang police are investigating the cause of the crash and the follow-up handling.
The death of Jing Yunrong, a 38-year-old Taiwanese woman in Kawaguchiko, Japan, has taken a new turn. Her 29-year-old husband, a man surnamed Li, is suspected of entering a sham marriage, and the case reportedly involves large insurance fraud and joint murder. After returning to Taiwan, Li was taken into custody and placed under detention with no visitation. Jing and a 27-year-old woman surnamed Yang, who is suspected in the case, had both been recruited through online job postings and worked for Li. Police reportedly found signs that Yang may have links to a fraud ring. Li reportedly said he had laundered money for a fraud group, and past criminal records reportedly show prior fraud and assault cases.
A group brawl broke out on the morning of the 26th on Haipu Road in Hsinchu's Xiangshan District, leaving one person dead after a clash in front of a betel nut stand. The Hsinchu District Prosecutors Office brought in 14 people for questioning, including a man surnamed Gu, who is suspected of attacking with a knife, and a man surnamed Xu, suspected of gathering a crowd. After questioning on the 27th, prosecutors said Gu is suspected of causing fatal injury and is at risk of fleeing, and sought his detention. Other suspects were released on bail, placed under residence restrictions, or sent home.