Asia's tech news, weekly: January 30th 2024

India & quantum, China's photonic chips, Asia-Pac cables, Pacific Island cybersec, India's 2024 space plan, Nokia ends Huawei JV, Singapore Green Computing, EU FDI rules...

• Samsung debuts Galaxy S24 series in China, ditching Google AI features in favor of 'exclusive cooperation' with Baidu to use Ernie artificial intelligence chatbot

• Taiwan: 6th edition of 'Qualcomm Innovate in Taiwan Challenge' launches, focusing in this edition on on artificial intelligence-driven PCs and Edge AI

• Indo-Pacific space-technology developments, and rising concerns, via Nikkei Asia

• China: Orienspace orbital rocket developer raised near $84M from state backers, looking to roll out reusable launch vehicles in 2025, and orders secured to 'launch several hundred satellites'

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"Researchers programmed various large language models (LLMs)... to behave maliciously... regardless of the training technique or size of the model the LLMs continued to misbehave. One technique even backfired, teaching the AI to recognize its triggers and better hide its bad behavior from the researchers...."

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• Telstra's global arm, Telstra International, partners Trans Pacific Networks consortium to build and operate subsea Echo Cable to connect Singapore to the US

• Japan: An overview of the inroads made by China's robotics firms into Japan's logistics sector

• Taiwan's ProLogium EV battery maker to mass-produce in France in 2027; and partners Germany's Mercedes-Benz for joint development of solid-state batteries

• India: Gov't announces program under which up to 10 million households could install rooftop solar

Generative AI in Asia-Pacific

• Singapore's Scorpio Electric e-scooters contracts China's BYD for assembly of first product in Shenzhen, with initial production using Samsung batteries but BYD batteries considered for future units

• High-capacity undersea link connecting Sydney & Melbourne to New Zealand's Invercargill is planned, connecting with planned Invercargill hyperscale data center

• China's Alipay+ partners Pakistan's NayaPay fintech, integrating with 25 global Alipay+ payment partners and widening NayaPay options beyond Pakistan's RAAST instant-payments system

• India: Marwari Catalysts VC launches Aarohan ReligionTech Startup Acceleration Program

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"India’s stock market capitalization has overtaken Hong Kong’s for the first time... while global capital pours out of China....Indian exchanges reached $4.33TN as of Monday’s close vs $4.29TN for Hong Kong..."

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• China: ShenTech Bootcamp hosted 45 founders from Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah University of Science & Tech in Shenzhen, looking to better connect China to the Kingdom and wider Gulf region

• Singapore: Infocomm Media Development Authority sets Sg$30 million for Green Computing Funding Initiative

• China: Researchers claim to have slowed speed of electrons in light-based photonic chips, boosting efficiency and reducing signal loss

• OpenAI CEO Altman adds Taiwan's TSMC to list of companies in discussions around building a global network of AI-focused chip manufacturing facilities

• Pacific Island nations join USAID Digital Connectivity & Cybersec Partnership to grow curricula for regional universities to boost workforce and deployment of Open RAN tech

• Applications are open for the 2024 Pacific Islands Leadership Program with Taiwan, with a curriculum based on the Pacific Islands Forum 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent

• Japan: An intro to Hyundai's Mobion concept vehicle, featuring new wheel system allowing vehicles to move in any direction, including sideways

• India: An overview of the country's moves to become quantum technology-ready in 2024, growing around the $735 million National Quantum Mission

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KPMG Supply Chain Trends 2024: "Through 2024, 50% of supply chain organizations will invest in applications that support artificial intelligence and advanced analytics capabilities..."

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• Philippines: Fortinet global cybersecurity firm survey finds ransomware incidents in the Philippines more than doubled in frequency in 2023 compared with 2022

• Australian Securities & Investments Commission to examine details of Blockchain Global bitcoin company's collapse following Guardian Australia investigation reveals director links to series of failed crypto schemes

• China: Biren Technology, competitor to NVIDIA in chip design, sees 2nd co-founder resign without official statement, raising concerns over Biren's Hong Kong IPO ambitions

• Singapore: Salesforce launches Startup Program in the city-state, looking to tap the local tech, innovation and startup ecosystem with the potential for Salesforce Ventures investment

WEF Quantum Economy Blueprint

• China: Ministry of Industry & Info Tech convened 60 reps from firms including Huawei, Tencent, Baidu, Ant Group and Lenovo to set metaverse standards and direct development, with global goals

• South Korean food giant Namyang Dairy Products partners US firm, Pureture, to create products based on Pureture's GMO-free, yeast-based casein, in advance of $12M seed funding round

• Singapore's InnoVen Capital launches second China fund, InnoVen China Fund II, USD-RMB dual-currency fund targeting a total size of $250M to back early-stage mainland China startups

• Indian Space Research Organization sets sights on minimum of 12 space missions through 2024, with NASA satellite collaboration and Venus study mission in development

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'The Australian Framework for Generative AI in Schools seeks to guide the responsible and ethical use of generative AI tools in ways that benefit students, schools, and society...'

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• Nokia to exit JV with Huawei-run, state-backed TD Tech, partly in light of TD potential for US tech curbs avoidance

• Taiwan: Academia Sinica research institute connected a domestically-developed quantum computer to the internet, country's first, offering 5 qubits as a test bed for university collaboration projects

• Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute and Finland's IQM Quantum Computers ink MOU for hardware purchase, knowledge-sharing, technical support and more

• Vietnam: 15 US firms, reportedly including chips firms, interested in investing up to $8BN in Vietnam with a focus on clean energy infrastructure, contingent on renewable energy regulation

• Australia: CSIRO Next Generation Graduates Program to fund more than 160 postgrad students in emerging technologies, quantum and AI with dedicated opportunities for regional students

• Singapore University of Technology & Design to launch 'Baby Shark Fund', allocating Sg$3.2M for student projects, complementing funding geared toward more advanced projects

• North Korean hacker group, ScarCruft, found testing new methods including technical threat research report decoys featuring malware, aimed at cybersecurity info consumers and professionals

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'A new study asked thousands to evaluate the accuracy of news articles — both real and fake — by doing some research online. But for many, heading to Google led them farther from the truth, not closer.'

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• Google Pay and India's NPCI Int'l Payments ink MOU around expanding Unified Payments Interface payments beyond India, enabling payments from India without foreign currency, credit or forex cards

• Asia-Pacific businesses expect to nearly triple spending on generative AI to US$3.4BN in 2024, Infosys Research finds, a bigger increase than in any other region

• Thailand may launch a 'Unicorn Factory' framework, tying in with National Startup Act

• India: A brief overview of the nation's moves to secure and develop a lithium supply chain

WEF Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2024

• China-DR Congo Sicomines copper and cobalt joint venture formalizes agreement, with China to invest up to $7BN in mining infrastructure projects

• TuSimple shareholders gain court order against co-founders and other execs in bid to stop company leaders from taking assets and intellectual property overseas, specifically to China, following US closure

• US Gov't proposes US cloud firms be required to determine whether foreign entities are accessing US data centers to train AI models, widening chip restrictions to include services run on the chips themselves

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"Thousands of top consumer brands were vulnerable to widespread [software] supply chain attacks last year — and many are being targeted this year through recently discovered flaws..."

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• Australia: CSIRO opens applications for 'Innovate to Grow' program, seeking startups and SMEs working on solutions in digital health and medical technologies

• South Korea: Aniai raises $12M pre-A with kitchen robotics, with product set led by domestic and US adoption of Alpha Grill hamburger cooking robot

• Fiji: An interview intro to Australia's NetVault, installing Starlink dishes and connectivity for Fijian businesses, enterprises and the government

• Vietnam: VNG withdraws registration for US IPO, the first by a Vietnamese company, raising questions about the gaming and messaging company’s growth plans

• Australia: Flinders University launches Graduate Diploma in Entrepreneurial Growth, integrating with Federal Gov't Startup Year program

• Vietnam: Saigon Summit 2024 from Tech in Asia is set for May 30th

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'ETFs Make Bitcoin's Problems Even Worse... likely to exacerbate its bad performance in crises by bringing in even more speculators to what's already mostly a speculative asset...'

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In wider-world technology news:

» European Union unveils long-delayed measures to protect deep-tech firms and prevent IP leaks, requiring foreign direct investment screening across all 27 EU countries

» Meta to allow EU users to unlink personal information from Instagram, Facebook, Messenger and other services in early response to EU Digital Markets Act

» US gov't launched 'Framework to Counter Foreign State Information Manipulation' to develop shared knowledge with allies and partners for coordinated responses to foreign info manipulation

» 'Three unexpected risks from Wall Street's foray into bitcoin' from The Block

» Space Solar Power Demonstrator project marks successful test, beaming solar power to Earth from a satellite

» 'Trends in technology risks 2024' from Grant Thornton, looking at 10 emerging risks in areas including 3rd-party management systems, cloud assurance and IT control

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"JPMorgan Chase, the largest US bank by assets, now invests $15 billion a year and employs 62,000 technologists to, in part, help fortify its defense against cyber crimes..."

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