Asia's Tech News, Weekly: October 26th 2024
Australian lithium, TSMC & Huawei, Thai-China space launch, DPRK Linux hack, Starlink & Myanmar, Johor datacenters, Indonesia vs Temu, Apple & ChinaMobile, Malaysia VC, Philippines-EU space-data...
• Australia's Ioneer gains US federal permit for Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron mine, potentially supplying lithium for 370K EVs a year and quadrupling US production / full item
• Singapore: DBS Bank rolls out DBS Token Services to further grow blockchain options for institutional clients, integrating smart contract capabilities with existing services / full item
• Thailand: Prime Minister invites China to build a satellite launch base for providing 6G technology in Thailand / full item
• Malaysia: A quick overview of the tech-focused elements of the country's 2024 Budget, seeing investments in AI, cybersecurity, talent development and smart city tech / full item
• "TSMC halted shipments to the client around mid-October after it realised semiconductors fabricated for that entity had found their way into Huawei products..." / full item
"Starlink, which is not yet licensed in Myanmar, is in high demand... There may be more than 3,000 Starlink dishes in use in the country..." / full item
• Malaysia: Johor State is projected to attract $4.9BN in new data center investments in 2024, offering cost benefits over neighbouring Singapore / full item
• China: Deep Blue Aerospace offers first 2 tickets for seats on a vehicle taking passengers into space in 2027, priced around $210K and with plans for more ticket sales in November / full item
• Australia: An intro to Novalith, producing battery-grade lithium faster, cheaper and greener / full item
• Hong Kong: 27 arrested in $46.35M crypto investment scam raid, with scam and fraud cases accounting for 43.9% of all crime reported in the city in H1 2024 / full item
• China's Lenovo Group to partner Meta and NVIDIA to boost its AI offerings in markets outside China, alongside implementing Meta's Llama LLM for PC chatbots / full item
• North Korean hackers found using new Linux-focused FASTCash malware to attack ATMs and card transactions at both retail and regional interbank payment processor levels / full item
• China Aerospace Science & Technology Corporation launches 2nd group of 18 satellites for 14,000-sat 'Thousand Sails' mega-constellation, aka 'G60 Starlink' / full item
• Indonesia: Government orders Apple and Google to remove Temu e-commerce app from app stores, alongside plans for similar block on Shein, citing MSME protections / full item
• Malaysia's GHL online payments firm and Japan's JCB International ink strategic partnership, opening JCB Cards payments to GHL merchants in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines / full item
• Women in GovTech nominations are now open for submissions, seeking 50 women in government technology from around the world / full item
• Malaysia: Sarawak unveils ambitious plans for electricity supply, including submarine cable to supply Singapore and peninsular Malaysia, and potentially wider ASEAN states / full item
• Apple Music inks partnership deal with China Mobile, hoping to monetize China Mobile's more-than-1BN subscribers with app- and retail-based subscription offerings / full item
"The Philippines is betting that its low costs and ample workforce could help attract [global semiconductor] manufacturers. Talent shortage is one of the main challenges for global chipmakers..." / full item
• Taiwan's TSMC reportedly achieves 4% higher yields at its first US plant in Arizona, at this point surpassing Taiwan facility yields / full item
• Malaysia: Khazanah sovereign wealth fund is to launch Emerging Fund Managers’ Program and Regional Fund Managers’ Initiative under National Fund-of-Funds to boost the country’s VC space / full item
• China's Huawei and Saudi Arabia's Alinma Bank, a Shariah-compliant banking and financial services institution, partner for digital infrastructure growth, and possible cloud banking / full item
• India: Kerala Startup Mission partners with and invests $1.8M in Transition VC fund, looking to accelerate clean energy and decarbonisation startups / full item
• Thailand sets sights on esports, gaming and animation sectors to boost tech goals, with infrastructure including Digital Edutainment Complex in Thailand Digital Valley / full item
• China: Alibaba invests in Robot Era, aka Xingdong Jiyuan, in $42M Pre-A round, looking at further development of humanoid robots and 'embodied intelligence' technologies / full item
• China: Fifth Gaofen-12 satellite enters orbit for China's Earth observation system, with stated focus areas including land surveys, urban planning and road network design / full item
• Philippine Space Agency, the European Union, and PH Department of Science & Technology launch CopPhil Centre, infrastructure program and satellite data mirror site / full item
• Hong Kong: Civil service ban on messaging and cloud services on work computers deepens to include WhatsApp, WeChat and Google Drive due to 'severe internet safety risks' / full item
• India: IndiGo, the country's largest airline, gains regulator approval for IndiGo Ventures venture capital fund, with sights on pre-A, A and B Series tech and aviation investments / full item
• Indonesia's gov't-owned Battery Corp and China's CATL battery-tech giant enter $1.2BN battery production JV, adding to Indonesia's recent Hyundai and LG deals / full item
• Download: 'The Mobile Economy Asia Pacific 2024' report from GSMA is available. / full item
Taiwan '...ranks first in the world in AI hardware, but 26th in software, behind neighbouring Singapore (third) and South Korea (sixth).' / full item
• The TSMC-NVIDIA 30-year collaboration is reportedly under strain, following repeated test failures of new NVIDIA Blackwell semiconductor series / full item
• New Zealand: Grandmother scammed out of $224K using an AI-generated deepfake ad posted on Facebook, featuring the NZ Prime Minister encouraging crypto investment / full item
• Binance crypto exchange has expanded reach in West and Central Africa, integrating mobile money payments for cryptocurrency purchases in 6 countries / full item
• Philippines: Ayala Corp is to sell 50% of shares in Mynt, parent of GCash - and JV between China's Ant Group, Philippines' Globe Telecom and Ayala - to Japan's Mitsubishi in $318M deal / full item
• More semiconductor and chip-manufacture exports to China face restrictions, including NVIDIA A800 and H800, with impacts likely on those sold by Intel and AMD / full item
• "Hong Kong’s Cyberport is undeniably the epicenter of the city’s tech innovation. As of this year, roughly 2,000 companies and startups call Cyberport home..." / full item
• China: AutowiseAI gains license for unmanned road cleaning vehicles in Hangzhou, using LiDAR, machine vision, vehicle-to-cloud tech and more / full item
• Japan: Researchers complete early test, capturing solar energy in space for conversion and transmission to ground stations on Earth / full item
• Download: 'Securing the cloud, 2024 APAC Edition', an October trend report from SUSE open-source software firm looking at cloud security challenges in the AI era / full item
• Vietnam's FPT tech giant and National University of Singapore partner on $50M investment in artificial intelligence research and related talent development / full item
• China: Sales of Apple iPhone 16 are up 20% in their first three weeks compared with 2023's iPhone 15 model, tho local rivals are set for end-of-year challenger product releases / full item
• New Zealand: Google claims it will stop linking to local news items, and ditch agreements with NZ news firms, if gov't enacts law forcing big tech to remunerate for content / full item
"Taiwan is 'very open' to using new nuclear technology to meet surging demand from chipmakers devouring electricity in the AI boom, according to Premier Cho Jung-tai..." / full item
• Japan: Logistics and shipbuilding firms, and government and political organizations, were hit by a Russia-based distributed denial-of-service cyber-attack earlier in October / full item
• South Korean media points to crypto trading as reason for young people defaulting on loans from neobanks / full item
• Australia: ISACA Canberra Conference 2024 is set for November 1st, featuring the SheLeadsTech Breakfast for female information and systems professionals / full item
• Singapore: OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, is to open its second Asia office in Singapore, to focus on region-relevant languages, culture and national programmes / full item
• From Finextra: 'The Future of Payments 2025 - Digital, Instant, Profitable?' / full item
• Philippines: A brief overview of the blockchain-based startups incubated by Block Dojo PH, working on solutions in fitness, mental health, pet care and more / full item
• “13 car manufacturers and groups have been scrutinized by the Amnesty NGO for compliance with international standards of vigilance in human rights for...raw materials for their batteries...” / full item
"...supply chain risk intelligence firms... have had no trouble signing up customers... Interos inked large contracts with the Defense Department and Canada’s Coast Guard and Royal Navy..." / full item
In wider-world technology news:
» Download: 'Risks On The Horizon', a European Commission Joint Research Centre examination of emerging risks across a range of domains / full item
» France appointed the world's first AI-focused minister-level position with Secretary of State for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Affairs, drawn from La French Tech / full item
» Abu Dhabi Technology Innovation Institute and UAE Space Agency partner for quantum infrastructure for ground-space communications / full item
» 3D printed artificial reefs to provide a lifeline for fragile reef and coral ecosystems / full item
» Stripe payments giant is to buy Bridge, a stablecoin infrastructure startup, in a deal valued at $1.1BN / full item
» Arm chip licensing firm issues notice that may terminate Qualcomm license to use Arm chip design IP, potentially impacting any Qualcomm-linked smartphone or PC / full item
AI & social impact: "2 in 5 (40%) teens report using generative AI for school assignments, with a nearly even split between those who use gen AI with their teacher's permission and those who do not." / full item
And here's the link to the October 26th edition of the newsletter published over on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/asias-tech-news-weekly-october-26th-2024-startup-news-asia-7h7ic/
This is, incidentally, the 120th edition of the weekly Startup News Asia newsletter, now representing more than 2 years' worth of weekly coverage of Asia's technology scene - for past LinkedIn editions, check the Archives:
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/sna-asia-s-tech-news-6940166562133749760/