Grab and ComfortDelGro are launching self-driving taxis in Southeast Asia
Chinese firms WeRide and Pony.ai will bring autonomous taxis to Singapore in early 2026
Welcome back, we’re a day later than usual but lots to share—first up: robotaxis are coming to Southeast Asia, and they’ll be overwhelmingly Chinese.
That’s after WeRide and Pony.ai brokered deals with Grab and ComfortDelGro, respectively, to offer driverless rides to commuters in Singapore next year.
WeRide and Grab will run 11 vehicles along two approved routes in Punggol, with public rides slated to launch early next year. ComfortDelGro will work with Pony.ai to offer driverless rides across a 12km stretch on the same route, once they gain regulatory approval. Right now, WeRide operates autonomous rides at Resorts World Sentosa, which are notable for being Southeast Asia’s first to run without safety personnel since July.
The first shuttles will begin driving from next week, although a safety operator will be on board at all times and they will not be open for passengers as they map out the routes.
Southeast Asia’s ride-hailing companies have jumped on electric cars and scooters in recent years, and this new development makes plenty of sense as the next focus.
Have a great week,
Jon
PS: My ex-colleague Manish Singh has an illuminating read on how hiking the H-1B visa fees, which impact workers moving to the US, are likely to hurt America and favour India and other countries
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TikTok US moves closer to a deal
The TikTok US saga might finally be over after five years of uncertainty and waiting. Beijing is said to have ratified a deal that will see the American unit of TikTok transferred to US-controlled ownership, with Chinese investors taking around 20% ownership. Six of the seven board seats will be US representatives.
The investors are led by Oracle, Silver Lake and Andreessen Horowitz with billionaire media magnate Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan involved, according to the ever-reliable and not-at-all-speculative President Trump. Murdoch’s Fox media business may invest in the deal, reports suggest, with the potential to help distribute its content.
China said it will review the app’s tech exports and IP licensing, but it broadly called the deal a ‘win-win’ for both countries. Oracle will serve as TikTok’s ‘security provider’, meaning it will monitor the app for safety, store data on US soil and prevent Chinese access.
Despite a broad framework, we don’t know what details need to be completed for the deal to be finished. It’s likely that there will be plenty more time to wait given the size and scope.
Notably, the Trump administration stands to make a multi-billion dollar fee from investors in exchange for brokering this deal with China. You can make of that what you will.
Meanwhile, China dropped an antitrust probe launched in February focused on Google’s Android dominance and its impact on Chinese phone makers.
Nvidia’s China struggles continue as local market solutions heat up
Nvidia’s newest chip for China (RTX6000D) has seen weak initial demand, with major tech firms seeing the price of $7,000 too costly while it underperforms the banned chip (RTX5090) which can still be acquired via grey channels. To make things worse, China’s internet regulator has barred firms from buying it and ruled that Nvidia broke antitrust laws with its acquisition of networking company Mellanox in 2020.
Alibaba, Tencent and others would prefer to wait for shipments of Nvidia’s China-focused H20 chip to resume, or for the US to approve the more powerful B30A option.
You suspect there’s a lot happening behind closed doors, particularly with Trump’s TikTok US deal seemingly about to reach a conclusion after nearly five years of uncertainty.
Indeed, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang himself said Washington and Beijing "have larger agendas to work out" as the tech giant navigates the tricky politics of their trade war, which has seen Nvidia caught in the crosshairs.
Huawei continues to advance its own solutions. It unveiled SuperPod, a new system that links up to 15,488 of its Ascend AI chips to boost computing power and rival Nvidia. It also announced a ‘politically safe’ version of the DeepSeek AI model.
There’s increased interest in local solutions from Chinese tech firms. Tencent last week revealed that it now supports “mainstream domestic chips” in its AI infrastructure, though it didn’t name specific brands and clearly still relies on Nvidia.
Alibaba, meanwhile, is said to have developed its own chip to rival that of the Nvidia H20 though there’s no official confirmation nor details. The e-commerce giant has signed a deal to deploy its Pingtouge AI chips in China Unicom’s new data centre, alongside products from MetaX and Biren, two of China’s top AI startups.
China
China’s tech stocks rallied significantly last week on account of AI developments and investments, Baidu, Alibaba, Meituan, JD.com and Tencent were all beneficiaries link
Ideal timing for Tencent to issue its first bond sale in four years, which it is reportedly making plans to do link
OpenAI has reportedly struck a deal with Apple device assembler Luxshare to build a consumer device—still in the prototype stage, the device is designed to be pocket-sized, context-aware, and tightly integrated with OpenAI’s AI models link
Chinese tech giants are doubling down on emerging markets for data centres and AI chip sales, as the US and Europe are inaccessible link
In a rare moment of communication, DeepSeek claimed its hit AI model cost just $294,000 to train link
Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros. Discovery are suing Chinese AI startup MiniMax for allegedly pirating their intellectual property link
Jack Ma is quietly reasserting influence at Alibaba, appearing on its campuses and playing his most active role since stepping down as chairman in 2019, sources say link
Shein is launching Xcelerator, a service giving other fashion brands access to its China-based manufacturing network as it looks for new revenue amid US tariff pressures—the program offers production, sampling, warehousing, sales, and fulfillment link
Sainsbury’s ended talks with JD.com that could have seen it sell its Argos retail unit link
Meta continues to rely on Chinese manufacturers for its smart glasses, with Shandong-based Goertek (which handles Apple’s AirPods and more) said to be in charge of building its upcoming “Hypernova” glasses—the Chinese firm has even acquired Shanghai OmniLight and it is backing a takeover of UK-based Plessey, both key optics suppliers link
Xiaomi will issue a software update for over 115,000 of its popular SU7 electric sedans to fix potential safety issues when its assisted driving features are used, according to a Chinese regulator notice link
China’s market regulator is probing Kuaishou for suspected e-commerce rule violations, citing widespread irregularities in the livestreaming sector link
China has launched a broad crackdown on online religion, warning clergy against fortune-telling, AI-powered preaching and sharing short videos link
Revenue generated by China’s “temple economy” — which includes ticket income and donations as well as payment for rituals, accommodation, merchandise and digital services — is growing more than 10% per year and is projected to exceed $14B this year, according to consultancy Meritco Group.
India
India is now the top worldwide market for use of Google’s AI Gemini app, following the launch of its Nano Banana image model link
Fintech Pine Labs, which includes Mastercard and PayPal among its backers, reportedly lowered its IPO fundraising target from $1B to $700M after its existing investors reduced their share sale plans link
Marq Vision, an LA-based startup that targets unauthorized online sales of AI chips, drugs, games, and luxury goods, raised $48M led by Peak XV and HSG (HongShan Capital Group), two former Sequoia funds in Asia—that’s a rare example of the two funds linking up link
Meta is betting on India as a key growth engine for its $10B business messaging market, with paid messaging, particularly from WhatsApp, clocking a billion-dollar run rate link
WhatsApp is on track to sell 100M tickets across various Metro train services in India by the end of this year, according to Meta's head of India and Southeast Asia link
Indian VCs are increasingly independent as there’s wider churn in early-stage investing and potential IPO exits looming link
Shailesh Lakhani, former managing director at Peak XV Partners (previously Sequoia Capital India), is learnt to be setting up an early-stage venture fund and may team up with fellow Peak XV MD Harshjit Sethi, who recently announced his exit. Ashish Dave, who helmed Mirae Asset Venture Investments’ India operations, is also in talks to launch his own fund after leaving the South Korean firm earlier this year, people aware of the matter said. Others who have already moved on include Sameer Brij Verma, who left Nexus Venture Partners last year and has raised $150 million for his solo GP vehicle Northpoint Capital. Another former Peak XV MD, Piyush Gupta, who was not in the investing team, left last year to launch Kenro Capital, a secondaries-focused fund.
Fintech Pelocal, which facilitates payments in WhatsApp and other messaging platforms, raised $5M link
Digital credit infrastructure platform FinBox raised $40M to develop AI-driven solutions and expand its product link
India’s top online used-car platforms, including billion-dollar valued CARS24, CarDekho, and Spinny, are cutting costs and closing side ventures in preparation for IPOs that could raise over $1B and happen over the next 18 months link
Urban Company, India’s largest home services startup, saw shares soar over 70% during its NSE IPO that valued the firm at over $3B—shares are trading double the IPO price right now link
Southeast Asia
Online gambling has exploded in the Philippines, with nearly half of working-age adults using apps for slots, live games, and sports betting—revenue is projected to hit $1B by 2025, but critics warn the government is ignoring a worsening public health crisis link
Carro raised $60M from Cool Japan Fund in a deal that will help promote Japanese cars across Asia Pacific using Carro’s used-car marketplace—the startup is also said to be considering an expansion to Australia and a dual listing link
Alibaba is plugging its Tmall platform into Lazada to help Chinese brands sell in Southeast Asia link
Amazon is reportedly leading a $51.9M investment into Indonesia’s quick commerce startup Astro link
Vietnamese electric bike startup Dat Bike raised $22M link
Salmon, a fintech offering credit lending in the Philippines, raised a $50M Nordic bond, taking its total amount raised via bonds to $110M link
GoTo secured a $280M term loan facility which will go to paying off debts as well as growth and investment link
Agoda apologised after coming under fire for including clauses in its severance agreements that discouraged laid-off staff in Singapore from approaching authorities or unions link
South Korea
Chip startup FuriosaAI is preparing to raise over $300M in a pre-IPO Series D round link
Disney and Webtoon announced plans to create a digital platform for the studio’s Marvel and Star Wars brands, more than 35,000 Disney-related comics will be available via a single subscription—Webtoon’s share price jumped as high a 39% following the news link
Samsung Group, SK Group and Hyundai Motor Group announced plans to hire thousands of workers this year to tackle South Korea’s declining youth employment—Samsung alone plans to hire 60,000 new staff over the next 5 years link
Japan
Credit Saison, Japan’s third-largest credit card issuer, launched an investment fund targeting real-world asset startups link
Japan plans to subsidise NEC’s purchase of subsea cable-laying ships to match US, French and Chinese rivals link
SoftBank’s plan to launch a joint venture with OpenAI to deliver AI services to Japanese businesses has been delayed link
SoftBank’s Vision Fund is weighing cuts of up to 20% of its roughly 282 staff, or over 50 roles link
Pakistan
Pakistan’s new crypto regulator is urging global firms licensed in major markets to seek local approval to serve its 40M users link
BusCaro raised $2M to scale its safe and tech-enabled commuting services across the country link
Rest of Asia
Hesai Group, China’s top maker of car laser sensors, surged 7.7% on its debut after raising $510M from a listing that valued its business at $4.5B link
Apple has reportedly discussed setting up a foldable iPhone test production line in Taiwan, aiming to begin mass production in India for a planned launch next year link
Cybersecurity researchers say North Korea-linked hacking group Kimsuky used ChatGPT to generate a deepfake South Korean military ID for a phishing attack link
Pony.ai's move into Singapore is pretty smart timing, especially since they're partnering with ComfortDelGro which has the local knwoledge and regulatory connections. The fact that they're targeting a specific 12km route first shows they're taking a pragmetic approach rather than trying to do too much too fast. I wonder if this Southeast Asia expansion stratgey is partly to offset uncertainties around their US operations?