Asia's Tech News, Weekly: July 31st 2024

Indonesia cyber force, TSMC & Germany, Singapore & semicon, Space Strategy Fund, critical tech in Q2, Australia & SpaceX, Foxconn China HQ, India-UK tech MOUs...

Aug 01, 2024

• Taiwan's TSMC preps for $10.8 billion plant construction in Germany, targeting production in 2027 and counting Infineon and NXP as both clients and investors

• Indonesia: 'The creation of a cyber military force is becoming inevitable considering that state as well as non-state entities can now mount attacks on countries through cyberspace...'

• China: Cyberspace regulator has proposed a 'cyberspace ID' for citizens, claiming a protective step for individuals and centralized, rather than per-company, data storage

• Hong Kong Legislative Council Member proposes working with stakeholder groups to examine implications of attempting to use Bitcoin in HK's reserves

• Singapore & semiconductors: "Almost all of Micron NAND memory is made in Singapore. NAND contributed $2.1BN to Micron’s revenue last quarter, representing 30% of its revenue."

"Policymakers must recognize that there is a gap between the legal protections being written and the lack of protection in reality; one should not have to invest in, or rely on, specific tech in order to be safe"

• China: Baichuan AI completes $690M funding round, backed by major tech firms including Alibaba, Tencent and Xiaomi, becoming the country's 2nd most-valued AI firm

• Japan's Axelspace Holdings gains Epson and Epson X Investment Corp subsidiary backing in development, manufacturing and operation of microsatellites

• Australia: Gilmour Space rocket developer and satellite launcher to launch a suborbital flight test service in Australia for commercial and defence customers requiring hypersonic speeds

• Q2 2024: Critical & emerging technologies news summary, capturing headlines across April, May and June of 2024

• Australia: An intro to NanoCube Health, using nano-robots to diagnose and treat pancreatic cancer, with devices backed by AI-driven software

• Taiwan: AMD, US chip design giant, gains approval for Taiwan R&D center, with local companies to benefit alongside the creation of 1000 jobs

• Australia is to establish a new 'cable connectivity & resilience centre' for Pacific Islands nations, looking to provide tech assistance and training across the Indo-Pacific

• Japan: An overview of the Space Strategy Fund launched earlier this year, a $6 billion, 10-year initiative to boost space-related R&D

• India and UK partner for tech security initiative, aiming to work closely on crucial technologies and supply chains across critical minerals, AI, semiconductors, telecoms and beyond

• South Korea's Rebellions AI chips firm gains $15M investment from Saudi Ariabia's Wa’ed Ventures, oil giant Aramco’s venture unit

"Project Nexus aims to connect domestic instant payment systems to improve... cross-border payments... with the central banks of India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore & Thailand"

• 'How India Shops Online: Consumer preferences in the metropolises and Tier 1-4 cities', a brief overview from PwC India

• Indonesia expands Simbara mineral and coal online tracking system to also track nickel and tin, recognizing geopolitical and technological importance of key minerals

• Cambodia: "Huione Guarantee operates the platform and acts as a guarantor or escrow provider for all transactions... targeted squarely at cyber scam operators."

• Malaysia and Singapore increase oversight of social media, messaging platforms and online markets in bid to curb growth in online scams and harms to minors

• South Korea: SeaVantage maritime data analytics firm gains $2.3M backing from HD Hyundai Marine Solution, looking to leverage AI in maritime logistics and sustainable shipping

• Taiwan: Premier announces economic and social reform plan, aiming to attract $100BN in investments with focus areas of energy, AI and infrastructure

• SpaceX is in talks with Australian and US officials around landing and recovering Starship rocket off Australia's coast, possibly a first step toward a bigger presence in the region

• Cambodia: "Wing Bank Plc is offering a cost-effective remittance solution that empowers customers to send up to $150K monthly across Asia countries with zero transfer fees..."

• Japan: "The planned suborbital launch by TiSpace has faced regulatory hurdles and delays amid questions over whether Japan should embrace overseas business as part of its effort to double the size of its 4 trillion yen ($26 billion) space industry over the next decade."

• Malaysia: Digital Penang unveils Market Access Thailand program, aiming to intro Penang startups to the Thai market

• Why Australia needs a sovereign AI model: "Australians should be able to use an LLM without sending data and intellectual property to foreign countries or companies..."
• Australia doesn't need sovereign AI: "But it has been unable to create a globally competitive AI sector — and has not created AI models that can serve as the foundation for multiple analytical uses...."

• South Korea is to establish startup hubs in Seoul and Busan in H2 2026, looking to house and develop 400 tech startups

• India: Google has rolled out availability to a range of next-gen AI-focused tools for Indian developers, looking to train 10K startups in artificial intelligence model development

• Taiwan's Foxconn unveils plans to invest $137M to construct a new business HQ - in Zhengzhou, China

• Australia's Northern Territory Gov't and Japan Organisation for Metals and Energy Security ink 2 MOUs to boost critical minerals and energy cooperation

• Download: 'Navigating the future of seamless commerce in AsiaPacific - How retailers are driving customer experiences, from technology to sustainability' from KPMG (pdf link)

Video: A visual workflow overview of Australia's Hadrian X bricklaying robot in action

• India's Jio conglomerate and Taiwan's MediaTek semiconductor giant to supply India's electric scooter market with digital dashboards and Android-based operating system

• Ultium Cells, a JV between LG Energy Solution and General Motors, have suspended construction of US EV batteries plant, citing a temporary slowdown in global electric vehicles demand

• Australia: 4 space research projects received $18M funding as part of the $230M University of South Australia-led iLAuNCH Trailblazer program

• China: Windrose electric truck firm aims to raise $200M round before pursuing US IPO, with manufacturing underway in Georgia and sights on European assembly plants

• Taiwan: AI Computing Center to launch in Q4 2024 with 64 servers using NVIDIA H200 AI chips, and with end goal of 256 servers in use

"In what were once wild jungle and palm oil plantations in southern Malaysia, the likes of TikTok, Nvidia and Microsoft are racing to install the building blocks of the digital economy: data centres."

• Australia’s SmartSat CRC joins with New Zealand Gov't to bring 4 joint research projects under Australia-New Zealand Collaborative Space Program

• New Zealand: An intro to UneeQ's Synanim AI animation solution, working with NVIDIA on 'digital humans' tech in synthetic voice, language, dialect, pronunciation and beyond

• Philippines: 'Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in the Philippines - Network Analysis and Mapping of Institutions Supporting Youth Entrepreneurship' report now available to download

• China's International Lunar Research Station: "We hope to work with 50 countries by inviting 500 foreign scientific research institutions, and 5,000 foreign scientific research personnel..."

• Australia: Hadrian X bricklayer robot commences US evaluation trials in Florida, building directly from 3D CAD layouts and using after-construction adhesive rather than mortar

• ASEAN Startup Initiative gains endorsement from ASEAN Committee on Science, Tech & Innovation, with Malaysia's Cradle Fund set to lead the Initiative

• Australia: Proposed Cyber Security Act would mandate that Australian businesses and government entities must disclose ransomware payments, or face fines

• New Zealand: An intro to Halter, agri-tech providing collar-to-app monitoring of livestock for both animal health and pasture management

• Japan's NTT Startup Challenge 2024 edition opens for applications from across SE Asia

• 'How to access Chinese LLM chatbots across the world' via MIT Tech Review

• "South Korea is too strong a force in military-technology development for AUKUS to overlook. Adding it to the security partnership would also bolster stability in East Asia."

"The PRC’s advancements... in photonic technology aim to revolutionize the nation and military with chips potentially 1000 times faster than their electronic counterparts."

• "The Cook Islands is experiencing a profound digital transformation touching every aspect of the lives of its 20,000 inhabitants on 15 island groups scattered across 2M square miles..."

• Australia: 'State of AI in Australia' survey results are now available from V2 Digital, providing 12 data-driven insights

• Critical & emerging technologies: Global news in June 2024, touching on semiconductors, artificial intelligence, space launch, satellites, quantum and more

• Australia's Nourish Ingredients lands collaboration with Fonterra dairy giant to speed development of products with fats produced via fermentation, boosting non-dairy ingredients

• Japan: Toyota Motor to build an EV battery plant in Kyushu, a region dedicated to electric vehicle-related technologies and overseas firms

• Australia: WA Gov't applications are now open for 10 selected WA startups to attend SXSW Sydney in October

"US exports of semiconductors were worth $52.7 billion in 2023, 6th-highest among US exports, behind only refined oil, crude oil, airlines, natural gas and automobiles." (pdf link)

In wider-world technology news:

» 'Space - The $1.8 trillion opportunity for global economic growth', a report from the World Economic Forum

» The Q3 2024 Guide to Crypto Markets is now available from Coinbase Institutional and Glassnode

» OpenAI unveils prototype of AI-driven SearchGPT, potentially moving into competitive position with Google on Search products

» "Even assuming a future Trump administration did away with the red tape that means seized bitcoins are held in Washington, crypto markets are neither deep nor liquid."

» "In an Argentina national first, a law firm says a regulator let it register a firm whose capital is partially made up of Bitcoin (BTC) and USD Coin (USDC)."