Tech news 2026: what has changed

We picked seven events from May to October 2026 that are backed by a source and that will affect companies or people working in IT, including in Czechia.

1. The building blocks of AI agents move under shared governance

On 22 October 2026 the Agentic AI Foundation, which operates under the Linux Foundation, took on four more open projects for AI agents. They came from companies that otherwise compete with each other. Anthropic contributed Agent Skills, a format for packaging instructions and scripts; OpenAI contributed Open Responses, a common interface specification for language models; Hugging Face contributed OpenEnv, an environment for training agents; and Alibaba contributed OpenSandbox, an isolated runtime. The foundation was set up in December 2025 with three projects and now has ten.

Once the basic building blocks of agents are standardised under neutral governance, a company that builds an agent on one model today will find it easier to move it to another. For developers, it shows what is worth building on for the long term.

Source: Linux Foundation, Agentic AI Foundation Announces Four New Projects

2. AI and work in Czechia: better-paid jobs in cities are most affected

In July 2026 the Czech National Bank published a study on who in Czechia will be affected by artificial intelligence. According to the authors, AI could support, take over or change roughly a quarter of the work tasks in Czech employees' occupations. The effect is strongest in large cities, in information-intensive industries and in better-paid positions.

The change mainly concerns office and professional occupations. Companies can use the findings when planning which tasks to reorganise and whom to train to work with AI. What the AI Act requires here is described in our article AI literacy for employees.

Source: Czech National Bank, Artificial Intelligence and Labour in Czechia: Who Is Affected?

3. Cyber Resilience Act: manufacturers must report vulnerabilities from September

The first obligations of the Cyber Resilience Act have applied since 11 September 2026. Manufacturers of products with digital elements must report actively exploited vulnerabilities and severe incidents: an early warning within 24 hours, a notification within 72 hours and a final report (for a vulnerability, within 14 days of a fix becoming available; for an incident, within one month of the notification). Reports go through a single platform run by ENISA, which was launched on the same day. The remaining obligations of the regulation follow on 11 December 2027.

This affects most companies that make software or devices with firmware for the EU market. Development teams need a process for spotting, assessing and reporting a vulnerability quickly.

Sources: European Commission, Cyber Resilience Act: Reporting obligations, Regulation (EU) 2024/2847, Cyber Resilience Act

4. Data Act: users get access to device data, and switching cloud provider gets easier

Since 12 September 2026, new connected products and related services must be designed so that users can access the data they generate by default (Article 3(1) of the Data Act in conjunction with Article 50). This applies to products placed on the market after that date. From 12 January 2027, cloud service providers may no longer charge fees for switching to another provider (Article 29).

Device manufacturers and firmware developers need to plan for data access at the design stage. Companies that keep their data in the cloud can change supplier at a lower cost.

Source: Regulation (EU) 2023/2854, Data Act

5. Cybersecurity: public administration was the most frequent target

In September 2026 ENISA published its threat overview for 2025. According to the report, attacks on service availability (DDoS) made up 51% of cases, ransomware caused the most damage and accounted for 40% of financially motivated incidents, and public administration was the most frequent target (32%). More than 48,000 new vulnerabilities were published in 2025, 22% more than in 2024.

In Czechia, the new Cybersecurity Act (Act No. 264/2025 Coll.), which transposes the EU NIS2 Directive, has applied since 1 November 2025. According to figures from the National Cyber and Information Security Agency (NÚKIB) published by Seznam Zprávy in August, 5,864 entities out of an estimated six to ten thousand had met the notification obligation by the end of July 2026.

A company that falls under the act and has not yet registered should check its position now. Companies newly covered by the act need people who can handle the obligations.

Sources: ENISA Threat Landscape 2026, Cybersecurity Act (Act No. 264/2025 Coll.) (in Czech), Seznam Zprávy, NÚKIB data on registration under the Cybersecurity Act (in Czech)

6. Europe is choosing AI gigafactories, and Czechia is preparing a bid

On 30 July 2026 the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking opened a call to select up to seven AI gigafactories, large computing centres for training and running AI. It expects more than EUR 20 billion in private investment. Applications for large projects are due by 3 December 2026 and for medium-sized ones by 4 February 2027, and the selection is expected in 2027.

According to ČTK, the Czech government approved the country's participation on 22 June 2026. The project envisages a data centre in Zbraslav and an investment of around CZK 100 billion, of which about CZK 70 billion would come from private sources.

A bid is not a selection. If Czechia succeeded, companies and researchers would get accessible computing power for AI, and there would be demand for specialists to run such centres.

Sources: EuroHPC JU, call for the selection of AI gigafactory consortia, EuroHPC JU, Call for tenders: AI gigafactory consortia, ČTK, Czech government approves participation in an AI gigafactory project (in Czech)

7. Chips Act 2.0 and chips in Rožnov

On 3 June 2026 the European Commission proposed a second Chips Act. The proposal aims to speed up permits for new production capacity and to support strategic projects, including chips for AI. According to the Commission, Europe produces less than 10% of the world's semiconductors. The proposal is now being discussed by the European Parliament and the Council.

One of the largest investments in Czechia is onsemi's planned CZK 44 billion expansion of silicon carbide chip production in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm. According to the Minister of Industry and Trade, quoted by Seznam Zprávy in August, the project no longer meets the conditions of the approved state aid after the company changed its strategy, and the ministry is negotiating changes with the company. In a joint statement, the company confirms its investment plans in Czechia.

Chip production in Europe affects the supply of components for the automotive and engineering industries, and with it the demand for embedded developers.

Sources: European Commission, Proposal for a Chips Act 2.0, Seznam Zprávy, onsemi investment in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm (in Czech)

What about the AI Act?

After this year's amendment, the AI Act rules for high-risk systems under Annex III, such as AI used to select job applicants, will apply from 2 December 2027, and those for AI in regulated products (Annex I) from 2 August 2028. We summarise the other obligations and their deadlines in the article AI Act in 2026.

Source: European Commission, AI Act: regulatory framework

Summary

Rival AI companies handed core building blocks of agents to neutral governance under the Linux Foundation.
According to a Czech National Bank study, AI could affect roughly a quarter of work tasks in Czechia, most of all in cities and in better-paid positions.
Since September, new obligations apply to makers of connected devices (vulnerability reporting, access to data).
The government backed a Czech bid for a European AI gigafactory. The selection will be made in 2027.

If you are filling a role in AI, cybersecurity or embedded development, write to us. The fields we cover are on the Expertise page and AI projects on the AI solutions page. Specialists looking for a project will find more on our page for specialists.

As of 31 October 2026. For events that are still developing, the situation on the day of publication applies.