Critical technologies: January 2025

European Parliament: The Geopolitics of Technology

Saudi Arabia announces new critical minerals investment project valued at $100BN, with JV between state-owned Aramco oil giant and Ma’aden mining firm also in place / full item

“Quantum teleportation has been demonstrated over a fiber optic cable carrying classical traffic (like the Internet) for the first time. The work suggests it will be possible to take advantage of the benefits quantum communication offers without building a whole new infrastructure in parallel to what already exists…” / full item

NVIDIA unveils Project Digits, a ‘personal AI supercomputer’ that runs the entire NVIDIA AI stack: It’s a cloud computing platform that sits on your desk… / full item
NVIDIA unveils products including AI focused on robots and cars, advanced gaming chips, first NVIDIA desktop computer, and Toyota Motor deal for chips and software / full item
NVIDIA acquires RunAI, gaining open-source software that optimises hardware for use by AI systems / full item
What RISC-V Means for the Future of Chip Development’ from CSIS / full item
Download: ‘The Global Risks Report 2025′ from the World Economic Forum: “…the vulnerabilities associated with citizens’ online activities look set to continue deepening…” / full item

“The space economy could be worth close to $1 trillion in the next 10 years… in 2024, the space economy market was worth just under $600 billion…” / full item

Nokia is to deploy the first cellular network on the Moon as part of Intuitive Machines mission, integrating hardware onto the IM-2 launch set for February / full item
OASIS Open launches standardization initiative, the Space Automated Threat Intelligence Sharing (SATIS) Technical Committee / full item

Also available:
● Asia’s Tech News, Weekly >
● Indo-Pacific Insight, Weekly >

Download: ‘Seraphim Space Index Q4 2024’, a quarterly review of global private investment in space technologies (pdf link) / full item
Apple acquired a 20% stake in Globalstar satellite-telecoms firm, making a $1.5BN investment in satellite-focused iPhone connectivity / full item
SpaceX ‘rideshare’ mission deployed more than 130 satellites, with payload featuring a range of imaging sats, a ‘pharmaceutical reactor’, and sats for NASA / full item
…nearly 200 miles west of Dallas, the first data center associated with the $100BN Stargate venture from OpenAI, SoftBank Group Corp. and Oracle Corp is taking shape. / full item
Australia: An intro to Earth AI following $20M Series B funding, using geophysical survey data, remote sensing and satellite data, and more, to identify critical mineral deposits / full item
Australia: Electralith raises $27.5M Series A to further develop sustainable, environmentally-friendly lithium extraction technology / full item
Japan: Nine major companies and institutions, including Fujitsu and Institute of Science Tokyo, partner for world-first integrated system to combat deepfakes and false information / full item
UK government to enact legislation, making the creation and sharing of sexually explicit deepfakes a criminal offence / full item

Google Cloud Security: Threat Horizons H1 2025 Report

DeepSeek – What the Headlines Miss: “Real export restrictions on AI chips only started in October 2023, making claims about their ineffectiveness premature…” / full item
Unlike traditional AI systems… AI agents can interact with external systems, make decisions and complete complex tasks on their own. / full item
China: Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, EAST, achieves milestone by maintaining plasma operation for 1066 seconds, a key moment in nuclear fusion research / full item
China built out record amount of wind and solar power in 2024 – The nation put up 357 gigawatts of solar and wind, a 45% and 18% increase… / full item
Powering the Future – Overcoming Battery Supply-Chain Challenges with Circularity: “…minerals often travel more than 50,000 nautical miles from the mine to the batterycell factory…” / full item
China unveils ‘Crimson Skyblade’ in nuclear fusion quest for unlimited clean energy’ / full item
Korea Institute of Energy Tech inks MOU with Deep Fission, US startup working in nuclear energy, for a project working on small nuclear reactors / full item
Saudi Arabia announces new critical minerals investment project valued at $100BN, with JV between state-owned Aramco oil giant and Ma’aden mining firm also in place / full item
Quantum Brilliance, Australian-German firm, raised $20M Series A for portable quantum accelerators, aiming to boost computational power across data centres, robots, satellites and more / full item
Quantum teleportation has been demonstrated over a fiber optic cable carrying classical traffic (like the Internet) for the first time. The work suggests it will be possible to take advantage of the benefits quantum communication offers without building a whole new infrastructure in parallel to what already exists / full item
China: Research institute floats possibility of high-end RISC-V processors for data centers in 2025, taking RISC-V to a new level of chip competition / full item
China: Jielong-3 solid rocket launched from a mobile sea platform, placing 10 Centispace sats into orbit to boost signals from systems including Beidou and GPS / full item
In Sept 2024, over 30 companies including TSMC formed the Silicon Photonics Industry Alliance, SiPhIA, to focus on the next generation of chip energy and data transmission / full item

Indo-Pacific Insight: Tech, trade, supply, space, geopolitics…

Taiwan: Phoenix Silicon, the global no. 2 supplier of reclaimed wafers, broke ground on a new $76.3M plant in Taichung, expanding capacity to meet rising demand driven by the AI boom / full item
Singapore: Micron chips major is to invest $7BN across 5 years in chip manufacturing in Singapore, with construction also commencing on a new HBM packaging facility / full item
NVIDIA and TSMC prep for collaboration on silicon photonics tech, looking to boost data center efficiency / full item
NVIDIA unveils Project Digits, a ‘personal AI supercomputer’ that runs the entire NVIDIA AI stack: It’s a cloud computing platform that sits on your desk… / full item
Japan’s Rapidus preps to provide 2nm chip samples to US semicon giant, Broadcom, with trial production set for April 2025, and mass production scheduled for 2027 / full item
Taiwan’s TSMC has begun production of 4-nanometer chips in Arizona / full item
Startup Funding in Q4 2024, from Semiconductor Engineering, capturing developments in chips, materials, artificial intelligence, memory, quantum computing and more / full item
What RISC-V Means for the Future of Chip Development’ from CSIS / full item
Bangladesh Government has approved the National Semiconductor Taskforce ‘to advance Bangladesh’s capabilities in testing, assembly, and chip design’ / full item
China: Big Fund 3, a $47BN state-backed fund, launched phase 3 with investments into 2 other funds focused on the country’s semiconductor and advanced-tech industries / full item
South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix secure promised funding for semiconductor plants in the US, tho uncertainty remains around possible Trump administration adjustments / full item
NVIDIA unveils products including AI focused on robots and cars, advanced gaming chips, first NVIDIA desktop computer, and Toyota Motor deal for chips and software / full item
China’s surging electric vehicle output has ignited demand for automotive chips, but domestic firms remain reliant on foreign suppliers for more than 90 per cent of their needs… / full item
A brief overview of the challenges facing Bangladesh as it tries to position to take advantage of semiconductor industry opportunities / full item
Taiwan: Executive Yuan approves ‘Southern Silicon Valley’ project to boost AI and semicon industries in Chiayi County, Tainan, Pingtung County, and Kaohsiung / full item

ISEAS: Trends in Southeast Asia

South Korea: Ministry of SMEs & Startups unveils $2.23BN startups support plan for 2025, spanning 429 startup support programs led by 101 organizations / full item
India: SEMI is planning an Indian Semiconductor Academy to further boost the country’s chip ambitions, looking to partner technical institutes and universities for curricula and training / full item
Taiwan: Foxconn subsidiary Fii Holdings USA takes equity stakes in 8 US companies in $344M investment, part of ongoing moves to diversify supply chains / full item
China: ‘Legacy’ chips used in everyday goods are set to face additional US tariffs in a bid to protect market-driven producers from heavily state-subsidised competition / full item
India successfully launched a navigation satellite aboard a domestically-produced rocket, boosting its independent satellite positioning system / full item
7 Indian privately-held startups chosen for first-of-its-kind India-US space and defence collaboration programme / full item
The Philippine Space Agency, PhilSA, has opened applications to its Advanced Degrees for Accelerating Strategic Space R&D and Applications – AD ASTRA – Scholarships Program / full item
The Philippine Space Agency in late October 2024 formally became a full member of the International Astronautical Federation / full item
India: Pixxel, a Google-backed space-tech firm, successfully launched 3 of 6 hyperspectral imaging satellites aboard a SpaceX rocket / full item
Taiwan: PARUS-T1 micro-satellite, designed and produced by Taiwan Space Agency, launched via SpaceX Transporter-12 and successfully achieved orbit / full item
Japan: ispace Resilience lunar lander launched with SpaceX from Kennedy Space Center, expected to reach the moon and attempt landing towards the end of May / full item
India completes Space Docking Experiment, SpaDeX, docking 2 spacecraft in orbit around 475 kilometers above the Earth, becoming the fourth country to achieve this / full item
Australian Space Summit & Exhibition 2025 – Aus Space 25 – is set for May 27-28 in Sydney / full item
Australia: A very brief snapshot of the country’s role in SpaceX Starship launches and recoveries / full item
Australia: Kongsberg-Starsite partnership preps to build a 20-meter antenna in Western Australia, delivering a critical component in Moon mission support / full item

ORF: A New EU-India Strategic Agenda in 2025

Australia: Telstra partners SpaceX’s Starlink for sat-to-mobile text messaging, particularly for connectivity in remote and regional areas / full item
Japan: Toyota moves into space technology with $44M investment in Interstellar Technologies as it pursues mass production of launch rockets / full item
China: Shijian-25 satellite launches to test on-orbit refuelling, and tech to extend satellite lifespans / full item
China: Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co reports satellite-to-ground laser transmission milestone of 100Gbps, for high-resolution imagery, a speed equivalent to 10 full movies in 1 second / full item
…beyond the capabilities of Google Earth, the Soar platform draws on spatial data from… climatic patterns, historical photos and more – and puts it all in one free, open-access and searchable place / full item
Vietnam: An overview of the potential for SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet services opportunity in the country / full item
China: An overview of new-generation Long March rockets, commercially-developed launch vehicles, and others, that are expected to see their first flights in 2025 / full item
China: Shanghai Gesi Aerospace Technology, aka Genesat, raised $137M to further develop manufacturing for the 14000-sat G60 Starlink mega-constellation, aka Qianfan and Thousand Sails / full item
India successfully launched the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, in part to test docking tech needed for future space missions / full item
Japan: An intro to ArkEdge Space, a low-cost micro and nano-satellite firm working on issues including disaster recovery and relief, sustainable development and more / full item
China: Nayuta Space gains funding to develop reusable stainless steel rockets using methane-liquid oxygen engines, looking to achieve reusability of both 1st and 2nd rocket stages / full item
China: Fourth batch of 18 sats for the planned 14000-satellite ‘Thousand Sails mega-constellation launched via Long March 6A rocket, successfully achieving orbit / full item

Old age poverty and active ageing in ASEAN: Trends

Here’s a brief look at the implications of India’s decision to allocate, rather than auction, satellite spectrum, a decision that introduces opportunities for firms including SpaceX / full item
China: Researchers move to assess viability of laser-delivered, wireless power transmission from lunar orbiters to supply spacecraft during long night on the moon’s surface / full item
India: OrbitAID raises $1.5M pre-seed funding for in-space demo of docking and refuelling operations, looking to expand facilities for on-orbit servicing operations / full item
Last year, the Union Cabinet approved a $119M VC fund focused on the growth of India’s space sector, managed by the Indian Nat’l Space Promotion & Authorization Center, IN-SPACe / full item
An introduction to 5 of Australia’s high-performance space firms, and the people behind them / full item
India: More on the Indian Space Research Organisation Space Docking Experiment, SpaDeX, recently delivered to orbit for testing / full item
China completes world-first satellite-based remote surgeries, with operations conducted via Apstar-6D broadband satellite 36,000km above the planet / full item
Indian Space Research Org’n is planning 10 orbital launches in 2025, potentially taking launch activity to double figures for the first time; and a first crewed flight, H1, possibly in 2026 / full item
Yamaha Motor and BMW have backed Phoenix Tailings, a US-based rare earths processing firm boasting minimal emissions, adding to diversification of supply chains / full item
The space economy could be worth close to $1 trillion in the next 10 years… in 2024, the space economy market was worth just under $600 billion… / full item
The Annual Letter from the Future Today Institute, looking at 2025 Macro Themes, and delivering the 2024 Signals Review / full item
Taiwan’s MediaTek inks agreement with Italy’s Exein to embed Exein cybersecurity systems on billions of chips under MediaTek’s Genio platform / full item
Singapore: Germany’s Siltronic chipmaker and Taiwan’s Vanguard Int’l chip firm have partnered Institute of Tech Education to develop students for roles in Singapore’s semiconductor industry / full item
Malaysia: Economy minister sees Malaysia producing its own chips and GPUs in 5-10 years, boosted by growing data center investments in the country / full item
China: Research institute floats possibility of high-end RISC-V processors for data centers in 2025, taking RISC-V to a new level of chip competition / full item
…wrong to conclude that export controls aren’t working just because DeepSeek has developed a model that’s as good or nearly as good as OpenAI’s. That conclusion would be mistaken for 2 reasons… / full item

Indonesia: Project Garuda, central bank digital currency (pdf link)

Vietnam: Government issues decree providing support up to 50% of initial investment costs for businesses in semiconductor and AI R&D / full item
Japan: TSMC commences production at Kumamoto Prefecture plant, manufacturing 12-28nm chips for cars and image sensors, with Governor proposing a third TSMC plant / full item
Thailand: In December, Foxconn subsidiary UNIQUE Integrated Technology gained approval for a $306M factory build to export semiconductor machinery and equipment / full item
China Aerospace Science & Tech Corp’n completes satellite launch for Pakistan, the first of a planned 3-sat group / full item
In December, the Pacific Islands nation of Nauru inaugurated the region’s first Starlink Community Gateway / full item
How is the $500bn Stargate Project poised to impact India’s AI landscape? …will pave the way for collaboration opportunities between the two countries especially on the talent front / full item

Invested: Australia’s Southeast Asia Strategy Economic Strategy to 2040

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