Kyoto AI Pledge, Chip Supply Crisis, Aion 2 Launch & More

Sixteen nations have committed to putting AI at the center of scientific research. Meanwhile, the AI data center boom is straining the semiconductor supply chain well beyond GPUs, and the open-source world saw yet another license-reversal fork play out in real time.

AI

Sixteen Nations Sign ‘Kyoto Vision’ AI Science Declaration

Michael Kratsios of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy spearheaded the ‘Kyoto Vision for a Golden Age of Science’, released on October 4 to coincide with the opening of the STS Forum in Kyoto, Japan. Tech ministers from Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the UAE are among the sixteen signatories.

The declaration envisions laboratories where AI systems design experiments, run them, and analyze results at superhuman speed. It aligns with the U.S. Genesis Mission program for national laboratories, with NVIDIA and DeepMind also backing the vision.

No new funding is attached to the declaration. Still, having sixteen countries formally agree on a direction for AI-driven science provides policy cover for each nation to integrate AI into its research infrastructure.

Kalshi Targeting $40 Billion Valuation for Next Round

Prediction market platform Kalshi is in talks with Sequoia Capital and Wellington Management for a roughly $750 million round at a $40 billion valuation. Its previous round, led by Coatue Management, raised over $1 billion at a $22 billion valuation.

SEC Form D filings show Kalshi has raised $1.12 billion through private placements since April. CEO Tarek Mansour has signaled a potential IPO in 2027.

The $40 billion figure would put Kalshi at more than 2.6 times the reported valuation of rival Polymarket. Regulated prediction markets are carving out a new asset class at the intersection of AI-powered event analysis and fintech.

Semiconductors

AI Data Center Hardware Shortage Extends to 2028 Across Five Component Categories

The AI data center buildout is pushing supply constraints across HBM, MLCCs, transformers, PCB substrates, and optical networking components through at least 2028. A single data center requires roughly 330,000 HBM units and 330 million MLCCs.

The bottleneck extends far beyond GPUs. HBM consumes four times the wafer capacity of standard DDR5, and data centers are expected to consume up to 70% of global memory supply in 2026.

Korean manufacturers are well-positioned: Samsung Electro-Mechanics (MLCCs), Hyosung Heavy Industries (transformers), and LG Electronics (components) are concentrated in the supply chain. Analysts describe this as a multi-year window for supply chain dominance.

Q4 DRAM and NAND Contract Prices Set to Rise Another 10-20%

Surging AI server demand is expected to push Q4 DRAM contract prices up 10-15% and NAND flash up 15-20% quarter-over-quarter. As of late September, average DRAM prices were up 313% year-over-year.

Enterprise SSD bit demand is projected to grow over 80% year-over-year in 2026, driven by cloud providers scaling AI inference infrastructure. Consumer device makers are minimizing additional purchases under cost pressure.

The price surge benefits Samsung and SK hynix but squeezes PC and smartphone manufacturers. Competition for memory allocation between AI infrastructure and consumer devices is intensifying.

Open Source

Siemens Shuts Down OpenRadioss – OpenCourant Fork Launches Same Day

Siemens deleted the GitHub repository for OpenRadioss, an AGPL-3.0 crash simulation solver it acquired through the Altair deal, replacing it with a “Shared Source” program. The move signals a shift toward a commercial licensing strategy.

The Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation responded immediately, launching OpenCourant from the last available open-source codebase under the same AGPL-3.0 license with vendor-neutral governance.

This follows the same playbook as Valkey forking from Redis and OpenTofu forking from Terraform. License reversals in established open-source projects continue to trigger near-instant community forks.

System76 COSMIC Bans LLM-Generated Code in Pull Requests

System76’s COSMIC desktop project now requires contributors to confirm that pull requests contain no LLM-generated code, comments, or descriptions. The policy applies to all contributions.

Principal engineer Jeremy Soller stated he is “in the incredibly privileged position to say no to LLM use in my projects.” He also criticized the pressure many developers face to use LLMs regardless of task suitability.

The decision runs counter to the industry trend of AI-assisted development but aligns with code quality control and copyright risk management concerns. It echoes systemd’s earlier adoption of AI-generated code canary policies.

Gaming

NCSoft’s Aion 2 Launches Globally on October 5

NCSoft’s MMORPG Aion 2 launches October 5 as a free-to-play title on Steam and PURPLE across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia simultaneously. Founder’s Pack buyers received early access starting September 30.

Set 200 years after the original Aion, the sequel features a world 36 times larger than its predecessor. The game was delayed from its original schedule to ensure a stable simultaneous PC and mobile launch with full multilingual localization.

NCSoft ran a large-scale stability test in September and promoted the title heavily at Gamescom 2026. The simultaneous global launch reflects a broader trend among Korean game studios targeting international audiences from day one.

Phantom Blade Zero Delayed to October 29

S-GAME’s action RPG Phantom Blade Zero has been pushed from its original September window to October 29. The studio cited the need for additional time to upgrade character models and rework environments.

The game is coming to PS5 and PC, with a dedicated PlayStation State of Play and an 11-minute gameplay trailer already released. First revealed in 2023, it has maintained high expectations throughout its development.

Phantom Blade Zero combines wuxia martial arts with Soulslike combat, positioning it as the next high-profile Chinese-developed action RPG following the trail blazed by Black Myth: Wukong.

Enshrouded 1.0 Launches October 15 on PC and PS5

Keen Games’ survival action RPG Enshrouded exits nearly three years of Early Access with its 1.0 launch on October 15 for PC and PS5, including PS5 Pro support.

Over five million players have explored Embervale since the Early Access launch in January 2024. The game’s voxel-based building systems, destructible environments, and multiplayer are its defining features.

The Xbox Series X|S version is targeting spring 2027. Keen Games cited the large voxel-based world and destructible environments as creating additional technical challenges on Xbox hardware.

References

US and 15 Nations Sign Kyoto Pledge to Put AI at the Center of Science — Startup Fortune
Kalshi in talks to raise funds at $40 billion valuation — The Block
Kalshi raised $1.12 billion via private equity offering — The Block
없어서 못파는 하드웨어…2028년까지 칩·기판·변압기 공급 대란 — Hankyung
The AI Hardware Shortage Beyond GPUs — MicrochipUSA
AI 서버가 웨이퍼 빨아들이자 PC 부품 고갈 경고 — Global Economic
This Week in Open Source for October 2, 2026 — Google Open Source Blog
Jeremy Soller — COSMIC LLM policy — Fediverse
Aion 2 full launch date confirmed on October 5 — RPGSite
Aion 2 Global Launch Date Confirmed — Aion 2 Hub
Phantom Blade Zero gets October release date and its own State of Play — Shacknews
Phantom Blade Zero gets a new Special Teaser trailer and a delay to October 29 — RPGSite
Enshrouded 1.0 Launches October 15 on PC and PS5 — Digital Citizen