China’s tech news headlines in May of 2024
China’s technology news headlines in May of 2024 covered items and issues including: the growth of AI systems in-a-box, aimed at in-house cloud platforms for China’s businesses; China’s space launch facility growth; low-cost electric vehicles and the emerging price war between China’s EV manufacturers; developments in China’s nascent medium Earth orbit space industry; Alibaba’s billion-dollar moves into South Korea’s AI industry; and many more.
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ORF: Indo-Pacific Digital Silk Road – China’s vision for tech expansion
- China’s experimental reusable spacecraft released an unknown object into orbit during its third mission, with authorities releasing no images, description or acknowledgement / read it here
- Biden administration to reimpose tariffs on hundreds of goods imported from China, from items of strategic importance to foodstuffs / read it here
- Alibaba Cloud to launch first Mexico region, and to establish new data centers in markets including Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and South Korea over 3 years / read it here
- Tesla is reportedly requesting suppliers to begin manufacturing outside of China and Taiwan as early as 2025, citing rising geopolitical risks to supply chains / read it here
“China’s presence in subsea cable networks is fading rapidly. Three international cables to connect Hong Kong are due for completion in 2025, but no undersea projects are scheduled for the country thereafter.” / read it here
- China: A look at moves by China’s major tech firms into the on-premises ‘AI-in-a-box’ sector, providing all infrastructure to run private cloud services locally / read it here
- China: AI LLM price war expands with Tencent and iFlytek cutting usage prices on large-language models, feeling heat from Alibaba and Baidu moves / read it here
- China: SMIC and others now asking customers and developers to screen for and adopt domestic supplies of all inputs, to both localize supply chains and end foreign presence / read it here
Truth & reality with Chinese characteristics: CCP propaganda systems
- China: Alibaba and Baidu slash prices – up to 97% – on use of large-language models for generative AI products as cloud computing price war heats up / read it here
- “Among China’s new fleet of satellites are several ‘fast movers’: satellites that roam the GEO [geosynchronous Earth orbit] belt, drifting back and forth among the ‘stationary’ ones.” / read it here
- A brief overview of China’s space launch facility expansion plans, boosting Hainan commercial spaceport with 2 new launch pads, and possibly plans for 10 / read it here
- China: A dive into the capabilities, and shortcomings, of SenseTime’s SenseChat V5 AI chatbot, potential challenger to ChatGPT / read it here
- China & AI-in-a-box: “Huawei has signed up more than a dozen AI start-ups to bundle and market their large language models with its AI processors and other hardware…” / read it here
- An intro to BYD’s Seagull EV, a low-priced, high-quality electric vehicle set to market outside China for less than $10K / read it here
- China: A look at the recently-unveiled Xiaohong, a 504-qubit quantum computing chip running systems to be made available to researchers globally via state-owned telco / read it here
BCG & SIA: Emerging resilience in the semiconductor supply chain
- “In a shift by Tesla chief Elon Musk, data from China could be processed in the country to develop its full-self-driving system, sources said…” / read it here
- China: Two chip firms reportedly now in early production stages for high bandwidth memory semiconductors used in AI chipsets, a major step in tech self-sufficiency / read it here
- Subsea cable projects bypassing China: “…China is expected to see only three cables laid after this year — fewer than half the number planned for Singapore.” / read it here
“More than 800,000 people in Europe and the US appear to have been duped into sharing card details and other sensitive personal data with a vast network of fake online designer shops…” / read it here
- China’s TikTok partners UK National Literacy Trust to place bookshelves in 20 locations ‘lacking in literary provision’, bringing BookTok concept into the real world / read it here
- China’s PIX Moving gains public road self-driving vehicle test and operation license in Turin, Italy, with unmanned minibus to soon provide short-range transport services / read it here
- Serbia Ministry of Science, Tech Development & Innovation inks MOU with China’s space administration on cooperation on China’s International Lunar Research Station / read it here
- China: Arrests made of group delivering illegal currency conversion using cryptocurrency, with proceeds of $296 million / read it here
Critical technologies, globally, in May 2024
- China’s PIX Moving gains public road self-driving vehicle test and operation license in Turin, Italy, with unmanned minibus to soon provide short-range transport services / read it here
- “With an authoritarian government able to pick and choose how it applies safety rules, it’s likely easier for Tesla to test out the practicalities of controlling a car in real-world situations in China…” / read it here
- China launches first satellites for a medium Earth orbit broadband constellation, potentially capable of connecting to low Earth orbit megaconstellations in development / read it here
- China: Arrests made of group delivering illegal currency conversion using cryptocurrency, with proceeds of $296 million / read it here
- China: US revokes some licenses allowing firms including Intel and Qualcomm to export chips to Huawei for use in laptops and handsets / read it here
- Serbia Ministry of Science, Tech Development & Innovation inks MOU with China’s space administration on cooperation on China’s International Lunar Research Station / read it here
World Economic Forum Global Risks Report 2024
- China: Zeeker Intelligent Technology Holding EV maker targets $5.13BN in US IPO bid, the first major floatation of a PRC-based firm in over 2 years / read it here
- China: Computer startup, SpacemiT, unveils RISC-V chip-based laptop, primarily aimed at hardware engineers, developers and DIY enthusiasts, and potentially retailing near $300 / read it here
- China: An overview of recently-announced space research missions, touching on lunar far-side astronomy, astrophysics, solar pole observation, exoplanets and gravitational wave missions / read it here
- China Tesla’s new deal clears 2 key China regulator hurdles – a mapping & navigation deal with Baidu, and meeting state requirements on data security and privacy / read it here
- China: May 3rd launch approaches for Chang’e-6 launch to collect first set of lunar far-side samples, building on technical, engineering, scientific and communications tech of past missions / read it here
- Silicon Valley’s Y Combinator incubator to close YC China, claiming strategy change and that ‘now is not the right time to run a new, country-specific version of Y Combinator’ / read it here
- US Dep’t of Commerce now reviewing national security implications of China’s work in open-standard RISC-V chips tech / read it here
Chasing Fox Hunt: The PRC’s Global Forced Returns Operation
- China: Revised State Secrets Law now requires ‘net giants including Tencent, Weibo and Douyin to delete leaked info, demanding network operators closely monitor what users transmit / read it here
- China: Shenzhou-17 crew return to Earth after six months aboard Tiangong space station, with completion of 84 in-orbit experiments and collection of 400 material samples / read it here
- UK expects to have removed China-made surveillance tech from sensitive sites by April 2025, tightening security in light of spying, cybersec and data access concerns / read it here
- “Beijing has previously said it strongly opposes a forced sale of TikTok, and it has revised its export control rules to give it the power to block a sale on national security grounds.” / read it here
- Hong Kong privacy regulator finds Worldcoin, backed by OpenAI’s Altman, contravened local privacy laws, requiring Worldcoin Foundation to now cease all operations in the jurisdiction / read it here
- AI, deepfakes & news: “It does not need to be perfect… If a user is just scrolling through X or TikTok, they are not picking up little nuances on a smaller screen…” / read it here
Transnational Crime In SE Asia: A growing threat to global peace & security
- French gov’t bans TikTok on Pacific Islands territory of New Caledonia in bid to diminish rioting in state of emergency, claiming use of the app in organising violent protests / read it here
- Hong Kong: YouTube to comply with court ruling, blocking HK access to 32 video links deemed ‘prohibited content’, the Glory to Hong Kong protest song / read it here
- ‘Global chips battle intensifies with $81 billion subsidy surge’ / read it here
- Australia: China’s Xpeng EV brand appoints Australian distributor, with expectation of launching rival model to compete with Tesla Model Y by year-end 2024 / read it here
Critical minerals:
“…there are clear ongoing efforts, including by China’s state-owned entities, to extend their nation’s monopoly by controlling Australia’s rare earths deposits…”
read it here
- China’s Alibaba to invest $1.1BN in South Korea with $200M for logistics centre, $100M for SME onboarding – and $75M to address antitrust concerns / read it here
- Vietnam’s VinCSS and China’s GoGoByte ink MoU around development and deployment of cybersecurity solutions for the EV market, in line with international regulations / read it here
- Australia: China’s Xpeng EV brand appoints Australian distributor, with expectation of launching rival model to compete with Tesla Model Y by year-end 2024 / read it here
Stormwall: Q1 2024 report on DDoS attacks in Asia-Pacific
- South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group inks MoU with China’s Baidu Group for collaboration in smart car connected vehicle services in China / read it here
- 3rd Malaysia-China Joint Committee Meeting on Science, Tech & Innovation Cooperation concludes with commitments to collaborate on research in key areas including space tech, AI, blockchain and advanced materials / read it here
- Not just export controls: Semiconductors, manufacturing equipment, electronic design automation software, and EDA process design kits / read it here
Stormwall: Q1 2024 in Review – DDoS cyber attacks report
Asia’s tech news: Other editions
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Interpol Global Financial Fraud Assessment 2024
