Soul app's secret $300m IPO; China summons tech firms over deepfakes

#China #US #funding - The company backing Chinese social networking platform Soul App has privately filed for a U.S. initial public offering (IPO), Bloomberg reports. Shanghai Renyimen Technology Ltd could raise about $300 million from the listing, which is expected to occur by 2021. (Bloomberg)

#India #funding - Energy-efficiency-as-a-service startup Smart Joules has raised $4.1 million in its Series A funding round from various investors, namely ADB Ventures, the venture arm of Asian Development Bank (ADB), Sangam Ventures, Max I. Limited, cKinetics Accelerator, Dabur family’s Saket Burman and six other angel investors from India and the US. (Inc42)

#India #VC - Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, India witnessed continued momentum in venture capital money flows with total deal value reaching $10 billion in 2020, the highest across all years barring 2019, according to Bain & Company’s India Venture Capital Report 2021. (Telagana Today)

#Singapore #5G - IBM, Samsung Electronics (Samsung), and M1 today opened the IBM Industry 4.0 Studio, which combines 5G connectivity with AI, hybrid cloud and edge computing capabilities to develop and test innovative Industry 4.0 solutions for enterprises in Singapore and across the region. (Samsung)

#China #SouthKorea #investment - South Korea’s SK Holdings Co Ltd said on Thursday it and China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd will each invest $30 million in a new mobility investment fund whose size they plan will reach $300 million in total. (Reuters)

#Singapore #AVs - When it comes to the use of driverless vehicles, an individual’s support for their adoption hinges on how safe they are, rather than their economic impact or privacy concerns stemming from the data they might collect, an NTU Singapore study has found. (Eureka Alert)

#India #US #R&D - The Indo-US Science and Technology Forum’s US India Artificial Intelligence (USIAI) initiative was launched on Wednesday. During the event, the secretary, the Department of Science & Technology, Ashutosh Sharma said that it is necessary to scale up the science and technology relationship between India and the United States to solve problems of both countries and overcome barriers for growth. (Livemint)

#China #regulation - On Tuesday, Chinese livestreaming e-commerce came under scrutiny. On Thursday, it was “deepfakes”. And earlier this month, Chinese authorities imposed fines on operators of community group buying platforms. (Reuters)

#China #regulation - Chinese authorities on Thursday summoned 11 tech companies including Tencent, Alibaba, and TikTok parent ByteDance, for talks on internet security. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said the talks concerned “voice software that have yet to undergo safety assessment procedures”, as well as “deep fake” technology. (Economic Times)

#China #semiconductors - Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. will build a $2.35 billion plant with funding from the government of Shenzhen, the first major project to emerge from China’s masterplan to match the U.S. and become more self-reliant as global chip supply dwindles. (Bloomberg)

#China #chips - The world is going through an unprecedented chip shortage, Zhou Zixue, a senior official with the China Semiconductor Industry Association, said on Wednesday, after semiconductor sales grew 18% last year. (Reuters)

#Singapore #agritech - Researchers at NTU Singapore have developed a device to communicate with plants, aiming to unlock potential in robotics and agriculture. The NTU researchers believe that this ability to measure electrical signals of plants could create opportunities in robotics – such as plant-based robots and more sensitive grippers that pick up fragile objects – as well as in agriculture, allowing farmers to detect disease in crops and maximise crop yield. (The Engineer)

#SouthKorea #SmartCity - The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Wednesday that it will expand the scope of ‘Smart City’ trial services this year. Since 2019, the city government has studied the effect of the smart city services by running trial programs in Seongdong and Yangcheong districts. (Korea Bizwire)

#Myanmar #surveillance - Protesters in Myanmar fear they are being tracked with Chinese facial recognition technology, as spiraling violence and street surveillance spark fears of a “digital dictatorship” to replace ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Human rights groups say the use of AI to check on citizens’ movements poses a “serious threat” to their liberty. (Channel News Asia)

#China #US #blacklist - Chinese firms targeted by a sweeping investment ban imposed by then President Donald Trump are considering suing the US government after a federal judge last week suspended a similar blacklisting for Beijing-based smartphone maker Xiaomi. (Reuters)

#China #US #blacklist - Chinese companies targeted by a sweeping investment ban imposed by former President Donald Trump are considering suing the US government after a federal judge on Friday suspended a similar blacklisting for Beijing-based smartphone maker Xiaomi. (Times of India)

#China #EU #Xinjiang - The European Union has agreed to impose sanctions against Chinese officials over human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (NHK)

#Singpoare #NextBillionAI - NextBillion.ai is an emerging technology company that aims at building the world’s most easy-to-use, cost-effective, and advanced hyperlocal AI solutions. Sea News talks to co-founder Ajay Bulusu about unique map-related services. (Sea News)

#SouthKorea #music - A new K-pop girl group is set to make its debut next Monday (March 22) with 11 sweet young things. The catch? They were all created using deep-fake technology and AI. Eternity’s virtual idols were created with Deep Real AI, a deep-fake virtual imaging technology developed by South Korean tech company Pulse9. (Straits Times)

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