Asia's Tech News, Weekly: March 15th 2025

South Korea's AI moves, RISC-V chips in China, biological computing in Australia, Asia-Pacific data centers, fusion energy in Japan, Malaysia's EVs gain ground, Thailand SEC approves stablecoins...

Mar 15, 2025

• South Korea is to establish a $34BN policy fund to support companies in strategic technologies, alongside new policies to attract cutting-edge industry talent / full item

• China: Researchers have developed a prototype for a nuclear battery encased in silicon carbide semiconductor material, with a theoretical operational lifespan of thousands of years / full item

• Japan: An intro to Kyoto Fusioneering, a Kyoto University startup working on maximising fuel use in the relatively inefficient fusion energy space / full item

• Malaysia: An overview of Selangor's role in the country's tech moves, and the opportunities generated by its Integrated Circuit Design Park / full item

• China: Alibaba launches its first server-grade RISC-V processor, the C930, designed for high-performance computing and positioning as an alternative to Intel Xeon and AMD CPUs / full item

• Taiwan launches 'Best AI Awards 2025' with a grand prize of NT$1M, aiming to attract global artificial intelligence and integrated circuit design talent / full item

Asia-Pacific data centers: "Property consultant Cushman & Wakefield has estimated that $116 billion will be needed to build out the region's data center pipeline in the next five to seven years..." / full item

• China National Space Administration opens 2028 Tianwen-3 Mars mission to international cooperation and participation / full item

• Australia: Cortical Labs unveils world-first commercial 'biological computer', combining lab-cultivated neurons from human stem cells with silicon / full item

• South Korea: Seoul city unveils strategy to grow the city's AI industry, aiming to train 10,000 AI professionals annually, alongside establishing a learn-live-work hub / full item

• India: Tech Mahindra IT services major rolls out a telco-focused LLM, targeting analysis of a range of data types, and scales, to aid firms with diagnostics and efficiency / full item

• South Korea: Democratic Party floats strategic Bitcoin reserve plans as election looms / full item

• China: Schools in Beijing will introduce AI courses, and teaching, into the primary and secondary school curriculum from September, looking to build future growth in the AI sector / full item

• National Bank of Cambodia and China's UnionPay International launch phase 2 cross-border payments, now enabling Cambodians to make payments via QR codes in China and other countries / full item

ISEAS: Youth and Civic Engagement in Southeast Asia

• Australia's Optera Solutions fabless semiconductor firm has been selected to join the Thales Space Business Catalyst Program in France, with 'event-based' optical sensors / full item

• South Korea: In February, Ministry of SMEs & Startups launched the 'AI Core Areas and Promising AI Transition Startup Development Program', sharpening focus on high-value AI firms / full item

• Monetary Authority of Singapore and State Bank of Vietnam expand MoU to boost cooperation on digital innovation projects and payment connectivity, and to support fintech operations / full item

• Malaysian electric vehicles are gaining ground in their home market as local carmakers Proton Holdings and Perodua challenge top-sellers BYD and Tesla with more affordable models. / full item

• Japan: Rapidus semiconductor firm is reportedly struggling to secure orders, with questions raised around capacity beyond core semicon production / full item

• Taiwan's Hon Hai, aka Foxconn, launched its first traditional Chinese version of an AI LLM, with NVIDIA participating, to boost data analysis capabilities for future key technologies / full item

“...the Long March 8 rocket now has a dedicated new launch site, laying the foundation for a high-frequency launch schedule this year. It also means that the Long March 8 has officially entered the market, offering customers fast, efficient, and high-quality launch services..." / full item

• China plans to prohibit non-state companies from mining rare earths, further tightening its control over a strategic sector that has emerged as a battleground in its trade war with the US / full item

• Thailand Securities & Exchange Commission approves USD Coin and Tether stablecoins - USDC and USDT - for cryptocurrency trading on the country's exchanges / full item

• India's Jio Platforms partners AMD, Cisco and Nokia to develop telecom-industry AI platform / full item

• China: Government-backed 'national venture capital guidance fund' is to be established, mobilizing $138BN to boost technology firms in strategically-significant fields / full item

• Japan: Marubeni conglomerate and Singapore's Hexa Renewables ink strategic partnership to co-develop up to 100 MW of solar energy projects for deployment across Japan / full item

• Vietnam: Orochi Network cryptography firm raises $12M to develop verifiable data infrastructure, aiming to boost data integrity in web3 applications / full item

• Singapore: Agros lands $4.25M Series A with solar-powered irrigation solutions, particularly focusing on smallhold farmers / full item

• Hong Kong: MooneyBird real estate tech firm rolls out HK's first Cantonese AI Voice Concierge for real estate / full item

• Vietnam: SmartSolar energy tech firm raised $1.85M seed funding with rooftop solar deployments for SMEs / full item

• Australia: An intro to Mindflight7, using virtual reality to upgrade the way students learn / full item

• Grow Asia launches Innovation Challenge 2025 to drive agri-tech solutions for smallholder producers of coconut, cacao, and coffee in SEA, with a particular focus on The Philippines / full item

• Papua New Guinea: UN Office for Projects Services opens tender for solar and battery storage mini-grid in PNG, with application deadline set for March 24th / full item

Y-Combinator's latest cohort: "A quarter of the W25 startup batch have 95% of their codebases generated by AI..." / full item

• 6 Australian startups that between them raised Au$56.7M in the week to March 7th, working in marketing tech, satellites, AI services and more / full item

• New Zealand: An overview of the growth, success, and economic impact of the GridAKL Innovation Hub in Auckland / full item

• Download: 'Fintech Associations - Global Approaches and Good Practices Study', the findings of an online survey of 65 industry associations in 48 jurisdictions, with in-depth interviews / full item

• Download: 'How Stablecoins Are Extending U.S. Dollar Dominance - A Policymaker's Guide to Action' from The Digital Chamber / full item

• Download: 'Impact of Distributed Ledger Technology in Global Capital Markets' from BCG and partners (pdf link) / full item

• Online now: Pulse of Fintech H2 2024, from KPMG / full item

In wider-world technology news:

» Dutch semiconductor machinery giant, ASML, is to upgrade a reuse-and-repair centre in Beijing, despite growing US-China tech tensions / full item

» Bolivia's crisis-hit government has granted state-run oil company, YPFB, permission to use cryptocurrency to buy oil and gas products from overseas vendors / full item

» Meta is reportedly now testing its first in-house chip for training artificial intelligence systems, part of Meta's plan to reduce reliance on external suppliers / full item

» United Airlines has installed Starlink on its first regional aircraft, and expects to outfit 40 regional aircraft each month from May to year-end 2025 / full item