China reminds Apple just who runs the Chinese App Store
China reminds Apple just who runs the Chinese App Store
Plus: Apple commits to SE Asia investments, OpenAI doubles down on Japan
Welcome back,
I’m back and rested from a break ready for the double-header that is Money2020 and Southeast Asia Blockchain Week in Bangkok this week. If you’re in town, I hope to catch you at events or do ping me for a coffee.
This past week has been eventful with Apple kowtowing to censorship demands in China while CEO Tim Cook made investment commitments in Southeast Asia, which will see further manufacturing moved away from China.
OpenAI made a big move in Japan, where it hired a country President and revealed plans to open an office following major infrastructure investments from Google, Microsoft and Oracle. There’s also news from Binance, Ola, Samsung and a worrying update from Bangladesh’s ‘cyber capital.’
That’s all for this week—thanks for subscribing and see you in your inbox next Monday,
Jon
PS: Follow the Asia Tech Review LinkedIn page for updates on posts published here and interesting things that come our way. If you’re a news junkie, the ATR Telegram news feed has you covered with news as-it-happens.
News in focus
Beijing reminds Apple who controls the App Store in China
While the US is chewing over a move to block TikTok, it was censorship business as usual in China where Apple removed Facebook-owned WhatsApp and Threads, and messaging apps Signal and Telegram from the Chinese version of the App Store following a directive from the government citing national security concerns.
The removals are not a surprise given that Facebook has been blocked in Mainland China for more than a decade, but they serve as a reminder that Beijing has the power to remove any app that it wishes. That’s a condition of Apple’s continued presence in China, which remains an essential market for one the world’s most valuable companies.
These removals won’t have massive practical implications for most iPhone owners in China because these apps are not mainstream in the country, but they are still important. Removing messaging apps that are mainstream worldwide erodes key channels that are used to communicate outside of China’s Great Firewall internet censorship system. Typically, they’re used by individuals sharing sensitive information outside of China, such as journalists and activists.
WhatsApp has long been hampered in China, having been effectively blocked since 2017. Savvy internet users could get around that using a VPN, but that task became harder when China clamped down on VPN services by forcing Apple to remove them from the App Store (deja vu!) and outlawing ‘unlicensed’ VPNs. The VPNs that were licensed were, as you’d expect, more restricted and surveilled while upgrades to China’s censorship system impacted the consistency of previously-reliable international options.
OpenAI targets Japan
OpenAI is increasing its focus on Asia after it appointed a former AWS executive as its first lead for Japan.
Tadao Nagasaki, who becomes President of OpenAI Japan, will open an office in Japan as the company releases a custom GPT-4 model catering to Japanese language users. The move follows major investors in Japan infrastructure, including cloud computing and undersea internet cables, from Google and Microsoft as we noted last week.
In addition, Oracle announced its own plans to invest more than $8B in Japan over the next decade to meet growing demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure in the country. These investments go hand in hand with companies like OpenAI’s pursuit of a bigger slice of the Japanese market. OpenAI said it has 2M weekly active users in the country, with enterprise clients include Daiki., Rakuten and Toyota.
Shein and Temu’s US logistics partner ramps up with $50M
Chinese logistics networks have piggybacked the rise of Chinese e-commerce players in Southeast Asia, and now the same could happen in the US. Uni Express, a delivery startup used by the likes of Shein and Temu, raised $50M to fund an expansion across North America.
The four-year-old company has already expanded into Canada where, combined with the US, it claims to have 50 sorting centres, 500 employees and over 10,000 registered drivers. The company has been shooting for a billion-dollar valuation—echoing the vanity-led goals that Southeast Asia’s startup delivery networks have shot for in recent years—so it’ll be one to track as it looks to compete with the establishment in North America. So far, it has raised $100 million but there’s likely to be much more to come.
Apple makes moves in Southeast Asia
Apple CEO Tim Cook visited Southeast Asia in a week that saw the iPhone-maker announce a number of regional developments:
Apple is expanding its operations in Vietnam, as part of its diversification away from China (Cook himself visited Vietnam)
That diversification could include Indonesia with Apple is said to be looking into making some gadgets in the country—although this is in response to a request from President Joko Widodo so it isn’t clear how genuine that interest may be
But Apple will spend $250M to expand its regional hub in Singapore, that will see its hub in the country expanded with a focus on new AI projects and general growth activities in the region
China
Some ex-TikTok employees say the social media service worked closely with its China-based parent despite claims of independence link
Court records—mistakenly made public—tell a story about the birth of ByteDance, its bumpy road to success and the role of the Republican mega donor Jeff Yass’s VC firm Susquehanna International Group link
A bill to divest-or-ban TikTok is being fast tracked through Congress link
Speaker Mike Johnson plans to include TikTok divestiture legislation already passed by the House in a fast-moving aid package for Ukraine and Israel that the chamber is set to clear on Saturday. The Senate is expected to quickly take up the measure, and President Joe Biden promised Wednesday to sign it immediately.
The bill is linked to the reported plan to remove Erich Andersen, a US-based general counsel for TikTok/ByteDance and a key figure responsible for convincing the US government that the company was doing enough to stave off national security concerns about its connections to China
The executive leading AI development at ByteDance will now report directly to CEO Liang Rubo in a move that shows how urgent a priority AI has become for the company link
Baidu says its AI chatbot “Ernie Bot” has topped 200M users, making it China’s most popular ChatGPT alternative link
Following its lead, JD has ramped up AI use on its platform link
Microsoft invested $1.5B in the UAE’s top artificial intelligence firm, G42, after the Abu Dhabi-based company worked out an unusual deal with the US government to end any cooperation with China link
The Biden administration is proactively encouraging US tech groups to seek AI deals and partnerships in the UAE, seeking to cultivate an alliance that would provide it with an edge over China in developing the technology. link
China’s semiconductor output jumped 40% in first quarter amid growing dominance in legacy chips link
China’s autonomous driving players are struggling to turn a profit despite heavy investments link
Chinese spies have targeted the Dutch semiconductor, aerospace and maritime industries to try to strengthen China's armed forces, the Dutch military intelligence agency MIVD said link
Lenovo and Alibaba have teamed up to build AI computers link
India
India may strike a deal with Nvidia to source GPUs from the US manufacturer and offer them to local startups, researchers, academic institutions and other users at a subsidised rate link
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, is set to resume its service in India after agreeing to pay a penalty of about $2M—India has treated crypto and crypto trading with caution but the market still has vast potential and it makes sense that a rejuvenated Binance, which is more focused on regulatory compliance, wants to grab a piece of the pie link
Ride-hailing firm Ola Cabs is planning an IPO to raise $500M at a valuation of about $5B link
Social media startup ShareChat’s valuation dropped to below $2B from nearly $5B in the past following a new funding round of funding link
Tesla is understood to have signed a strategic deal with Tata Electronics to procure semiconductor chips for its worldwide operations link
Apple is exploring partnerships with Murugappa Group & Titan Company for local assembly of camera module sub-components in India, aiming to shift more of its operations from China to strengthen the Indian supplier ecosystem link
Arjun Mohan, the CEO of Byju’s India, and a confidante of founder Byju Raveendran, is leaving the firm in little over six months after taking over the role link
ProcMart, an online B2B marketplace specialising in supply chain solutions, raised $30M link
India has reportedly deferred approval of Paytm’s 500M rupee ($6M) investment in its Paytm Payment Services arm in part due to concerns about a Chinese shareholding in the parent company link
Flipkart’s talks to buy majority stake in quick-commerce startup Zepto are over link
Meta AI is restricting election-related responses in India link
Southeast Asia
Chinese EVs are on the rise in Thailand, a key automotive market in Southeast Asia, where they threaten the dominance of Japanese auto giants link
Sales numbers from the recent Bangkok International Motor Show illustrate how EVs, led by BYD, are eating into the competition—this was a topic of conversation in the ATR Telegram group
Indonesia is using online influencers to promote Nusantara, its new capital city link
Taiwan
The Taiwan section is all about TSMC this week:
The company plans to charge customers more for chips made outside Taiwan link
It is broadening its reach worldwide after inking global deals to secure its position as a chip industry leader, including a new hub in Prague to foster chip design talent and cooperation and tech pacts with US, Canada, France and Germany link
But shares fell after it downgraded its 2024 global chip outlook link
And TSMC estimates it lost $92.4M due to Taiwan earthquake link
South Korea
It’s official: the US grants Samsung up to US$6.4B in funding to produce advanced chips in Texas link
AI startup Upstage secured 100B won ($72M) from investors including SK Networks and KT to bankroll an expansion in the US, Japan and Southeast Asia link
SK Hynix and TSMC aim to jointly develop advanced chips for artificial intelligence as two of Asia's leading chipmakers look to strengthen their positions in the fast-growing AI market. link
Across the rest of Asia
Cyberattacks and misinformation campaigns have increased dramatically in the Philippines as geopolitical tensions escalate in the region, according to a new report from cybersecurity firm Resecurity link
TikTok rival Triller is merging with Hong Kong fintech AGBA—AGBA will acquire the social video platform in an all-stock transaction that values the merged entity at $4B link
Bangladesh built a tech park for 100,000 workers, partially funded by the World Bank, but rather than becoming the country’s “cyber capital” it is now a ghost town as Rest of World found link
