Daily Tech & GNSS News Digest - February 10, 2026

Asian tech stocks rallied to fresh records as AI infrastructure spending showed no signs of slowing, with TSMC reporting 37% January revenue growth and Big Tech collectively committing to $650 billion in 2026 capital expenditures. Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions over tech regulation intensified as France’s Macron warned the EU must confront the US on digital policy. In GNSS news, Thales announced a major €55 million investment to expand resilient navigation manufacturing in France, while NovAtel released firmware updates enhancing performance in challenging environments.

Tech News

TSMC Revenue Surges 37% in January as AI Spending Marches On

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reported January sales of NT$401.3 billion ($12.7 billion), a 37% year-over-year increase that exceeded the 30% full-year growth the company has projected. The result—the fastest monthly growth in months—signals sustained global demand for AI chips despite persistent concerns about an industry bubble.

TSMC, which manufactures processors for Nvidia, Apple, and other chip designers, has committed to capital expenditures of $52 billion to $56 billion in 2026, substantially higher than the $40.9 billion spent in 2025. The aggressive investment reflects confidence in the durability of AI-driven demand, with management projecting a compound annual growth rate of approximately 25% through 2029.

The strong January result helped lift Asian tech stocks broadly, with regional indices reaching fresh all-time highs. Markets had been rattled in early February by worries over frothy valuations and the massive scale of AI infrastructure spending, but the TSMC data eased those concerns.

Big Tech AI Spending to Hit $650 Billion in 2026

Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta are on track to spend between $635 billion and $665 billion on AI infrastructure in their respective 2026 fiscal years, according to company guidance compiled by analysts. The unprecedented capital deployment is reshaping corporate balance sheets and cash flow projections across the industry.

Amazon leads with approximately $200 billion in planned capital expenditures, followed by Alphabet at $175 billion to $185 billion, Microsoft at an annualized $145 billion run rate, and Meta at $115 billion to $135 billion. Morgan Stanley analysts project Amazon will record negative free cash flow of nearly $17 billion this year, with Bank of America estimating the deficit could reach $28 billion.

The spending surge has accelerated consolidation in AI data centers, with Deutsche Telekom announcing a €1 billion ($1.2 billion) Munich facility as European governments push to reduce dependence on American cloud providers.

Macron Says EU Must Confront Trump on Tech and Trade

French President Emmanuel Macron warned that Europe needs to “get tougher” with President Trump, predicting a clash over EU regulation of digital services that could trigger new US tariffs on the bloc. The comments, delivered February 10, escalate transatlantic tensions already heightened by Brussels’ ongoing investigations of American tech companies.

The EU warned TikTok last week that it may be in breach of the Digital Services Act and demanded changes to address “addictive features,” including disabling infinite scrolling and implementing screen-time breaks. European countries are also increasingly considering social media bans for minors, a policy that threatens to cut off millions of young users from platforms regulators call harmful.

Meanwhile, in a landmark California trial, a 20-year-old woman testified that she has been addicted to social media for more than a decade, as jurors weigh whether Instagram and YouTube exploited her for profit. The case could set precedents for platform liability in addiction-related harms.

Additional Headlines

EU Eyes $264B Tech Opportunity: Bloomberg Opinion argues the US “tech detox” creates a $264 billion opportunity for European alternatives as governments seek to reduce reliance on American platforms.
UK Warns Against “Made in Europe” Policy: Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government is lobbying Brussels against protectionist policies that could exclude British firms from EU supply chains in automotive, technology, and green sectors.
Apple-Google Siri Deal Confirmed: Apple signed a multiyear agreement to use Google’s Gemini models to power a more personalized Siri in 2026, calling Google’s technology “the most capable foundation.”
Meta Dominates Smart Glasses with 73% Share: Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses hold nearly three-quarters of the market, intensifying pressure on Apple to accelerate its own lightweight AR eyewear plans.

GNSS News

Thales announced a €55 million ($63 million) investment to expand its industrial sites in Châtellerault and Valence, France, positioning the company to meet surging demand for resilient navigation solutions in both military and civilian applications. The investment, spanning 2025-2028, will quadruple production capacity at the Châtellerault facility.

At the Valence site, mass production of TopStar-M multi-constellation GNSS receivers and TopShield anti-jamming systems will begin in 2026, alongside a new sovereign production line for inertial micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). The TopStar-M and TopShield combination addresses growing threats from GNSS jamming and spoofing by providing encrypted, authenticated navigation signals.

The expansion is supported by France’s Directorate General of Armaments (DGA) under the OMEGA (Operation for the Modernization of GNSS Equipment of the Armed Forces) programme. The Châtellerault site, which has sixty years of expertise in laser gyroscopes, is currently the only European supplier equipping civil aircraft with inertial navigation systems. Thales expects first customer deliveries of its next-generation MEMS-based Inertial Measurement Unit in early H2 2026.

NovAtel Firmware Update Enhances GNSS Reliability in Challenging Environments

Hexagon’s NovAtel division released firmware version 7.10.00 for its OEM7 family of GNSS receivers, introducing advanced tracking capabilities designed to improve performance under scintillation, foliage, and urban-canyon conditions. The update sets new standards for positioning reliability in obstructed environments.

The firmware enhances PPP and RTK convergence in scenarios where traditional GNSS tracking struggles, including signal multipath from buildings and signal degradation from ionospheric disturbances. NovAtel emphasized that the improvements maintain accuracy during conditions that would previously cause positioning gaps or errors.

Separately, the UK Royal Institute of Navigation released a report on GNSS interference impacts on maritime safety, compiling survey data from more than 100 sector experts and 300 vessel captains. The findings underscore growing industry concern over intentional and unintentional signal disruptions.

Key Takeaways

AI Infrastructure Spending Accelerates: TSMC’s 37% January revenue growth and Big Tech’s collective $650 billion 2026 capex commitment demonstrate that AI investment is intensifying, not slowing, despite valuation concerns and cash flow pressure.
Tech Geopolitics Heat Up: From Macron’s warning of a US-EU clash to the UK’s concerns about “Made in Europe” protectionism, technology policy is becoming a central arena for transatlantic and post-Brexit tensions.
Resilient Navigation Investment Expands: Thales’s €55 million French manufacturing expansion reflects growing government and commercial demand for anti-jam, anti-spoof navigation solutions as GNSS threats proliferate.