China Everbright raises $305m; China's Didi eyes valuation of $100b+

#China #funding - CEL AI Economy Fund, jointly set up by financial conglomerate China Everbright Limited (CEL) and its technology platform Terminus Technologies, has raised another 2 billion yuan ($304.7 million) to launch its Fund III for investments in smart city solutions. (Deal Street Asia - subscription)

#India #funding - Uniphore, an AI-driven speech recognition firm based in India, has raised $140 million in its latest round of funding. The Series D round was led by Sorenson Capital Partners, with new investors Serena Capital, Sanabil Investments, and Cisco Investments. (Tech in Asia)

#China #USA #IPO - China’s top ride-hailing firm Didi Chuxing is leaning toward picking New York over Hong Kong for its IPO, eyeing a valuation of at least $100 billion via the float, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. (Reuters)

#China #funding - Didi Chuxing’s autonomous driving unit seeks funds at $6 billion value, sources said. The Chinese ride-hailing start-up is looking to supercharge growth beyond its core businesses ahead of an anticipated IPO this year. (SCMP)

#India #UAE #robotics - India’s number one domestic robotics company Milagrow, is expanding into the Middle East with the opening of its new office in Dubai Airport Freezone Authority - DAFZA. (Gulf News)

#SouthKore #AIvoice - Korean startups in the AI sector have introduced voice-based assistance technologies that can be used to cloning singing voices of dead artists, act as baby monitors, or even help find a perfect love match. (Korea Techdesk)

#Vietnam #AVs - Vietnam has released its first autonomous vehicle. Manufactured by local conglomerate Phenikaa Group, the self-driving vehicle boasts AI features including 3D maps, Lidar sensors, SLAM (simultaneous localisation and mapping). (E27)

#China #AVs - China’s Ministry of Public Security is seeking public feedback about new regulations on self-driving vehicles for its latest road safety law, as the auto industry continues to develop autonomous technologies. (Reuters)

#Japan #Parkinsons - Researchers at Okayama University in Japan report that artificial-intelligence technology can detect facial characteristics of Parkinson’s disease. The faces of patients were systematically found to look older and expressionless. (Bio Spectrum)

#SouthKorea #healthcare - Researchers at St. Mary’s Seoul Hospital have developed AI software that can predict kidney cancer recurrence. Professor Hong Seung-hoo of the Department of Urology led the research to develop the algorithm, which predicts recurrence probability in five to 10 years after kidney cancer surgery using AI machine learning. (Korea Biomed)

#India #policing - AI tools are increasingly being put to use in India for ‘predictive policing’. For instance, during his annual press briefing in February, the Delhi police commissioner said that 231 of the 1,818 people arrested for their alleged role in the 2020 Delhi riots had been identified using tech tools. (Scroll)

#China #Huawei - Huawei Technologies Co.’s quarterly revenue shrank for the first time on record, reflecting the devastating impact of U.S. sanctions that forced China’s largest technology company out of smartphones and into other technology arenas. (Bloomberg)

#China #JD.com - Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com Inc said on Wednesday it had sold JD Cloud and artificial intelligence business to its financial technology unit for a combined valuation of 15.7 billion yuan ($2.40 billion). (Reuters)

#Seoul #Singapore #smartcities - Singapore, Seoul, and London have been named as leading smart city governments by Eden Strategy Institute. The study focuses specifically on the role of city governments as a key driver for smart city development. (Smart Cities World)

#China #SmartCities - From 2021 to 2025, smart city technologies will be widely applied across the country, and by 2026 the government’s digital transformation will be in full swing, according to Xu Huaiyu, a researcher with the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences. (Shine)

#Philippines #AIstrategy - The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) aims to launch a national AI roadmap for the Philippines in April which aims to position the country as an AI powerhouse. The country is planning to build a national data center and a national center for AI research. (Philstar)

#China #US #Taiwan #tradewar - The China-U.S. trade war is pushing Beijing to step up its efforts to steal technology and poach talent from Taiwan to boost China’s semiconductor industry’s self-sufficiency, the government of the tech-powerhouse island said on Wednesday. (Reuters)

#China #USA #Huaweiban - Huawei has released its annual report for 2020. Profit and revenue are slightly up year-on-year despite US sanctions and a collapse in consumer sales outside China. (The Verge)

#China #Saudi #UAE - The meeting between Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi took place at the site of the planned city of Neom. China is set to benefit from the opportunities Neom presents, in much the same way it has already done in neighbouring Dubai’s push to build a smart city, but on a much larger scale. (SCMP)

#Canada #China #Huawei - Lawyer Gib van Ert’s comments at extradition hearing are in contrast with the position of China’s government about Huawei executive’s 2018 arrest Meng Wanzhou’s lawyer presented reports suggesting the basis for US charges, relating to transactions by foreign entities, was unlawful overreach. (SCMP)

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