News/Asia
OpenAI partners with Kakao to create AI products for South Korea
OpenAI and Kakao have announced plans to collaborate on developing artificial intelligence products specifically for the South Korean market, with Kakao set to integrate OpenAI's technology into its existing services. Partnership details: The strategic alliance between ChatGPT creator OpenAI and South Korea's leading chat application operator Kakao represents a significant move to develop AI solutions tailored for the Korean market. The announcement was made jointly by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Kakao CEO Chung Shina during a press event in Seoul Kakao will incorporate OpenAI's technology into its product portfolio, though specific details about the implementation were not disclosed Strategic...
read Feb 1, 2025India aims to build its own ChatGPT-like AI models within 10 months
India plans to develop its own ChatGPT-like AI models tailored for its population within 10 months, as announced by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at an Indian AI Mission event in New Delhi. Project Overview: The Indian government is establishing a comprehensive artificial intelligence ecosystem that aims to create foundational AI models specifically designed for Indian users and their unique linguistic and cultural needs. Researchers have been developing the framework for this AI ecosystem over the past 18 months The project focuses on eliminating biases and promoting inclusivity in AI systems Multiple foundational models are expected to be completed within 8-10...
read Jan 31, 2025Taiwan bans its government departments from using DeepSeek
Taiwan has banned government departments from using DeepSeek's artificial intelligence service, citing security risks associated with the Chinese startup's cross-border data handling practices. Key policy announcement: The Taiwan Ministry of Digital Affairs has issued a directive prohibiting government departments from utilizing DeepSeek's AI services due to national security concerns. The ministry specifically highlighted risks related to cross-border data transmission and potential information leakage Officials emphasized that DeepSeek's status as a Chinese product raises particular security concerns given the geopolitical context The ministry indicated it will continue monitoring technological developments and adjust security policies as needed Geopolitical context: Taiwan's decision reflects...
read Jan 30, 2025Rakuten unveils GenAI service for Japanese market
Rakuten Mobile introduces a new business-focused generative AI service tailored for Japanese corporate customers, while revealing that only 16% of Japanese SMEs currently utilize AI technology. Key features of the new platform: Rakuten AI for Business delivers document creation, translation, brainstorming, analysis, and research capabilities through a chat interface specifically optimized for Japanese business culture and regulations. The service offers immediate browser-based access on PCs and smartphones without requiring system setup Users can manage confidential information by blocking restricted words from being sent to the AI model The platform includes customizable prompt templates and a Retrieval-Augmented Generation function for accessing...
read Jan 30, 2025This Nepalese AI startup is helping major American companies close their biggest sales
Global AI startup SecurityPal, headquartered in Nepal, has emerged as a key player in helping major tech companies like OpenAI, Figma, and Airtable efficiently manage security compliance questionnaires for their enterprise sales processes. The business need: Security questionnaires are a critical but time-consuming requirement for enterprise software sales, often involving hundreds of questions about data privacy, infrastructure security, and compliance measures. Companies like OpenAI typically dedicate multiple staff members to handle these questionnaires Sales engineers at companies like Grammarly previously spent significant time processing 10-12 questionnaires monthly Without completing these assessments, large enterprises cannot proceed with software purchases due to...
read Jan 28, 2025DeepSeek tech selloff extends to Japanese stocks
Japanese technology shares experienced a sharp decline following the debut of DeepSeek, a low-cost Chinese AI model that has triggered concerns about AI technology valuations and market competition. Market impact: The emergence of DeepSeek sparked a significant selloff in technology stocks across global markets, with particular intensity in AI-related companies. Nvidia saw its shares plunge 17% on Monday, resulting in a staggering $593 billion reduction in market value The Philadelphia semiconductor index recorded its steepest decline since March 2020, dropping 9.2% Japanese tech firms, including Advantest, Tokyo Electron, and SoftBank Group, faced substantial losses during Tuesday trading DeepSeek's disruption: The...
read Jan 28, 2025Indosat partners with AIonoS to boost Indonesia’s AI ecosystem
Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison and AIonOS have formed a strategic partnership to implement artificial intelligence solutions across Indonesia's digital ecosystem, focusing on food security, talent development, and tourism sectors. Partnership Overview: The collaboration, known as AI Cube (AI³), represents the first major AI initiative between India and Indonesia under a Government-to-Government framework. The agreement was formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on January 27, 2025 AIonOS, a joint venture between InterGlobe and Assago Group, will work with Indosat, Indonesia's leading telecom provider The partnership aligns with Indonesia's Golden Vision 2045 strategic goals for enhancing global competitiveness Key Focus Areas:...
read Jan 24, 2025Billionaire Mukesh Ambani to build world’s largest data center in India
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Group has begun construction on what could become the world's largest data center by capacity in India, positioning the company to compete in the rapidly growing artificial intelligence services market. Project scope and significance; The ambitious data center project represents a major infrastructure investment by India's largest company, aiming to establish unprecedented data processing capacity in the region. The facility, once completed, is projected to surpass current global leaders in terms of data storage and processing capabilities The project aligns with India's growing role as a major technology hub and its increasing demand for advanced computing infrastructure...
read Jan 22, 2025Japanese firms will struggle to follow SoftBank in going all-in with Trump’s AI plans
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son's recent meetings with Donald Trump demonstrate a bold strategy of large investment announcements in U.S. artificial intelligence initiatives, setting a precedent that may be difficult for other Japanese companies to follow. The big picture: SoftBank's approach of making ambitious investment pledges, including a $100 billion U.S. investment commitment and a $500 billion AI infrastructure venture called Stargate with OpenAI and Oracle, represents a distinct departure from traditional Japanese corporate practices. Son has met with Trump twice since the November presidential election, positioning SoftBank as a key ally in U.S. technology development The Stargate venture's specific funding...
read Jan 16, 2025Taiwan to be exempted from US curbs on AI chip exports
Taiwan has secured unrestricted access to U.S. artificial intelligence technology under new export control measures, marking its status as a trusted technology partner. Key policy update; The United States has implemented stricter controls on AI chip exports while granting Taiwan "tier one" partner status with unlimited access to American AI technology. The new U.S. regulations limit AI chip exports to most countries while maintaining complete restrictions on China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea Taiwan joins a select group of trusted U.S. allies receiving preferential access to advanced AI technology These measures represent an expansion of existing U.S. export controls on...
read Jan 16, 2025MiniMax releases new open-source LLM with 4M token context window
MiniMax, a Singaporean AI company, has released and open-sourced a new family of AI models featuring an unprecedented 4-million token context window, doubling the previous industry record. Key innovation: MiniMax's new language model series introduces groundbreaking context handling capabilities that allow it to process the equivalent of a small library's worth of text in a single exchange. The MiniMax-01 series includes both a foundation large language model (MiniMax-Text-01) and a visual multi-modal model (MiniMax-VL-01) The models are now available through Hugging Face, Github, Hailuo AI Chat, and MiniMax's API Pricing is highly competitive at $0.2 per million input tokens and...
read Jan 16, 2025Adobe, General Assembly announce AI skills program to train millions in India
Adobe and General Assembly have announced the launch of their Creative Skills Academy in India, starting February 25, 2025, as part of a global initiative to train 30 million learners in AI skills by 2030. Program Overview: The Creative Skills Academy in India represents a significant expansion of Adobe Digital Academy's global training initiatives, offering free virtual training in AI-powered marketing skills. The program will provide hands-on experience with tools like Adobe Express Participants will receive career coaching, personal branding guidance, and portfolio development support through General Assembly Training is fully sponsored by Adobe and offered at no cost to...
read Jan 10, 2025Microsoft expands partnerships to advance AI infrastructure in India
Microsoft has announced significant AI partnerships with major Indian organizations and government entities, backed by a $3 billion investment in cloud and AI infrastructure over the next two years. The big picture: Microsoft's strategic partnerships aim to accelerate AI adoption across India's public sector, healthcare, financial services, automotive, and education industries, responding to the country's rapidly growing AI utilization rate of 72% in 2024. The initiative involves collaborations with RailTel, Apollo Hospitals, Bajaj Finserv, Mahindra Group, and upGrad These partnerships focus on developing AI solutions, establishing centers of excellence, and implementing workforce training programs Microsoft plans to establish new data...
read Jan 7, 2025Microsoft plans $3 billion AI and cloud investment in India
Microsoft announced a $3 billion investment in India over the next two years to advance artificial intelligence infrastructure, cloud computing capabilities, and workforce development initiatives. Investment Overview: Microsoft's strategic investment aims to transform India into an AI-first nation while supporting the country's goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047. The investment includes expanding data center infrastructure, launching comprehensive skilling programs, and providing support for the startup ecosystem CEO Satya Nadella emphasized India's emerging role as a leader in AI innovation The funding will be deployed over a two-year period, focusing on building scalable AI computing infrastructure AI Workforce Development:...
read Jan 6, 2025Digital Edge raises $1.6B for APAC data center growth
Digital Edge, a Singapore-based data center company, has secured over $1.6 billion in funding to expand its operations across Asia-Pacific markets. The funding breakdown: Digital Edge's capital raise combines $640 million in equity investments and $1 billion in debt financing spread across multiple campus expansions. The equity portion was significantly oversubscribed, attracting investment from some of the world's largest institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds The company is a portfolio investment of Stonepeak, a New York-based infrastructure and real assets investment firm Current operations and footprint: Digital Edge maintains a substantial presence across key Asian markets since its establishment in...
read Jan 3, 2025Chinese AI giant downsizes operations in what may be a signal of market health
A leading Chinese AI company, SenseTime Group Inc., is downsizing its Singapore operations by relocating to a smaller, less expensive office space, signaling potential challenges in the competitive AI landscape. The downsizing details: SenseTime is moving from its premium downtown location at Frasers Tower to a more modest facility in a less central area of Singapore. The company is vacating approximately 11,000 square feet (1,022 square meters) of office space in its current prime location The relocation represents a significant reduction in the company's physical presence in Singapore The move to a less central location suggests cost-cutting measures are being...
read Dec 30, 2024Taiwan announces plans to cut science budget, risking chips and AI progress
Taiwan's science ministry has announced potential funding reductions of NT$20 billion ($609.11 million) in critical technology sectors following opposition-led legislative changes. Legislative impact on tech funding: Recent laws passed by opposition parties in Taiwan's parliament mandate cuts to economic and technology spending, redirecting funds from central government to local municipalities. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and thousands of protesters have strongly opposed these legislative changes The Ministry of Science and Technology warns that semiconductor, artificial intelligence, and aerospace sectors could face significant budget constraints The Ministry of Economic Affairs projects its overall spending will decrease by NT$29.7 billion, with...
read Dec 11, 2024Nokia and Vodafone partner on autonomous 5G network optimization
The deployment of Nokia's AI-powered MantaRay SON solution by Vodafone Idea (Vi) marks a significant advancement in India's telecommunications infrastructure, introducing autonomous network optimization capabilities across the country's third-largest mobile network. Strategic implementation: Vodafone Idea has integrated Nokia's MantaRay SON (Self-Organizing Networks) solution into its existing 4G infrastructure and upcoming 5G network, spanning the entire country. The solution will optimize over 1 million network cells across Vi's 4G and 5G networks The system performs approximately 700,000 autonomous network changes daily This deployment is part of a broader three-year network modernization agreement between Nokia and Vi Technical capabilities: MantaRay SON leverages...
read Dec 11, 2024Takashi Murakami is using AI to breathe new life into ancient Japanese art
The fusion of historical Japanese art with artificial intelligence marks a significant milestone in the ongoing dialogue between traditional artistic practices and emerging technologies. Exhibition Overview: Renowned Japanese artist Takashi Murakami has unveiled his first UK solo exhibition in over 15 years at London's Gagosian gallery, featuring AI-assisted recreations of classical Japanese artworks. The centerpiece is a reimagining of Iwasa Matabei's 1615 gold leaf painting "Rakuchu Rakugai Zu Byobu," a National Treasure of Japan Murakami's version incorporates his signature flower characters and anime animals while maintaining the original's intricate depiction of Edo-period Kyoto The exhibition also features reinterpretations of works...
read Dec 11, 2024Singapore startup raises big bucks to develop cutting-edge AI model architectures
Sapient Intelligence is helping to Singapore's entry into the competitive global AI landscape, with its novel approach to foundation model architectures backed by significant seed funding and international ambitions. Funding and foundation: Sapient Intelligence has secured $22 million in seed funding at a $200 million valuation, with backing from prominent investors including Vertex Ventures, Sumitomo Group, and JAFCO. The investment represents one of Singapore's largest seed rounds for an AI startup The funding will support research and development of new AI model architectures Strategic investors bring both capital and potential enterprise deployment opportunities Technical innovation: Sapient's architecture combines transformer components...
read Dec 8, 2024IDFC FIRST Bank unveils AI holographic avatar of brand ambassador
IDFC FIRST Bank has introduced a groundbreaking AI-powered holographic avatar featuring Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, marking a significant advancement in interactive banking technology in India. Technology Innovation: This initiative leverages Holographic Extended Reality (HXR) technology to create an interactive digital representation of brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan that customers can engage with through touch-based interactions. The holographic system provides information about various banking services, including Zero Fee Banking, Monthly Interest Credits, and Mobile Banking features The technology represents a first-of-its-kind innovation in the banking sector, combining artificial intelligence with holographic displays The system is designed to create a more engaging and...
read Dec 8, 2024Japanese researchers were pioneers of AI but get little credit
Artificial intelligence's development has deeper and more diverse roots than commonly portrayed, with Japanese scientists making fundamental contributions that have been largely overlooked in the mainstream narrative of AI evolution. Historical context and oversight: The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton for neural network research has sparked debate about the recognition of pioneering Japanese contributions to AI. Japanese scientists, particularly Shun'ichi Amari and Kunihiko Fukushima, made groundbreaking discoveries in neural networks years before their Western counterparts Amari's 1967 work on adaptive pattern classification preceded similar developments in backpropagation, which later became one of Hinton's...
read Dec 7, 2024Southeast Asian nations bet on sovereign AI for economic boost
Southeast Asian nations are making significant moves into artificial intelligence development, with Thailand and Vietnam launching major initiatives in partnership with NVIDIA to build domestic AI capabilities and infrastructure. Key developments: NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's recent visits to Thailand and Vietnam mark significant steps in both countries' pursuit of sovereign AI, which enables nations to develop AI using their own computing infrastructure, data, and workforce. Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra met with Huang to discuss AI education and training initiatives focused on weather prediction, climate simulation, and healthcare applications NVIDIA is collaborating with dozens of Thai universities and startups to...
read Dec 6, 2024How data embassies could enhance cross-border AI safety
The growing complexity of cross-border AI deployment has organizations searching for innovative solutions to navigate varying international regulations while protecting sensitive data. The data embassy concept: Data embassies represent a novel approach that allows organizations to maintain control over their data while operating in foreign jurisdictions, similar to how traditional diplomatic missions function. This framework would protect data from being accessed by host country authorities where data centers are physically located Early adopters like Estonia and Bahrain have implemented data embassy models, while India and Malaysia are exploring similar approaches The concept aims to resolve the tension between organizational data...
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