Japan’s Uncovered launches Africa fund; Baidu results

#Africa #Japan #funding - Uncovered Fund, a VC firm targeting early-stage startups in Africa, announced today that it has launched its $15 million fund, which is expected to close at the end of June this year. The Tokyo-based outfit founded by Takuma Terakubo in 2019 will invest $50,000 to $500,000 in African startups in seed and Series A stages. (TechCrunch)

#Singapore #Budget2021 - The Singapore Government has a S$24 billion plan to help its firms and workers adapt to a post-COVID-19 world, and it includes raising grants and extending training initiatives. Training and hiring in new technologies is a focus of the new budget. (CNA)

#Singapore #Budget2021 - Singapore’s focus in the 2021 Budget is geared towards pockets of the economy hardest hit by the pandemic, unveiling targeted schemes that seek to drive companies as well as individuals to transform and prepare for recovery. (Business Times)

#China #US #results - China’s Baidu Inc reported quarterly revenue above Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, helped by a recovery in advertising and an uptick in demand for its cloud services and artificial intelligence platforms. (Reuters)

#India #IBM - Arvind Krishnan, Chairman and CEO IBM, reiterated that India continues to be a key region as he announced a $1 billion investment into its partner eco-system to push adoption of hybrid cloud and AI. (Business Standard)

#India #business - Over 40 per cent of consumer-focused AI systems in finance, healthcare, government and other regulated sectors in India will include provisions to explain their analysis and decisions by 2023, a new IDC report said on Tuesday. (Economic Times)

#China #USA #AVs - Baidu had received 199 autonomous driving licenses in China by the end of December 2020, the Internet giant noted in its Q4 2020 results. The company said it was the first Chinese company to obtain driverless licenses from both the authorities in California and China. (AutoNews)

#China #US #AIRace - From a research perspective, China has become a world leader in AI publications and patents. This trend suggests that China is also poised to become a leader in AI-empowered businesses, such as speech and image recognition applications. (HBR)

#China #IoT - China recently closed public consultations on draft guidelines for five major industrial standards for the Internet of Things; it aims to establish the standards system by 2022. (China Briefing)

#India #algorithms - Governments are increasingly using artificial intelligence and machine learning in decision-making. But are their underlying algorithms suitable for countries such as India? A recent study says they may not be, since they were designed for Western societies. (LiveMint)

#SouthKorea #security - SK Telecom Co., the country’s largest mobile carrier, said Wednesday it joined hands with its security subsidiary ADT Caps Co. and local video management solution company Innodep Inc. to develop AI-based video analysis services. (Korea Bizwire)

#China #pigfarming - Huawei said it is launching an artificial intelligence pig farming project amid ongoing US sanctions that have hammered its smartphone business, joining other tech giants vying to give the industry a hi-tech upgrade. (SCMP)

Carrington Malin helps large organisations, digital brands and fast growing tech ventures with brand, communications and go-to-market strategies.