Asian Tech Roundup: Indian entrepreneurs call for 70-hour week
Plus: Australia cracks down on Big Tech
Welcome to Computing's fortnightly roundup of tech news in Asia. This time we look at China's future tech ambitions, Australia's plans to crack down on Big Tech, and Japan's plans for the UK's Graphcore.
Australia
- Australia will publish a law later this year forcing internet companies to proactively stop hosting scams, or face heavy fines, echoing a proposal in the UK. Source
- Australia accused a Chinese state-backed cyber hacking group APT40 of attacking its government and private sector networks. APT40 often exploits vulnerabilities in Microsoft and Atlassian software. Source
- Providers of websites and online services to Australians have until 3rd October to set out how they will prevent minors from seeing pornography and harmful content such as themes of suicide and eating disorders. Source
- The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is planning a law for this year that would force tech firms to stop hosting scams online - a similar proposal to one made in the UK last month. Source
- Australia announced a partnership with AWS to build a "top secret" cloud platform for intelligence-related operations. Source
- Australia has published a framework for using AI in government. It calls for AI systems in government to be tested and verified through pilot studies. It is based on the county's AI Ethics Principles drawn up in 2019. Source
China
- China has too many large language models and too few practical applications, according to Baidu's CEO. Source
- China launched the country's first centre for sustainable aviation fuels signalling ambitions to become a global market leader. Source
- China has filed six times more AI-related patents than the United States, the UN found. Source
- China has declared that rare earth metals mined in its territory belong to the state under new regulations that will apply from October. These include minerals used in semiconductors, electric vehicles and wind turbines. Source
- The EU is imposing tariffs of up to 37.6% on imports of EVs made in China, claiming unfair state aid. Source
- China will develop more than 50 new national and industrial standards on AI by 2026, the industry ministry said. Source
- A Chinese espionage group named Velvet Ant has been exploiting a zero-day flaw in Cisco NX-OS software in order to run code on compromised switches. Source
- Alibaba Cloud is to cease operations in Australia and India while increasing investment in Southeast Asia and Mexico. Source
- Microsoft staff in China will soon have to use an iPhone device to authenticate themselves. Android devices won't be permitted, owing to concerns around the security of Chinese-designed hardware and local app stores. Staff who don't own an iPhone will be given an iPhone 15. Source
- Chinese social media firms are cracking down on xenophobic posts after a spate of targeted attacks on foreigners. Source
- The APT41 threat group, thought to be linked to the Chinese government, has added new tools to its malware kit. Source
India
- Ola Cabs entrepreneur Bhavish Aggarwal followed Infosys founder Narayana Murthy in calling for a 70-hour work week. Source
- Global services company Accenture has acquired Excelmax Technologies, a Bangalore-based semiconductor design firm. Source
- Prime minister Narendra Modi said that in his third term the government will become a manufacturing hub for semiconductors and green hydrogen. Source
- A consortium of 70 gaming companies have written to Modi requesting regulatory distinction between video games and gambling. Source
- The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is expected to recommend a fund of of Rs 440 billion ($5.3 billion) between 2024 and 2030 to transform India into an "electronic and semiconductor products" nation. Source
- Labour officials have visited a Foxconn factory after it was reported that the company, Apple's main supplier, has been refusing to hire married women for iPhone assembly roles. Source
- Social media platform Koo is to close its doors after acquisition talks with Dailyhunt fell through. Source
- Software installers created by Indian firm Conceptworld have been hijacked in order to spread information-stealing malware. Source
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has warned banks across the country about threat group LulzSec, which intelligence reports suggest is targeting Indian banks Source
- High-flying edtech startup Unacademy is laying off 250 more staff amid continuing turbulence in the once-burgeoning sector. Source
- A hacker claimed to have stolen data of 375 million Airtel users, Airtel denied it. Source
- Vi Business, the enterprise arm of telecoms giant Vi, and payment provider PayU have joined forces with a service offering for small businesses. Source
- L&T Semiconductor will acquire Bengalaru-based fabless semiconductor design firm SiliConch for Rs 1.83 billion ($22 million). Source
- The team behind Chinese OS openKylin has created a cut of its Linux-based software, which can run AI models on the desktop. Source
Indonesia
- Hacking group Brain Cipher issued an apology for a ransomware attack on Indonesia's datacentres, releasing an encryption key to the government. Source
- Indonesia's president Joko Widodo ordered an audit of government datacentres after the ransomware attack revealed that most data had not been backed up. Source
- Hyundai and LG have opened Indonesia's first battery cell factory. The $1.1 billion plant in is located in Karawang. Chinese firm CATL, the world's largest EV battery maker, will also build a facility in the country later this year as Indonesia steps up its high-tech manufacturing. Source
Japan
- SoftBank has offered about £400 million for troubled AI UK chipmaking startup Graphcore. The deal is being reviewed by the UK government under national security legislation. Source
- Threat group group BlackSuit, which stole 1.5 TB of data from Japanese publisher Kadokawa, threatened to leak it unless a ransom was paid. The data includes information on contracts with business partners and user. Source
- Space agency JAXA says it has been hit by a series of cyberattacks "from outside Japan" since it first reported a cyber incident last year. Source
- JAXA has also discovered it was under attack via a zero-day exploit while investigating a 2023 cyberattack on its systems. Source
South Korea
- Thousands of workers embarked on a three-day strike over pay and conditions at South Korean tech giant Samsung. Source
- Japanese AI company Preferred Networks has chosen Samsung to make chips for its AI applications using the firm's 2-nanometre foundry process and advanced chip packaging service. Source
Singapore
- Singapore's digital development minister Josephine Teo said the world needs to create a global framework for AI governance. Source
- Singapore is proposing the creation of a blockchain Global Layer One (GL1) for hosting tokenised assets, envisioned to be developed by regulated financial institutions for the financial industry. Source
- Chinese AI startups are setting up in Singapore as they seek to attract foreign funds. Source
- Banks in Singapore are scrapping the practice of sending out one-time passwords via text message, to improve security. Source
Vietnam
- Vietnam missed out on investments by multinationals including Intel and LG Chem because it lacks sufficient incentives, according to documents seen by Reuters. Source
- But Foxconn Singapore is to invest $551 million in two projects to produce smart entertainment products and smart-system equipment. Source