Introduction
Artificial intelligence is no longer just changing the technology sector. It is beginning to influence the growth of entire economies.
Taiwan’s economy grew by 12.93% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, while its government raised its forecast for annual growth to 11.05%. Days earlier, the AI and data company Databricks raised $5 billion at a $190 billion valuation.
The two developments look very different, but they tell a similar story: enormous amounts of money are being directed towards AI, and the businesses and economies supplying it are benefiting.
Why Taiwan Is Growing So Quickly
Taiwan sits at the centre of the global semiconductor and electronics supply chain. As technology companies spend more on the chips, servers and computing equipment needed to develop AI, demand for Taiwanese exports has risen sharply.
Real exports grew 21.24% in the second quarter, while manufacturing output increased 18.27%. Taiwan’s statistics authority specifically linked the rise to demand for AI and related technology.
This shows how AI investment can move beyond individual companies. Spending by major technology groups is now influencing exports, manufacturing and national economic growth.
Why Investors Are Still Betting On AI
Databricks represents another side of the boom.
The company provides technology that helps businesses manage data and build AI applications. Its latest $5 billion funding round pushed its valuation to $190 billion, up from $134 billion only six months earlier.
Databricks also reported an annual revenue run-rate above $7 billion and year-on-year growth exceeding 80%. Those figures help explain investor enthusiasm, but the valuation also reflects expectations that businesses will continue spending heavily on AI.
That creates a risk. If AI investment slows, highly valued companies may face pressure to justify valuations built around continued rapid growth.
Where Law Firms Come In
The expansion creates work far beyond traditional technology law.
- Corporate lawyers advise on funding rounds, acquisitions and potential IPOs.
- Commercial teams negotiate cloud, semiconductor and long-term supply agreements.
- Real estate, construction, energy and project-finance lawyers are required for data centre expansion.
- Competition, data protection and cybersecurity teams become increasingly important as a smaller number of companies control more of the infrastructure behind AI.
What Happens Next
For now, AI investment continues to generate exceptional growth. But Taiwan and Databricks also reveal how concentrated that growth is becoming.
The bigger question is therefore no longer whether AI can create economic value. It is what happens to the companies, investors and economies increasingly built around it if the spending begins to slow.