Asia's Tech News, Weekly: February 1st 2025

Johor-Singapore SEZ, China's satellites, Korea crypto-crime, Taiwan-Italy chip cybersecurity, DeepSeek hype, India GPS-alt sats, Japan deaf-blind tech, China nuclear fusion, Philippine stablecoin...

• China: Fourth batch of 18 satellites for the planned 14000-satellite 'Thousand Sails mega-constellation launched via Long March 6A rocket, successfully achieving orbit / full item

• India: Satellite successfully launches and enters orbit, forming part of the Navigation with Indian Constellation - NavIC - positioning system, a domestic alternative to GPS et al / full item

• Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone: "...leading industrial regions like Penang, Kulim, and Klang Valley expected to benefit from increased investment and supply chain integration..." / full item

• 'Vanuatu’s digital vulnerability: Who will fund Vanuatu’s second cable? / full item

• Luxembourg House of Financial Technology and Asian Development Bank launch 2nd edition of 'Catapult: Inclusion Southeast Asia' accelerator for financial inclusion / full item

• South Korea: Joint Investigation Unit for Virtual Asset Crimes is to formally launch February-March, responding to growth in virtual asset-related crimes / full item

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DeepSeek: "...repeated false claims 30% of the time and gave vague or not useful answers 53% of the time in response to news-related prompts, resulting in an 83% fail rate..." / full item

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• China: Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, EAST, achieves milestone by maintaining plasma operation for 1066 seconds, a key moment in nuclear fusion research / full item

• 7 Indian privately-held startups chosen for first-of-its-kind India-US space and defence collaboration programme / full item

• Taiwan's MediaTek inks agreement with Italy's Exein to embed Exein cybersecurity systems on billions of chips under MediaTek Genio platform / full item

• Indonesia Battery Corporation looks to Japanese and South Korean partnerships, alongside raw material suppliers in Australia and South America, in response to US China-related tariff concerns / full item

• Australia: Critical Infrastructure Information Sharing & Analysis Centre gains $6.4M in gov't funding for establishment of new Health Cyber Sharing Network / full item

• Japan: Ubitone, app and gloves that facilitate wireless communication for deafblind people, translating voice or text into 'finger braille' sent via Bluetooth / full item

Indo-Pacific Insight, Print Edition

• Singapore's Elev8VC finalized a $30M deep tech sector fund, looking at early-stage startups in pivotal industries such as AI, medical tech, robotics, and advanced manufacturing / full item

• India successfully launched a navigation satellite aboard a domestically-produced rocket, boosting its independent satellite positioning system / full item

• Japan: Nine major companies and institutions, including Fujitsu and Institute of Science Tokyo, partner for world-first integrated system to combat deepfakes and false information / full item

• 'China built out record amount of wind and solar power in 2024' "The nation put up 357 gigawatts of solar and wind, a 45% and 18% increase..." / full item

• Philippine banks prep to launch PHPX stablecoin for real-time remittances, developed by Singapore's Just Finance, with sights on the $40BN OFW cross-border remittances market / full item

• Online now: 'Private Equity and Venture Capital Landscape in the Philippines - 2024 in Review and 2025 Outlook' from PwC / full item

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Thailand: "Despite increased [artificial intelligence] investments, 40% of respondents said they have either seen no gains or the gains have fallen short of their expectations..." / full item

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• China: Nayuta Space gains funding to develop reusable stainless steel rockets using methane-liquid oxygen engines, looking to achieve reusability of both 1st and 2nd rocket stages / full item

• Australia: HarrisonAI gains Au$32M equity investment from National Reconstruction Fund Corp with AI-based radiology and pathology diagnostics, reading X-rays and CT scans / full item

• Japan: NTT Digital launches NFT-based 'Happy & Wellness Cheering Team' mental health campaign in partnership with 22 major firms / full item

• China: Trump administration is reportedly considering restrictions on NVIDIA sales of H20 chips, those specifically designed for the China market / full item

• Australia: An intro to Earth AI following $20M Series B funding, using geophysical survey data, remote sensing and satellite data, and more, to identify critical mineral deposits / full item

• Taiwan: Phoenix Silicon, the global no. 2 supplier of reclaimed wafers, broke ground on a new $76.3M plant in Taichung, expanding capacity to meet rising demand driven by the AI boom / full item

Malaysia Data Centre Research Report

• China has tested a 6-legged robot dog in -40°C Antarctic conditions, reportedly capable of carrying up to 100kg / full item

• In Sept 2024, over 30 companies including TSMC formed the Silicon Photonics Industry Alliance, SiPhIA, to focus on the next generation of chip energy and data transmission / full item

• Japan: LINE NEXT, Web3 venture under LINE messaging app, launched first batch of DApps - decentralized apps - via LINE messenger, looking to push large-scale Web3 adoption / full item

• India: 'Bridging the Gap - Payments in India beyond Metros' is available to download, a brief white paper from Visa / full item

• Hong Kong Monetary Authority has launched the Supervisory Incubator for Distributed Ledger Technology to explore and develop solutions, with a focus on tokenized deposits / full item

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How is the $500bn Stargate Project poised to impact India's AI landscape? "...the sheer scale of the project will pave the way for collaboration opportunities between the two countries, especially on the talent front." / full item

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• China: Alibaba has released a new version of its Qwen 2.5 AI model that it claims surpasses DeepSeek-V3, with timing illustrating the competitive pressure companies face / full item

• Pakistan: Parliament passes legislation providing broad controls on social media, including blocking of content 'critical of judges, armed forces, parliament or provincial assemblies' / full item

• The Philippines and Canada are to establish a cybersecurity roadmap as part of wider collaborations / full item

• The Philippine Space Agency, PhilSA, has opened applications to its Advanced Degrees for Accelerating Strategic Space R&D and Applications - AD ASTRA - Scholarships Program / full item

• China: ByteDance, owner of TikTok, has earmarked over $20BN in capital expenditure for 2025 with half focused on data centres and networking equipment for AI / full item

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DeepSeek - What the Headlines Miss: "Real export restrictions on AI chips only started in October 2023, making claims about their ineffectiveness premature..." / full item

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• Hong Kong: Legislative Council discusses new stablecoin bill amid ongoing moves to establish the city as a global cryptocurrency hub / full item

• New Zealand: Icehouse Ventures VC firm closes 2nd growth fund with NZ$122M in commitments to back up to 20 later-stage scaleups / full item

• Taiwan's Turing Drive autonomous driving firm partners Japan's Xtran transportation company to deploy driverless vehicles in Okinawa, with particular relevance to the elderly / full item

• Australia: An intro to Rainstick, agri-tech startup blending Indigenous practices with cutting-edge electrokinetic tech similar to lightning to boost crop growth / full item

• South Korea: K-Work secures $552K with living support platform for foreign workers and international students, responding to the country's declining working-age population / full item

• India: Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd acquired a 60% stake in Pegatron Technology India, building on acquisition of Wistron India and boosting iPhone manufacturing presence / full item

• Indonesia: Anti-monopoly watchdog, KPPU, imposed a fine of $13.1M on Google LLC, ordering the tech giant to cease mandatory use of Google Play Billing System / full item

• Malaysia looks at Free Trade Agreement reform, including digital focus, to enhance growth "...digitalisation was a 'missing component' in Malaysia’s previous FTAs..." / full item

• New Zealand's Road Ninja looks to launch driver employment platform and app into the Australian market, connecting pre-vetted, ready-to-work skilled drivers with businesses / full item

• Australia: 97MW Hawkesdale Wind Farm, backed by Amazon, enters commercial operation in Victoria, expecting to generate power equivalent to that needed by 67,000 homes annually / full item

• Thailand: National Innovation Agency boosts Co-Maker Space initiative to develop the domestic startup ecosystem, focusing on AI, green-tech and fintech startups / full item

• China: An overview of the global reach of Alipay+ in the seamless payments space / full item

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'Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2025' from the World Economic Forum "Key concerns include software vulnerabilities introduced by third parties and propagation of cyberattacks..." / full item

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• Thailand: SPACE-F Batch 5 unveils 18 startup teams working on food-tech innovation, with a focus on sustainable solutions, products and packaging / full item

• New Zealand: Kwetta raises $16M led by Blackbird VC with energy grid level optimisation focused on electric buses and trucks / full item

• Australia: Spoony raised Au$1M pre-seed funding with social app to help neurodivergent, chronically ill, and disabled individuals, building on graduation from Antler programme / full item

• Vietnam: Phygital Labs looks to merge physical and digital realms for gifting, utilizing RFID chips and NFC capabilities, with blockchain used to verify item ownership / full item

• Hong Kong: PanopticAI gains US regulatory approval for contactless pulse rate measuring app which utilizes the cameras of iOS devices for medical-grade pulse monitoring / full item

• Indonesia: Banyu seaweed firm secures $1.25M with tech-enabled platform helping communities and small farmers, further bolstering Indonesia as the world's largest tropical seaweed supplier / full item

• South Korea: Goyang city has seized crypto-assets worth over $228,000 from cryptocurrency wallets of 157 residents who failed to pay traffic fines / full item

• China: Deepwise med-tech firm raised near $69M with AI and internet-based solutions in personal health management, screenings, identification of diseases and more / full item

• Japan's Seven Bank, the banking arm of 7-Eleven Group, is to install its first 100 ATMs in 4 Malaysian states / full item

• Philippines: Asian Development Bank inks financing package of up to $100M to support Ayala Corporation in moves to develop an electric mobility ecosystem in the Philippines / full item

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"...nearly 200 miles west of Dallas, the first data center associated with the $100BN Stargate venture from OpenAI, SoftBank Group Corp. and Oracle Corp is taking shape." / full item

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