Asia's tech news, weekly: May 23rd 2023
EVs across Asia, TSMC & Germany, China's blockchain ID, Australia's CBDC test, Tesla & semiconductors, Japan & self-drive buses, Thai-Cambodia remittances, Singapore's WhatsApp payments...
• China Nat'l Space Administration to establish organization to oversee and coordinate construction of China-led International Lunar Research Station
• Australian Securities Exchange abandons blockchain tech or distributed ledger tech for revamp of Clearing House system, and now seeks a more conventional solution
• Singapore: Charge+ EV charging provider unveils plans for 5000km EV charging highway spanning 5 countries - Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam
• Taiwan's TSMC and partners, NXP Semiconductor, Bosch, and Infineon, may be planning European chip facility in Germany, budgeting €7BN, with overall investment near €10BN
"...with AWS confirming it intends to invest at least RM25.5 billion [US$5.5BN approx]...by 2037 with the intention of developing Malaysia as a 'cloud region' for data storage and other cloud-based services"
• Japan, Ukraine, Iceland and Ireland formally join NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence in Estonia, gaining cyber-focused knowledge-sharing
• Singapore: WhatsApp and Stripe partner to allow Singapore businesses to accept payments directly within WhatsApp chats
• China: Baidu's experience editing search results to gov't regulations prompts confidence AI-driven Ernie Bot will navigate 'important and sensitive topics'
• Taiwan: Tron Future Tech unveils prototype for low-earth orbit satellite communication with focus on vehicles and autonomous driving
• Australia's Green Gravity energy storage firm to build R&D facility in NSW, utilizing disused mine shafts for gravity-driven energy production, and to feature 'digital twin' for modeling, analysis and refinement
• China: National blockchain research centre launches, with gov't aiming to train 500K professionals and to connect China's existing blockchains under a single network
• Indonesia's GoJek partners Vietnam's Dat Bike to pilot electric motorbikes for transportation, logistics and food delivery needs of Gojek's Vietnam users
• Philippines' BillEase, China's Alipay+ and Agoda: "...recorded more than 26 times increase in 'buy now, pay later' transactions in the travel category in [Q1] 2023, compared to the first quarter of 2022."
"A shift to AI-generated search results will decrease the traffic that Google sends to publishers' sites, as more people get what they need straight from the Google search page instead."
• India: Kerala Startup Mission to launch one-stop ‘Startup Infinity’ centres in US, Europe, UAE and Australia, to aid non-residents and provide in-market launchpad services
• Singapore: LocofyAI raises $4.25M with front-end development acceleration platform using AI to convert web and app designs to functional code
• China: Dongfang Jingyuan Electron semiconductor software firm mulls 2024 China-based IPO; same firm that may have infringed on Netherlands' ASML IP and whose chairman faces arrest in the US
• Tesla CEO Musk and execs from Korea’s Samsung met at Samsung Semiconductor's US R&D Labs, discussing future cooperation in autonomous driving and semicon production
• China: Xiaoice, AI chatbot brand formerly run by Microsoft, opens applications for 300 individuals to be 'digitally cloned' in AI trial, with clones to be operational in July
• Australia: Arula gains $2.2M with Earth Observatory data platform, featuring satellite image archive and API allowing users to search and order data from free and commercial satellites
• Japan: Estonia's Auve partnered by SoftBank's Boldly for MiCa self-driving buses, focusing on serving rapidly-aging communities
• Malaysia: Mastercard Data and Services Hub announced for Kuala Lumpur with Asia Pacific-wide focus
Decentralized finance: "DeFi has no answer to the simple question: what happens if something goes wrong?"
• China: Nio EV firm reportedly invests in nuclear fusion tech company, now named Neo Fusion, with 50% control for gov’t-owned energy firms and investment arms
• Australia: Queensland's White Graphene wins recent Sustainability in Space Pitch Challenge, with Boeing to invest up to $100K in the firm's nanomaterials concept
• Singapore: TikTok launches free 3-week intensive technical bootcamp for tertiary students, aiming to train 5000 students over 5 years
• Lithuania's Leafood and Taiwan's YesHealth Group launch Europe's largest vertical farm, 4K square meters of growing area in 7K square meters of farm space
• Hong Kong: Liminal digital wallet infrastructure and asset custodial services firm gains TCSP Licence from HK Companies Registry, confirming regulatory compliance
• China Telecom and Conflux Network public blockchain unveil Blockchain SIM mobile user identification card
• Grab Philippines fined $160K by Philippine Competition Commission due to ride-hail giant failing to refund consumers in full more than 3 years after ruling
• Thailand's 2C2P payments platform partners Cambodia's AMK Microfinance Institution solutions provider to expand easy2send remittances between Thailand and Cambodia
AI won't affect you? "The sites included a health information portal that NewsGuard said published more than 50 AI-generated articles offering medical advice."
• Applications for Taiwan's Tech Innovation Excellence Awards close May 31 globally, offering prize money and Taiwan Tech Arena, Semiconductor Research Institute membership
• Australia: RBA and Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre complete first successful CBDC transfer in pilot program, trading the eAUD to the USDC stablecoin
• Former Apple engineer charged with theft of confidential self-drive tech, believed to have accepted offer from Baidu-owned EV firm developing similar tech 4 months before leaving Apple
• India: Writesonic AI-driven writing assistant firm, launches Botsonic no-code AI chatbot builder running GPT-4, aiming to help businesses train ChatGPT on their own website data for better customer service
• Australia: TikTok expands controversial trial of gambling-focused ad partnerships
• 7 startups partnered by Visa Accelerator Program, focusing on Asia Pacific payments
• Philippines: An intro to Tekkon, Pokemon Go-like app using crowdsourcing to gamify public utilities repair, with crypto incentivizing users to monitor infrastructure
• Australia: Purple Hive Project trials AI-backed beehive at North Queensland cargo port, using high-def cameras and AI analysis to spot parasites
China: Cyberspace Admin rules Micron US chip-maker presents 'security risks caused by hidden product problems', instructing critical info infrastructure firms to cease using Micron products
• China: A snapshot overview of 5 of the country's highest-performing electric car firms - BYD, Nio, Wuling, Xpeng and Zeekr
• Philippines: Angkas ride-hailer's Motorcycle Nanopreneur Digital Jobs Platform aims to turn 18M owners into SMEs, in part making earning easier for the unbanked
• Japan: Panasonic partners Marubeni group to supply businesses with electric commercial vehicles and recharging, seeing opportunity in electrification of logistics
• Singapore: An intro to Insectta, 'mining' soldier fly larvae not for cattle feed but for higher-value functional ingredients, melanin and chitosan
In other news…
» US state of Montana bans use of TikTok, with US$10K fines for entities permitting app download, citing need to protect 'personal and private data from being harvested by the Chinese Communist party'
» IBM unveils new AI and data platform, IBM watsonx, providing access to toolsets, infrastructure, resources to create models or adjust based on customers' own data
» IBM and Google pledge $150M support for quantum computing research at Uni of Chicago and Uni of Tokyo; Google also providing hardware access
» Amazon may launch highly-anticipated NFT marketplace by month-end, likely to let collectors pay with fiat via credit card and requiring only self-custody wallet or an Amazon account
» UK Treasury Committee propose ruling that crypto speculation 'more closely resembles gambling than a financial service', with crypto holding 'no intrinsic value and no useful social purpose'
» The proposed digital Euro - a solution in search of a problem?
» Coach fashion chain partners Zero10 for AR installation allowing window shoppers to ’try on’ items and accessories without entering the store
» The United Kingdom unveils its National Semiconductor Strategy, aiming to grow the sector, increase resilience and protect national security
"Since 2021, Russia and Iran have undertaken extensive cybersecurity cooperation...in late March, Moscow delivered a substantial upgrade to the Islamic regime's digital arsenal."
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