[10/18 03:00] Rising financing costs hit Asia's AI supplier stocks; AI-linked perpetual futures slide over the weekend / Hyundai and Kia unveil a roadmap to autonomous, AI-run factories by 2032

AI News Flash for October 18, 2026 at 03:00 UTC.

Topics: 1. Rising financing costs hit Asia's AI supplier stocks; AI-linked perpetual futures slide over the weekend https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/asian-ai-stocks-fall-as-rising-financing-costs-threaten-spending-boom--bloomberg-4955727 2. Hyundai and Kia unveil a roadmap to autonomous, AI-run factories by 2032 https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-industry/2026/10/18/QLQSQOO5QNBBJIEYAPQTHFNCO4/ 3. AhnLab tests the AI hacking tool ARTEX, which broke into internal networks on its own https://www.asiae.co.kr/en/article/2026101809501237799 4. A Japanese city will let an AI character listen to schoolchildren's worries https://www.47news.jp/15098637.html 5. Jeffrey Epstein gave 100,000 dollars to fund AI research at the University of New Mexico in 2001 https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/epstein-gave-100k-to-unm-for-artificial-intelligence-research-in-2001/article_53e7c2f9-9db1-4617-a3c6-b05cbaa90c17.html