Morai closes $1.8m round; Shanghai named 'smartest city'

#SouthKorea #funding - Morai, Inc., a Seoul, South Korea-based developer of autonomous vehicle simulation systems, secured $1.8M in Series A funding. Backers included Kakao Ventures and Korea Credit Guarantee Fund (KODIT) as well as existing investor Naver D2SF (Naver D2 Startup Factory). (Finsmes)

#SouthKorea #funding - Autonomous a2z, a member company of Born2Global Centre and Sejong Technopark, has recently received a seed investment of US$1.9M from  angel investments by individuals and partner corporations. (PR Newswire)

#SouthKorea #AVs - The South Korean central government has joined hands with municipal governments, private companies and industrial associations to promote the activation of autonomous driving services through the standardisation of self-driving data. (Korea Bizwire)

#Japan #AVs - Honda won approval to sell Level 3 autonomous cars in Japan, in what the automaker and Japanese authorities said was a world-first. The auto giant said it planned to put the vehicles, capable of taking over driving in circumstances such as a busy highway, on sale before next March. (News18)

#China #smartcities - Shanghai was named the world’s “smartest city” on Wednesday at the Smart City Expo World Congress, becoming the first Chinese city to win this award. The World Smart City Awards are presented annually by SCEWC to promote diversity, inclusiveness, equality, safety, and collaboration. (Shine)

#China #flyingtaxis - Late last month, EHang announced that it would accelerate its urban air mobility operations due to China announcing experimental flight zones. (Droned DJ)

#Japan #sushi - The next time you order sushi from your favorite Japanese restaurant, you might have AI  to thank, in addition to the sushi chef.  A popular Japanese conveyor belt sushi chain, Kura Sushi, is experimenting with an unusual menu item – specialty sushi made from aged fish analyzed by AI. (CNET)

#China #US #tradewar - Just like Trump, Joe Biden is stuck in the last century if he believes globalization is about trade and rust-belt manufacturing jobs. If Biden really intends to get tough with China, he’ll have to double down on the U.S.-Chinese tech war that has seen Huawei crippled. (Foreign Policy - subscription)

#Canada #China #Huawei - Canada’s opposition on Wednesday called on Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to get tougher on China, including by officially banning Huawei Technologies Co Ltd’s 5G technology from being used in the country. (Reuters)

Carrington Malin is a UAE-based entrepreneur, marketer and writer who focuses on emerging technologies.