Asian Tech Roundup: South Korea's fusion record

Plus India bans dark patterns, Malaysia gains from the chip wars

Welcome to Computing's fortnightly roundup of tech news in Asia. This time we look how South Korean nuclear scientists have achieved temperatures seven times those at the heart of the sun, India's crack down on designs that persuade us to act against our own interests, and Malaysia's role as a safe haven in the US-China tit-for-tat over semiconductors.

China

• The Communist Party is attempting to phase US microprocessors from the likes of Intel and AMD, and software from Microsoft and others, out of government computers in favour of domestic alternatives. Source
• Local company Intellifusion has launched an AI processor using an older 14nm node, sidestepping US sanctions. Source
• The EU is investigating Chinese solar panel makers suspected of taking state subsidies to undercut competitors. Source
• The UK government has imposed sanctions on Chinese individuals and a technology firm in Wuhan for their involvement in cyberattacks targeting MPs and the Electoral Commission. Source

India

• The government has fixed a longstanding error in its cloud service S3WaaS which was leaking citizen's information including including Aadhaar numbers, vaccination data and passport details. Source
• India is preparing a new law designed to protect news publishers and content creators from AI. Source
• The government has banned dark patterns, UX practices intended to drive consumers towards a desired outcome. Companies will need to take steps to comply with the new guidelines, or face a financial penalty. Source
• Investors are cooling on tech start-ups, preferring more stable bricks-and-mortar businesses, according to Reuters. Last year Indian start-ups raised $8 billion from investors, far from the $36 billion just two years before. Source
• India has rescued around 250 citizens who were caught up in a human trafficking operation in Cambodia, where they were forced to run illegal cyber scams like crypto fraud. Source

Japan

• OpenAI plans to open an office in Tokyo this month - the company's first in Asia, and its third international office overall. Source
• The EU and Japan are to begin discussions about cooperating on advanced materials for chips and batteries to reduce their reliance on China. Source
• And Japan has also been talking to the US about closer cooperation on AI and semiconductors. Source

Singapore

• Singapore is home to more high-growth start-up businesses than any other city in the APAC region. Source
• Six Singaporean banks are to share customer data on a new platform with the aim of combatting money laundering and the financing of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has announced. Source

South Korea

• Low-cost Chinese digital marketplaces AliExpress and Temu are the fastest-growing online retail platforms in South Korea. Source
• The Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) nuclear fusion reactor reached temperatures seven times that of the Sun's core - 100,000,000 C - for 48 seconds. Source

Other Asia

• VNDirect, Vietnam's third-largest financial broker, was disconnected from the country's main exchange following a cyberattack. Source
• Malaysia is turning out to be a major beneficiary of the semiconductor trade wars between China and the US, according to the FT. Source
• PayPal is to invest in $47 million in Qoala, an Indonesian insurance tech startup with 5 million customers. Source