Asia's Tech News, Weekly: October 2nd 2024

Japan's supercomputer bid, Philippines' battery-tech, Singapore's personal data, India's Project Indus AI, Cambodia agri-tech, Karnakata space goals, Vietnam & SpaceX...

Oct 03, 2024

• China Telecom has trained LLMs using domestic-only AI chips - most likely Huawei Ascend chips - with one model reportedly using 1 trillion parameters / full item

• India: Tech Mahindra looks to 2nd release of Project Indus LLM, working with NVIDIA to process multiple Indic languages and dialects with a focus on Hindi's 37+ variations / full item

• Japan: Fujitsu and Riken are preparing for construction of Fugaku Next 'zeta-class' supercomputer, set to be 1000 times faster than today’s most advanced, at a cost of over $750M / full item

• South Korea: Samsung Electro-Mechanics unveils world's first ultra-small all-solid-state battery for wearable devices, targeting 2026 production / full item

• GITEX Asia is set for Singapore in April 2025, gathering over 1000 firms & startups, more than 250 investors & VCs, and thousands of potential buyers / full item

"Central & Southern Asia and Oceania is the 3rd-largest crypto region... accounting for more than $750 billion in crypto asset inflows between July 2023 and June 2024..." / full item

• Philippines: StB Giga Factory Inc launches to produce advanced lithium iron phosphate batteries, with plans to export 70% of output / full item

• India: AdOnMo ad-tech raised $25M with network of 50K cloud-connected digital screens, targeting growth to 100K hyperlocal advertising screens across 40 cities / full item

• Singapore's Princeton Digital Group data centers firm acquires powered land for 500MW capacity expansion, adding new facilities in India, Malaysia and Indonesia / full item

• India's Bharat Web3 Ass'n inks agreements with Australia' Digital Economy Council and Asosiasi Blockchain Indonesia for collaboration, standards development and more / full item

• Personal Data Protection Commission required all organizations in Singapore to have registered Data Protection Officer details by the end of September / full item

HSBC: Asset tokenization in the Quantum Age

• China: Xpeng EV maker rolls out first of new S5 supercharger, liquid-cooled and claiming capability to deliver up to one kilometre of range charge in one second / full item

• India: IG Drones secures $1M with focus on AI-backed drone tech for defense, with sights on an additional $3M fund-raise in the next 6 months / full item

• Cambodia: An intro to GrubFeeds agri-tech, turning organic waste into sustainable animal feed using black soldier flies, cutting methane emissions in the process / full item

• India: Tata Group continues global semiconductor supply chain bid with subsidiary semicon plant in Kerala, in partnership with Taiwan's PSMC / full item

• 12 South Korean SaaS firms selected for Dubai's Expand North Star event, and opportunities in the UAE cloud computing space / full item

"Based on IDC estimates, the total digital economy of SEAKJ [South East Asia, Korea & Japan] is set to grow from $501.7 billion in 2022 to $914.9 billion in 2027E, a jump of 82% in 5 years." / full item

• Japan: An intro to Emulsion Flow Technologies, producing modular units to scale recycling of rare earth metals and critical minerals / full item

• China: Tianwen-2 prep is underway for 2.5 year sampling mission from a near-Earth asteroid, launching 2025 and later 'slingshotting' to a second asteroid / full item

• India: Karnakata state to set space policy, developing a space technologies Centre of Excellence with sights on services for 10% of the global industry / full item

• PayPal Complete Payments platform is set to launch in China, providing international cross-border payments to merchants. / full item

• Thailand's Siam Commercial Bank and Thunes global payments company partner for international cross-border payments and remittances / full item

• Japan: Financial Services Agency reportedly to reform Payment Services Act crypto-relevant gaming laws to make it easier for businesses to handle digital assets / full item

• Philippines startups set to gain with SEA-focused VC firm, TNB Aura, planning to invest around $30M over 3 years in promising firms / full item

• India: Tata Electronics is to hire 20,000 more employees at Hosur iPhone assembly plant, doubling the workforce to tap into Apple’s aims to boost India manufacturing / full item

• China: Huawei and Chery Automobile add to Tesla Model Y competition with release of Luxeed R7 all-electric coupe SUV, running on HarmonyOS operating system / full item

• SpaceX has proposed a $1.5BN investment to bring Starlink to Vietnam / full item

"Shrinking our presence in the global semiconductor value chain has allowed us to sidestep the perceived risk of trying to compete with global semiconductor superpowers, but with it we lose opportunity." / full item

• Malaysia's OMS undersea cabling firm sets $300M for new ASEAN-focused cable systems and acquisitions, responding to demand for data centers and cloud computing / full item

• Australia's AMSL Aero's Vertiia, a hydrogen-powered vertical takeoff and landing vehicle claiming the world's-longest VTOL range of 621 miles / full item

• India: Tata Electronics and Taiwan's PSMC ink agreement for major semiconductor manufacturing facility in Gujarat, with investment projected at $11BN / full item

• Japan: In April, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Tech rolled out 'metaverse student' option, allowing 'school refusers' to attend and graduate / full item

• India: Taiwan's Foxconn is mulling construction of a $1BN smartphone display modules assembly facility in Tamil Nadu, with operating model side-stepping China components / full item

• Online now: Lowy Institute 2024 Asia Power Index Key Findings report "When it comes to India’s economic influence in Asia, however, the picture is more mixed..." / full item

• Canada's Pangaea Ventures VC firm sharpens Asia focus with Japan office, targeting deeptech startups with new $85M fund / full item

• Cambodia: "Digital technology can boost agricultural productivity and alleviate poverty, but Internet connectivity in rural areas hinders enterprise..." / full item

• Philippines: "Agri-Tech startup SariSuki has partnered with Super8 retail grocery to sell locally-procured farm produce... at a price that is 40% lower that prevailing supermarket prices." / full item

• Japan: Tokyo Stock Exchange announces the first batch of tech firms to be supported by TSE Asia Startup Hub, focusing on promising Asian companies with ties to Japan / full item

"The buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) feature is near-ubiquitous in e-commerce. But its rapid growth is powering a gray market of peer-to-peer loans, also known as cash-outs, in SE Asia." / full item

• Indonesia: Broom auto-focused firm has secured $25M with digitization of Indonesia's auto dealerships and used cars sector / full item

• Australia's Metaphor Foods partners Israel's Kinoko-Tech to commercialise mycelium protein products, including sausages, flapjacks, chips and snacks / full item

• Taiwan: Beyond 5G low-Earth orbit satellite program is potentially facing setbacks with low payload performance and project timeline delays / full item

• Vietnam is to produce Meta virtual reality headsets from 2025, creating 1000 jobs / full item

• Pakistan's Qist Bazaar buy-now-pay-later firm gains $3.2M Series A, offering product-based loans to the unbanked and underbanked. / full item

• Australia: Kickstarter Challenge Grand Final 2024 is set for October 9th in Parliament House in Canberra, featuring 5 female-led firms in a Shark Tank-style competition / full item

• "Worldwide spending on semiconductor equipment is expected to grow 24 percent to $123 billion in 2025..." / full item

• New Zealand: Startup Queenstown Lakes and Techstars prep for November edition of Startup Weekend / full item

• Bain & Company: "As growth in domestic markets slows, Asian companies must expand internationally to keep thriving. Here are several approaches to success..." / full item

• 'Scaling Investment in EV Charging - A Policy Roadmap for Cities': "An electric ride-share car can yield emissions savings four times higher than a private electric car..." / full item

• China Manned Space Agency unveils extravehicular lunar suit to be used in the country’s future crewed lunar landing missions. / full item

• Download: 'Web3 - A new era for social commerce', from Onyx by JPMorgan / full item

"India-based IC design startup L&T Semiconductor Technologies revealed it's developing 15 products, which will be mass-produced in two years..." / full item

In wider-world technology news:

» Qualcomm, Aramco and Saudi Arabia's R&D and Innovation Authority are preparing the Design In Saudi Arabia incubator program for early-stage tech startups / full item

» Oklo nuclear energy startup backed by OpenAI gains US Dept of Energy agreement for first small, modular commercial microreactor in Idaho / full item

» Meta and Dubai Future Foundation launch cohort 1 of Llama Design Drive, an AI accelerator targeting corporates and startups across the Middle East and North Africa / full item

» Finland's Distance Technologies raised $11.1M, aiming to add mixed-reality tech to any car windshield or 'plane cockpit, with backers including Google Ventures / full item

» OpenAI reportedly pitched US Gov't on building massive 5GW data centers across the country, citing economic and national security, AI leadership, jobs and more as benefits / full item

» IBM Quantum Data Center expands with highest number of utility-scale quantum computers at a single location in the world, offered to clients via IBM cloud services / full item

» Visa unveils Visa Tokenized Asset Platform to help banks issue fiat-backed tokens powered by smart contracts on the Ethereum network, with Spain's BBVA set for 2025 trial / full item

» Earlier this year, the Quantum Delta NL consortium of the Port of Rotterdam Authority secured a world-first scalable quantum internet connection in the port of Rotterdam / full item

» Download: 'Quantum for Society - Meeting the Ambition of the SDGs', looking at quantum technologies in the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals / full item

» Download: 'Technology Report 2024' from Bain & Company, focusing particularly on artificial intelligence. / full item

» Mobile crypto mining rigs found in Russian republic of Dagestan, sited underground to avoid detection, with energy stolen from power grids. / full item

"And yet, weeks before the US presidential election, [Google] is putting an elections deepfake machine in the pockets of anyone willing to splurge on its Pixel 9 phone." / full item