Singapore AI News & Daily Briefing

Kong Inc., a company that helps connect AI systems to apps and data, has launched its Kong Konnect platform in Singapore with dedicated cloud gateways and regional hosting. This means Singapore organizations can now use its tools to safely connect AI to their systems.

Nvidia used its GTC Taipei event at Computex to announce RTX Spark for Windows laptops and detailed updates on Vera, Vera Rubin, DSX, and DOCA for AI data centers. These are new processors and infrastructure tools aimed at making AI work better on regular computers and in data centers.

US tech stocks now make up a larger share of the S&P 500 than during the dotcom bubble, and investors are getting nervous about whether AI companies are really worth what they're being valued at. A stumble in AI stocks could shake the whole market.

Quantum computers promise to one day solve problems beyond the most powerful supercomputers imaginable. But it’s often underappreciated how much classical computing it takes just to operate these machines. As qubit counts rise, innovations in this supporting infrastructure will be essential if they’re to live up to their promise. To prepare for the scale of quantum computers the industry is working toward, many companies are also gearing up the classical hardware, and software, required to support them. In April, Nvidia announced new AI-based software to accelerate the classical tasks that enable quantum computers. Sydney-based quantum software company Q-CTRL has developed an automatic calibration algorithm for quantum computers, and is now leveraging Nvidia’s agent-based system. Other com

This sponsored article is brought to you by Black & Veatch . The biggest challenge facing utilities today isn’t what it seems. It’s not demand, even as load growth accelerates. It’s not extreme weather, even as “major events” become routine. It’s not cybersecurity, even as connections expand across the grid. The real challenge is this: Distribution systems were designed for a different reality. Long gone are the days of predictable demand, one-way power flow and isolated disruptions. At Black & Veatch, we see that leading utilities are no longer debating whether to modernize. They’re deciding how quickly they can do it, and how to do it at scale. Across grid modernization programs globally, three truths consistently emerge. They define what it takes to prepare the distribution system for w

OpenAI has released an upgraded version of GPT-Rosalind, its specialized AI model for life sciences research. The new model shows improved performance in drug discovery tasks like medicinal chemistry, genomics, and lab troubleshooting, while using less computing power. OpenAI also introduced new scientific benchmarks and plugins to help researchers analyze biological data more efficiently.

OpenAI has published a policy blueprint advising the US government on how to regulate advanced AI systems. The proposal suggests building on existing state-level AI safety laws, strengthening federal oversight bodies, and creating a broader national resilience plan for AI-related security risks.

New graduates’ careers are unfolding in an era when AI is not optional. The most successful engineers treat artificial intelligence as leverage, not competition. Here are seven tips to help keep young professionals in demand no matter how quickly the field’s tools evolve. 1. Master the fundamentals first. AI tools can help you code, but you still need strong fundamentals in: Data structures and algorithms for problem-solving. Operating systems, databases, and networking for system-level understanding. Core programming languages such as C++ , Java , and Python . AI can autocomplete syntax, but if you don’t understand how things work under the hood, you’re likely to struggle to debug or optimize. 2. Learn how to work with AI, not against it. The best engineers will not try to out-code AI. In

OpenAI has published its public policy agenda covering AI safety, youth protection, workforce changes, and international standards. The company says it wants to help ensure AI benefits society broadly.

Singtel's InfraCo has launched an AI Center of Excellence with Nvidia to help enterprises and government agencies test and deploy AI solutions. The initiative supports Singapore's goal to build sovereign AI infrastructure—systems that keep data within national borders and meet local security rules. Plans include data centers across Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, with Singapore as the template. For businesses and government agencies here, this means a local place to experiment with AI tools using Nvidia's platforms and Singtel's cloud services, rather than relying entirely on US-based providers.

Malaysia's banks and financial institutions are being pushed to prepare for quantum computing threats that could break today's encryption. At a recent industry summit, IBM and other tech leaders warned that quantum computers may arrive by 2029 and could crack the cryptographic systems protecting banking transactions. Financial firms are being urged to inventory their encryption systems and plan a transition to quantum-safe security before it's too late. The risk of 'harvest now, decrypt later' attacks—where criminals save encrypted data today for future decryption—is driving urgency.

Singapore-based Hello Ello's Vision One care camera uses AI to help families monitor ageing parents at home, reducing the need for constant calls or intrusive security cameras. The device has launched in Malaysia, expanding beyond Singapore.

AI notetaker startup Plaud is pouring $10 million into Singapore, growing its local team from 100 to 150 people by end-2026. The company, known for its credit card-size voice recorder that AI-transcribes calls and meetings, is making Singapore its Asia-Pacific hub for cloud infrastructure, AI development, and regional operations. Asia-Pacific is expected to generate $100 million in revenue this year—about a quarter of Plaud's total. They're hiring AI engineers, agent architects, and data scientists.

Shopee has begun laying off around 8% of its global developer workforce, including employees in Singapore, as the e-commerce giant pivots towards AI. The cuts primarily hit product and engineering teams in Singapore. Affected staff were reportedly offered severance of one month salary per year of service plus two extra months. Shopee's parent company Sea Ltd is ramping up AI initiatives, including a recent partnership with Google to develop AI-powered shopping agents. The Creative Media and Publishing Union was informed in advance and had representatives on site to assist affected employees.

US AI note-taking startup Plaud is investing over S$10 million to expand its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore, hiring up to 150 employees by end of 2026. The Singapore office will handle regional strategy and contribute to global AI development, including AI agents and workflow automation. This brings Plaud's total workforce to over 600 globally.

Malaysia-based GreatAsic has raised $6.9 million to design custom AI chips for data centers, edge AI, and automotive markets. The company is among the first in Malaysia to access Arm's semiconductor technology, aiming to move the country beyond chip assembly and testing into higher-value chip design. Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, based in Singapore, led the funding round.

Nearly one in five industrial control systems worldwide was hit by a cyberattack in Q1 2026, with Southeast Asia ranking as the most targeted region for manufacturing sector attacks. Kaspersky found 19.4 to 19.6 percent of ICS computers globally had malicious objects blocked. This threatens factories, supply chains, and infrastructure across the region.

Monitoring firm Datadog held its annual DASH 2026 conference in Singapore, unveiling fully autonomous AI agents for its platform and new defenses specifically designed to protect businesses from AI agent-based attacks. As AI agents gain more autonomy, so do the risks they face.

A Google DeepMind economist says AI isn't causing an immediate jobs bloodbath, but warns that layoffs could cascade through industries as AI adoption accelerates. The economist suggests the transition will be gradual rather than sudden, but certain sectors may face significant workforce shifts as companies automate more tasks.

AI jobs in Singapore are paying off big time — salaries for AI roles have climbed 15 to 25% in the past year, with fresh graduates starting at $70,000-$90,000 annually. Top experts can command close to $350,000 in total compensation. Both Chinese and US tech firms are aggressively recruiting from Singapore's universities, with Chinese companies offering up to $200,000 a year to entice PhD holders. OpenAI has also committed over $300 million to Singapore's AI sector, creating 200+ technical roles. The demand is so high that AI roles take longer to fill than other professional positions, but experts say most jobs don't require a PhD — a good bachelor's degree plus practical skills can get you in.

Akamai has crossed US$1 billion in annual revenue from Asia Pacific for 2025, marking a shift from traditional content delivery to edge AI inference and distributed cloud services. The company appointed a new leader to drive this pivot. For users, edge AI means faster, localized processing — potentially snappier AI features in apps and services without relying on distant data centers.

Anext Bank, a Singapore digital wholesale bank backed by Ant International, plans to offer GPU financing—letting companies borrow money using their AI hardware (like Nvidia chips) as collateral. The bank, which mainly serves small businesses, sees AI infrastructure financing as a growth opportunity and a way to expand its lending business. This comes as competition among Singapore digital banks intensifies.

The 'AI will kill SaaS' narrative from Silicon Valley doesn't hold in Southeast Asia. The region's software market remains underpenetrated and fragmented, and companies built on offline sales networks and local customer support are harder for AI-native challengers to displace quickly. Investor sentiment has shifted away from pure-play SaaS, but deal volume in 2026 is higher than 2025 and expected to match the 2020 peak.

Anthropic has raised $65 billion in Series H funding, valuing the AI company at $965 billion—more than double its previous valuation of $380 billion. This is one of the biggest funding rounds in AI history, signaling massive investor confidence in the sector. The Claude-maker joins competitors like OpenAI ($122B raise) in the race for AI dominance. The article does not name the new investors but notes GIC and Coatue previously backed the company.

US AI chip startup D-Matrix has raised $275 million in Series C funding, reaching a $2 billion valuation. The company makes hardware for AI 'inference' — running AI models after training — which could challenge NVIDIA's dominance in data centers. Investors include Singapore's Temasek and EDBI, showing strong Southeast Asian backing for alternative AI chip makers.

Google is overhauling its Gemini app with new AI features including Daily Brief (personalized summaries from your inbox and calendar), Spark (an advanced feature for Ultra subscribers), and Omni (expanding to YouTube Shorts and Google Flow). The company says Gemini now has over 900 million monthly users and is restructuring its subscription tiers to keep users inside Google's ecosystem rather than switching to rivals.

A new survey shows 86% of Asia Pacific banks believe AI is making fraud harder to catch — and 79% have already faced attacks using AI agents. Fraud losses are steep: nearly half of banks lose over $10 million yearly, and customers lose another $10 million+ to scams annually. Two-thirds of banks admit their anti-fraud measures are so strict they actually drive customers away. The fix? 93% of bankers want better information sharing between banks to catch scammers in real time.

A fire at a third-party data centre facility triggered a Google Cloud outage in India, causing service disruptions. The incident highlights the risks of relying on third-party infrastructure and the knock-on effects when facilities fail, affecting businesses and services dependent on cloud computing.

Second Nature, an Israeli AI startup that trains sales and service teams through AI-powered virtual roleplay conversations, has raised $22 million in Series B funding. The platform supports 20 languages and counts Zoom, Oracle, Adobe, and Check Point as clients. The company claims customers see sales rises exceeding 20% and reduce onboarding time by up to three weeks. This signals growing enterprise demand for AI-driven workplace training tools.

CloudMile, an Asian cloud solutions firm founded in 2017, has evolved from a Google Cloud reseller into a specialized AI consultancy. The company helps enterprises move from AI experiments into actual deployment using tools like BigQuery and Google's Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform. In one example, CloudMile worked with Singapore's Economic Development Board to set up an AI sandbox for 18 companies to rapidly build prototypes. It also helped Malaysia's Media Prima roll out AI tools to 260 users, which powered Project Thric3 — Malaysia's first AI boy band. Singapore's Senior Minister of State Tan Kiat How publicly recognized CloudMile's work helping logistics firm iHub Solutions become at least 50% more productive through genAI tools.

Hong Kong electronics maker Yeebo has launched what it calls the city's first token-based AI cloud platform through its Suanova unit, partnering with telecom firm HKBN. The platform pools GPU computing capacity and lets users pay for AI processing by the token—similar to buying mobile data minutes. This 'neocloud' model targets a market projected to hit $400 billion by 2031 as demand for AI computing outstrips traditional cloud providers. The approach also feeds into 'sovereign AI' trends, where companies keep data within regional borders instead of relying on global hyperscalers.

Crypto exchange Bitget has launched the Bitget Wallet Card in select Asia-Pacific markets, letting users spend stablecoins like USDT and USDC through Mastercard and Visa networks. The card links to Apple Pay and Google Pay with instant digital approval. However, the service explicitly excludes Singapore users despite the city-state being a major regional crypto hub. Key details on fees, spending limits, and the card issuer are missing.

Singapore's Criminal Investigation Department is now using AI, 3D scanners, and drones to crack cases faster. Officers can recreate crime scenes digitally in a quarter of the time it used to take, and AI helps process mountains of documents in hours instead of months. The tools assist investigators but won't replace human judgment.

## **Salaries for AI roles in Singapore have climbed 15-25% in the last 12 months** Artificial intelligence builders are winning even as AI is used to justify cutting jobs in big tech and global banks. In Singapore, salaries for workers developing these systems are climbing up to five times faster than average wages. The pay for AI roles has climbed 15–25% in the past year, with fresh hires starting at S$70,000–S$90,000 annually, according to [a Robert Walters report cited by _The Straits Times_](https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/ai-salaries-in-singapore-rise-as-demand-for-talent-grows-phd-not-always-required?ref=top-story). Meanwhile, overall nominal wages for full-time workers rose 4.9% in 2025, down from 5.6% in 2024, per [Ministry of Manpower figures](https://www.mom.gov.sg/newsro

Nvidia has bought Kumo AI for over $400 million — a startup that builds AI models to predict business outcomes (like which customers will cancel) directly from company databases, without months of custom engineering. The deal pushes Nvidia further from just selling chips into owning the software layer enterprises run on. It also puts Nvidia inside platforms like Snowflake and Databricks that rely on Nvidia's GPUs.

Anthropic's new Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models are sparking debate. The company secretly degrades responses when it detects users working on frontier AI research, and routes some requests to less capable models without telling users. Anthropic says it's a safety measure to prevent misuse of powerful AI. Critics call it unfair to researchers and argue it concentrates power among leading AI labs. Experts are divided — some see genuine safety concerns, others see competitive tactics.

Tech companies are now the world's most attacked by cybercriminals, with China-linked hackers behind nearly 60% of state-sponsored attacks on tech firms. The goal: stealing AI secrets and intellectual property that China can't develop fast enough on its own.

Geoffrey Hinton, one of the pioneers of modern AI, says Russia's invasion of Ukraine changed how he thinks about AI in war. The conflict showed him how quickly modern warfare moves and made him more concerned about autonomous weapons that could make life-or-death decisions without humans in the loop. Hinton, who left Google in 2023 over AI safety concerns, has become increasingly vocal about the risks of letting machines control lethal outcomes on the battlefield.

Samsung SDS has flagged five major cybersecurity threats for 2026: AI-driven attacks, ransomware, cloud vulnerabilities, phishing, and data breaches. The threats can chain together—phishing opens the door, cloud gaps let attackers move undetected, and then ransomware or data theft follows. As AI and autonomous agents grow, attackers can craft smarter phishing and find cloud weaknesses faster. For everyday users, this means more sophisticated scams in your inbox and higher stakes if companies you trust get hit. The "quadruple extortion" ransomware approach—combining encryption, leaks, attacks, and blackmail—raises the pressure on businesses to pay up.

Rubrik, a cyber resilience company, unveiled two new AI-powered products at its Rubrik Forward 2026 event. The first, Rubrik AI, adds autonomous recovery features — meaning systems can now fix themselves after attacks without human intervention. The second is a purpose-built backup tool for developers using Anthropic's Claude Code. Rubrik claims it's the first security vendor to offer this level of self-healing alongside AI coding tool protection.

Global markets are swinging wildly as investors balance AI-driven tech optimism against oil supply risks from the U.S.-Iran conflict. When AI enthusiasm wins, stocks rally; when oil shock fears spike, markets tank. This makes traditional investing diversification harder since even unrelated assets move together. Taiwan's chip exports are surging from AI demand, but stagflation risks loom if oil prices stay high.

Update on As companies rethink AI ROI, Replit's AI chief calls token leaderboards 'very dystopian'. Coverage via Yahoo Singapore Tech.

Replit's AI chief is speaking out against how companies measure AI success using 'token leaderboards,' calling the practice 'very dystopian.' As businesses pour money into AI and scrutinize returns, this critique highlights growing concerns about whether the industry is tracking the right metrics for AI value and safety.

Germany's Infineon and Vietnam's VinRobotics—a robotics arm of conglomerate Vingroup—have signed a deal to co-develop humanoid robots. A joint competency center will open in Hanoi, combining VinRobotics' AI and robotics skills with Infineon's chips, power systems, and sensors. Infineon says each humanoid robot needs about $500 worth of semiconductors. The partnership aims to deploy robots across factories, service industries, and homes, with Vietnam positioned as a new robotics development hub serving domestic and international markets.

Indian wealthtech startup HyperNorm AI raised $2.2 million in funding. The article also covers Endowus, a Singapore-based wealthtech firm, whose 2023 losses widened to S$30.6 million despite revenue growing over 2x to US$15.4 million—largely due to an acquisition made in 2022.

A new cybersecurity centre has been launched to combat what officials describe as daily digital threats. The centre will focus on protecting critical infrastructure, businesses, and individuals from hacking, ransomware, and other cyberattacks. Details on its exact location and government backing were not fully available in the source.

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll reveals that roughly half of Americans worry AI could take a job from someone in their household. This signals growing public anxiety about automation replacing human workers. While the survey focuses on the US, it reflects a global mood — including in Singapore where AI adoption is accelerating.

OpenAI is preparing to file a confidential IPO prospectus with US regulators, potentially becoming one of the biggest market debuts in AI. The company has been valued over $850 billion by private investors and is working with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Any public filing must disclose its complex financial ties to Microsoft, which holds exclusive rights to OpenAI's technology through Azure. This IPO would set a new public market benchmark for AI companies and could intensify the broader AI infrastructure spending race among tech giants.

SoftBank is riding high on its OpenAI bet. The Japanese tech giant posted a massive $11.6 billion profit last quarter thanks to gains in its Vision Fund, which holds a big stake in OpenAI. SoftBank has now pledged another $30 billion to OpenAI this year, bringing its total commitment to $64 billion for roughly 13% of the company.

Anthropic's AI security tool called Project Glasswing has found over 10,000 severe software bugs across open-source projects during trials with 50 partners. Independent security firms verified that 90.6% of reviewed findings were real vulnerabilities, including 2,000 bugs found at Cloudflare and 271 fixed in Firefox. Anthropic says AI is now outpacing human ability to review and patch security flaws.

Anthropic has released its most powerful AI model to date, but immediately restricted access due to overwhelming demand. The rationing highlights the gap between AI capability advancements and the infrastructure needed to serve them widely.

SK Group will invest $87.9 billion in South Korea through 2028 to build four new chip factories at its Yongin semiconductor cluster. SK hynix, its memory chip unit, is also working on a government-backed 'Trinity Fab' project for chip research. The investment targets AI chip demand, with SK hynix already locked into 2026 supply deals for HBM memory used in AI processors. SK Telecom is separately building an AI data center in Ulsan with Amazon Web Services.

Broadcom confirmed Anthropic as the mystery customer behind a $10 billion custom AI chip order, with a new $11 billion order placed recently. Anthropic spreads workloads across Google TPUs, Amazon Trainium, and Nvidia GPUs rather than relying on a single vendor. This multi-chip strategy reflects how major AI labs are building flexible, independent infrastructure rather than locking into one supplier.

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South Korea's government approved a $381 million investment in AI startup Upstage through its National Growth Fund, marking the fund's second direct investment in AI. Upstage develops AI software and language models and is valued at over $680 million. This is part of Korea's plan to build a $102 billion fund over five years to support AI, biotech, and semiconductor startups amid intensifying global tech rivalry.

Apple just wrapped up its WWDC event where CEO Tim Cook showcased a major overhaul of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence. The new Siri can handle more complex, multi-step tasks across apps, understand context better, and integrate more deeply with iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It's Apple's answer to ChatGPT-style AI features and will roll out across its devices.

Chinese government-backed hackers remain the top national security threat to technology companies worldwide, according to a new CrowdStrike report. These groups conduct espionage campaigns aligned with Beijing's priorities, targeting tech firms for intellectual property and sensitive data. Meanwhile, financially-motivated cybercrime accounts for 65% of hands-on hacking attacks on tech companies overall, showing two distinct threat landscapes companies must defend against simultaneously.

SK Telecom announced a $500 million AI fund with Japanese partner NTT, paired with plans to build 1-gigawatt AI data centers across South Korea. The company is overhauling its telecom systems for AI, upgrading its 519-billion parameter AI model to over 1 trillion parameters, and developing an AI phone that organizes calls and schedules. SK Telecom is betting on AI to recover from a 73% profit drop caused by a major cyberattack affecting 27 million customers.

Major US banks are ramping up AI deployment, with JPMorgan reporting doubled productivity in some areas and Citigroup seeing 9% gains in coding speed. Goldman Sachs is deploying AI across sales, client onboarding, and regulatory work, with executives warning of potential job cuts ahead. Bank of America plans to invest billions more. Regulators are watching closely — the OCC has flagged rapid AI adoption as a potential risk to financial stability.

Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike is buying identity security startup SGNL for US$740 million to handle a new problem: AI agents that need access to company systems. SGNL makes split-second decisions about who or what gets access based on live data, rather than relying on old batch-jobs and fixed permissions. One automotive client cut 30,000 static access roles down to six dynamic policies. The deal aims to let CrowdStrike's Falcon platform manage human, non-human, and AI agent identities dynamically — granting or revoking access in real time.

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar says AI will end the era of "sampling checks" in corporate finance — instead of randomly checking a few invoices, AI can verify every single record instantly. She argues this shifts finance workers from manual data entry into strategic roles like pricing analysis and economic research. Friar also pushes for workplaces to schedule time for employees to experiment with AI tools, and for schools to design assignments where student thinking remains visible despite AI assistance. But critics note that while AI can check more records, humans still decide which exceptions matter and who is accountable when the system is wrong.

Crusoe, which operates massive data centers powering OpenAI and Oracle in Texas, raised $1.4 billion in new funding, pushing its valuation past $10 billion. Investors include Nvidia, Founders Fund, and Salesforce Ventures. The capital will fund more hardware purchases and hiring as demand for AI computing power keeps growing. The company now employs over 1,000 people.

Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng is doubling down on robotics—CEO He Xiaopeng announced he will personally lead the company's robotics division as it races toward mass-producing humanoid robots by the end of 2026. The IRON robots, which debuted last year, will first appear in Xpeng's retail stores before being sold to commercial customers in China and overseas from 2027. The company is pivoting toward 'physical AI' spanning humanoids, robotaxis, and flying cars, expecting robotics to become a major revenue driver.

Adobe has launched two new AI agents on its Experience Platform specifically designed for Asian marketers, responding to research showing 69% of marketing practitioners in the region feel pressured to implement generative AI tools. The Product Support Agent helps marketing and customer experience teams navigate the platform more efficiently, aiming to reduce operational strain on teams.

Meta has cut close to a dozen jobs in India across ad sales, marketing, and individual contributor roles, offering four to six months of salary as severance. The cuts are part of a broader restructuring affecting about 20% of Meta's global workforce — roughly 8,000 roles being cut and 7,000 being reassigned. Despite the layoffs, Meta is raising its 2026 capital expenditure guidance to US$125–145 billion, linked to its AI investments. India remains Meta's largest market for Meta AI usage.

Update on Anthropic Launches Mythos With Six Features You Absolutely Need. Coverage via Yahoo Singapore Tech.

Chinese companies are quietly cutting staff while ramping up AI tools, a phenomenon dubbed 'quiet layoffs.' Rather than announcing big restructuring, firms are replacing roles with AI software or simply not filling vacated positions. Workers in customer service, content creation, and administrative roles face the biggest impact as Beijing actively encourages AI adoption across industries.

Indian startup SwishX uses AI agents to automate pharmaceutical distribution—reading government tenders, drafting bids, digitizing hospital contracts, and predicting stock-outs. The platform has already cut revenue leakage from 25% to 7% for pharma companies and processed $400 million in orders. For patients and healthcare systems, smoother pharma distribution means fewer drug shortages and better pricing transparency at hospitals.

The EU General Court upheld that Meta's Messenger must remain designated as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act, meaning Meta must comply with interoperability requirements. The ruling forces Meta to open its platforms to rival AI chatbots—potentially affecting how WhatsApp is used by AI companies in Europe.

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_Welcome to Tech in Asia’s daily newsletter, your essential dose of Asia’s tech and startup buzz. Not yet a subscriber? [Register here](https://www.techinasia.com/subscription?utm\_source=web&utm\_medium=article&utm\_campaign=dailynewsletter). Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected]._ ## In focus * ​​A roller coaster couple of days for [Asian AI stocks](https://www.techinasia.com/tech-rout-sweeps-asia-ai-rally-jitters-spark-selloff) * ​​A look into our archives for some [AI bubble](https://www.techinasia.com/whos-afraid-big-bad-ai-bubble-2026) predictions * OpenAI moves closer to an [IPO](https://www.techinasia.com/news/openai-confidentially-filed-ipo) * * * Hello reader, Pretty soon, the household names of the AI era are going to discover just how fickle the markets can be, as

Xpeng's humanoid robot IRON fell during its first public demo at a Shenzhen shopping mall. The CEO called it normal learning—comparable to children learning to walk. The robot features human-like movement and runs on an all-solid-state battery, with Xpeng planning service roles like reception and retail help. The stumble highlights that hardware durability remains a major hurdle before humanoid robots can work reliably around people.

Unitree, a leading Chinese robotics company, has closed a Series C funding round at a valuation exceeding US$2 billion. Backed by giants like Tencent, Alibaba, and Ant Group, Unitree makes robotic dogs and humanoid robots widely used in homes, inspections, logistics, and global AI research labs. The company gained massive attention after appearing on China's Spring Festival Gala. Investors are pouring capital into robotics as AI integration becomes a key differentiator, with AI-native platforms commanding significantly higher valuations than hardware-only solutions.

AI cloud provider CoreWeave is considering issuing euro bonds to raise capital as it expands its data center network across Europe. The company operates nearly 50 data centers in North America and Europe, with recent expansion into Norway, Sweden, and Spain. The bond sale would help fund further global growth as demand for AI computing infrastructure surges.

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University have built a tiny robot—just 4.4 mm long, about the size of a sesame seed—that can move inside the body, cut tissue, release drugs, grip and store samples, and generate heat remotely. It combines five surgical functions into one device small enough to fit on a fingertip, potentially enabling less invasive procedures.

China is planning a massive $295 billion push to build AI data centers — and explicitly aims to sideline Nvidia in the process. The plan prioritises domestic chipmakers like Huawei over American hardware, signalling a deeper push toward tech self-reliance. This could reshape global AI infrastructure competition and affect supply chains worldwide.

Broadcom released what it calls the largest set of security updates in the 23-year history of the Spring framework, a widely used open-source tool for building enterprise applications. The update addresses an unprecedented surge in vulnerabilities detected by AI systems. This affects countless businesses worldwide that rely on Spring for their software infrastructure.

AI salaries in Singapore are booming, climbing 15-25% in the past year — roughly five times faster than average wages. Fresh graduates can now start at S$70,000-S$90,000 in AI roles, while top experts command up to S$350,000. OpenAI, Anthropic, and Chinese tech firms are all competing aggressively for Singapore-based AI talent, with some offering S$200,000+ for PhD holders. The talent shortage is real — employers take longer to fill AI roles than almost any other position. The bright side: senior AI leaders tend to build local teams, creating downstream opportunities for graduates and mid-career professionals who build the right skills.

Samsung is rolling out AI-powered cooking features to its smart fridges, letting users browse recipes, set timers, and adjust oven temperatures directly from the fridge screen. The feature links to your Samsung ecosystem — so when you pick a recipe, it can pre-cool the fridge's conversion zone for thawed meat, or sync with a compatible oven to start preheating automatically. It works with Samsung Food, the company's AI-driven meal planning app that learned your dietary preferences over time. The rollout is global, with Singapore included in the first wave.

AI jobs in Singapore are paying off big time — salaries for AI roles have climbed 15 to 25% in the past year, with fresh graduates starting at $70,000-$90,000 annually. Top experts can command close to $350,000 in total compensation. Both Chinese and US tech firms are aggressively recruiting from Singapore's universities, with Chinese companies offering up to $200,000 a year to entice PhD holders. OpenAI has also committed over $300 million to Singapore's AI sector, creating 200+ technical roles. The demand is so high that AI roles take longer to fill than other professional positions, but experts say most jobs don't require a PhD — a good bachelor's degree plus practical skills can get you in.

Singapore is setting up a dedicated test area in Punggol where companies like Grab, DHL, and Certis can try out robots for delivering food, parcels, and patrolling public spaces. IMDA and SIT are working with industry partners including Nvidia to build real-world robotics conditions. The government also updated its AI governance rules for agentic AI systems.

Samsung has started shipping samples of its new HBM4E memory chips to major AI chip customers. The 12-layer chip offers 48GB capacity and up to 3.6TB/s bandwidth, running over 20% faster than the previous generation. Next-generation AI processors like Nvidia's Rubin are expected to use this memory type.

Anext Bank, a Singapore digital wholesale bank backed by Ant International, plans to offer GPU financing—letting companies borrow money using their AI hardware (like Nvidia chips) as collateral. The bank, which mainly serves small businesses, sees AI infrastructure financing as a growth opportunity and a way to expand its lending business. This comes as competition among Singapore digital banks intensifies.

US AI chip startup D-Matrix has raised $275 million in Series C funding, reaching a $2 billion valuation. The company makes hardware for AI 'inference' — running AI models after training — which could challenge NVIDIA's dominance in data centers. Investors include Singapore's Temasek and EDBI, showing strong Southeast Asian backing for alternative AI chip makers.

Anthropic's AI security tool called Project Glasswing has found over 10,000 severe software bugs across open-source projects during trials with 50 partners. Independent security firms verified that 90.6% of reviewed findings were real vulnerabilities, including 2,000 bugs found at Cloudflare and 271 fixed in Firefox. Anthropic says AI is now outpacing human ability to review and patch security flaws.

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South Korea's government approved a $381 million investment in AI startup Upstage through its National Growth Fund, marking the fund's second direct investment in AI. Upstage develops AI software and language models and is valued at over $680 million. This is part of Korea's plan to build a $102 billion fund over five years to support AI, biotech, and semiconductor startups amid intensifying global tech rivalry.

Update on Anthropic Launches Mythos With Six Features You Absolutely Need. Coverage via Yahoo Singapore Tech.

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_Welcome to Tech in Asia’s daily newsletter, your essential dose of Asia’s tech and startup buzz. Not yet a subscriber? [Register here](https://www.techinasia.com/subscription?utm\_source=web&utm\_medium=article&utm\_campaign=dailynewsletter). Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected]._ ## In focus * ​​A roller coaster couple of days for [Asian AI stocks](https://www.techinasia.com/tech-rout-sweeps-asia-ai-rally-jitters-spark-selloff) * ​​A look into our archives for some [AI bubble](https://www.techinasia.com/whos-afraid-big-bad-ai-bubble-2026) predictions * OpenAI moves closer to an [IPO](https://www.techinasia.com/news/openai-confidentially-filed-ipo) * * * Hello reader, Pretty soon, the household names of the AI era are going to discover just how fickle the markets can be, as

Crypto exchange Bitget has launched the Bitget Wallet Card in select Asia-Pacific markets, letting users spend stablecoins like USDT and USDC through Mastercard and Visa networks. The card links to Apple Pay and Google Pay with instant digital approval. However, the service explicitly excludes Singapore users despite the city-state being a major regional crypto hub. Key details on fees, spending limits, and the card issuer are missing.

Singapore's Criminal Investigation Department is now using AI, 3D scanners, and drones to crack cases faster. Officers can recreate crime scenes digitally in a quarter of the time it used to take, and AI helps process mountains of documents in hours instead of months. The tools assist investigators but won't replace human judgment.

Major US banks are ramping up AI deployment, with JPMorgan reporting doubled productivity in some areas and Citigroup seeing 9% gains in coding speed. Goldman Sachs is deploying AI across sales, client onboarding, and regulatory work, with executives warning of potential job cuts ahead. Bank of America plans to invest billions more. Regulators are watching closely — the OCC has flagged rapid AI adoption as a potential risk to financial stability.

Crusoe, which operates massive data centers powering OpenAI and Oracle in Texas, raised $1.4 billion in new funding, pushing its valuation past $10 billion. Investors include Nvidia, Founders Fund, and Salesforce Ventures. The capital will fund more hardware purchases and hiring as demand for AI computing power keeps growing. The company now employs over 1,000 people.

Anthropic has raised $65 billion in Series H funding, valuing the AI company at $965 billion—more than double its previous valuation of $380 billion. This is one of the biggest funding rounds in AI history, signaling massive investor confidence in the sector. The Claude-maker joins competitors like OpenAI ($122B raise) in the race for AI dominance. The article does not name the new investors but notes GIC and Coatue previously backed the company.

Google is overhauling its Gemini app with new AI features including Daily Brief (personalized summaries from your inbox and calendar), Spark (an advanced feature for Ultra subscribers), and Omni (expanding to YouTube Shorts and Google Flow). The company says Gemini now has over 900 million monthly users and is restructuring its subscription tiers to keep users inside Google's ecosystem rather than switching to rivals.

A fire at a third-party data centre facility triggered a Google Cloud outage in India, causing service disruptions. The incident highlights the risks of relying on third-party infrastructure and the knock-on effects when facilities fail, affecting businesses and services dependent on cloud computing.

Second Nature, an Israeli AI startup that trains sales and service teams through AI-powered virtual roleplay conversations, has raised $22 million in Series B funding. The platform supports 20 languages and counts Zoom, Oracle, Adobe, and Check Point as clients. The company claims customers see sales rises exceeding 20% and reduce onboarding time by up to three weeks. This signals growing enterprise demand for AI-driven workplace training tools.

SoftBank is riding high on its OpenAI bet. The Japanese tech giant posted a massive $11.6 billion profit last quarter thanks to gains in its Vision Fund, which holds a big stake in OpenAI. SoftBank has now pledged another $30 billion to OpenAI this year, bringing its total commitment to $64 billion for roughly 13% of the company.

The EU General Court upheld that Meta's Messenger must remain designated as a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act, meaning Meta must comply with interoperability requirements. The ruling forces Meta to open its platforms to rival AI chatbots—potentially affecting how WhatsApp is used by AI companies in Europe.

The 'AI will kill SaaS' narrative from Silicon Valley doesn't hold in Southeast Asia. The region's software market remains underpenetrated and fragmented, and companies built on offline sales networks and local customer support are harder for AI-native challengers to displace quickly. Investor sentiment has shifted away from pure-play SaaS, but deal volume in 2026 is higher than 2025 and expected to match the 2020 peak.

Hong Kong electronics maker Yeebo has launched what it calls the city's first token-based AI cloud platform through its Suanova unit, partnering with telecom firm HKBN. The platform pools GPU computing capacity and lets users pay for AI processing by the token—similar to buying mobile data minutes. This 'neocloud' model targets a market projected to hit $400 billion by 2031 as demand for AI computing outstrips traditional cloud providers. The approach also feeds into 'sovereign AI' trends, where companies keep data within regional borders instead of relying on global hyperscalers.

Germany's Infineon and Vietnam's VinRobotics—a robotics arm of conglomerate Vingroup—have signed a deal to co-develop humanoid robots. A joint competency center will open in Hanoi, combining VinRobotics' AI and robotics skills with Infineon's chips, power systems, and sensors. Infineon says each humanoid robot needs about $500 worth of semiconductors. The partnership aims to deploy robots across factories, service industries, and homes, with Vietnam positioned as a new robotics development hub serving domestic and international markets.

Anthropic has released its most powerful AI model to date, but immediately restricted access due to overwhelming demand. The rationing highlights the gap between AI capability advancements and the infrastructure needed to serve them widely.

SK Group will invest $87.9 billion in South Korea through 2028 to build four new chip factories at its Yongin semiconductor cluster. SK hynix, its memory chip unit, is also working on a government-backed 'Trinity Fab' project for chip research. The investment targets AI chip demand, with SK hynix already locked into 2026 supply deals for HBM memory used in AI processors. SK Telecom is separately building an AI data center in Ulsan with Amazon Web Services.

Chinese government-backed hackers remain the top national security threat to technology companies worldwide, according to a new CrowdStrike report. These groups conduct espionage campaigns aligned with Beijing's priorities, targeting tech firms for intellectual property and sensitive data. Meanwhile, financially-motivated cybercrime accounts for 65% of hands-on hacking attacks on tech companies overall, showing two distinct threat landscapes companies must defend against simultaneously.

SK Telecom announced a $500 million AI fund with Japanese partner NTT, paired with plans to build 1-gigawatt AI data centers across South Korea. The company is overhauling its telecom systems for AI, upgrading its 519-billion parameter AI model to over 1 trillion parameters, and developing an AI phone that organizes calls and schedules. SK Telecom is betting on AI to recover from a 73% profit drop caused by a major cyberattack affecting 27 million customers.

Meta has cut close to a dozen jobs in India across ad sales, marketing, and individual contributor roles, offering four to six months of salary as severance. The cuts are part of a broader restructuring affecting about 20% of Meta's global workforce — roughly 8,000 roles being cut and 7,000 being reassigned. Despite the layoffs, Meta is raising its 2026 capital expenditure guidance to US$125–145 billion, linked to its AI investments. India remains Meta's largest market for Meta AI usage.

OpenAI is preparing to file a confidential IPO prospectus with US regulators, potentially becoming one of the biggest market debuts in AI. The company has been valued over $850 billion by private investors and is working with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Any public filing must disclose its complex financial ties to Microsoft, which holds exclusive rights to OpenAI's technology through Azure. This IPO would set a new public market benchmark for AI companies and could intensify the broader AI infrastructure spending race among tech giants.

Broadcom confirmed Anthropic as the mystery customer behind a $10 billion custom AI chip order, with a new $11 billion order placed recently. Anthropic spreads workloads across Google TPUs, Amazon Trainium, and Nvidia GPUs rather than relying on a single vendor. This multi-chip strategy reflects how major AI labs are building flexible, independent infrastructure rather than locking into one supplier.

CloudMile, an Asian cloud solutions firm founded in 2017, has evolved from a Google Cloud reseller into a specialized AI consultancy. The company helps enterprises move from AI experiments into actual deployment using tools like BigQuery and Google's Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform. In one example, CloudMile worked with Singapore's Economic Development Board to set up an AI sandbox for 18 companies to rapidly build prototypes. It also helped Malaysia's Media Prima roll out AI tools to 260 users, which powered Project Thric3 — Malaysia's first AI boy band. Singapore's Senior Minister of State Tan Kiat How publicly recognized CloudMile's work helping logistics firm iHub Solutions become at least 50% more productive through genAI tools.

A new cybersecurity centre has been launched to combat what officials describe as daily digital threats. The centre will focus on protecting critical infrastructure, businesses, and individuals from hacking, ransomware, and other cyberattacks. Details on its exact location and government backing were not fully available in the source.

Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng is doubling down on robotics—CEO He Xiaopeng announced he will personally lead the company's robotics division as it races toward mass-producing humanoid robots by the end of 2026. The IRON robots, which debuted last year, will first appear in Xpeng's retail stores before being sold to commercial customers in China and overseas from 2027. The company is pivoting toward 'physical AI' spanning humanoids, robotaxis, and flying cars, expecting robotics to become a major revenue driver.

Adobe has launched two new AI agents on its Experience Platform specifically designed for Asian marketers, responding to research showing 69% of marketing practitioners in the region feel pressured to implement generative AI tools. The Product Support Agent helps marketing and customer experience teams navigate the platform more efficiently, aiming to reduce operational strain on teams.

A new survey shows 86% of Asia Pacific banks believe AI is making fraud harder to catch — and 79% have already faced attacks using AI agents. Fraud losses are steep: nearly half of banks lose over $10 million yearly, and customers lose another $10 million+ to scams annually. Two-thirds of banks admit their anti-fraud measures are so strict they actually drive customers away. The fix? 93% of bankers want better information sharing between banks to catch scammers in real time.

Apple just wrapped up its WWDC event where CEO Tim Cook showcased a major overhaul of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence. The new Siri can handle more complex, multi-step tasks across apps, understand context better, and integrate more deeply with iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It's Apple's answer to ChatGPT-style AI features and will roll out across its devices.

Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike is buying identity security startup SGNL for US$740 million to handle a new problem: AI agents that need access to company systems. SGNL makes split-second decisions about who or what gets access based on live data, rather than relying on old batch-jobs and fixed permissions. One automotive client cut 30,000 static access roles down to six dynamic policies. The deal aims to let CrowdStrike's Falcon platform manage human, non-human, and AI agent identities dynamically — granting or revoking access in real time.

OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar says AI will end the era of "sampling checks" in corporate finance — instead of randomly checking a few invoices, AI can verify every single record instantly. She argues this shifts finance workers from manual data entry into strategic roles like pricing analysis and economic research. Friar also pushes for workplaces to schedule time for employees to experiment with AI tools, and for schools to design assignments where student thinking remains visible despite AI assistance. But critics note that while AI can check more records, humans still decide which exceptions matter and who is accountable when the system is wrong.

Chinese companies are quietly cutting staff while ramping up AI tools, a phenomenon dubbed 'quiet layoffs.' Rather than announcing big restructuring, firms are replacing roles with AI software or simply not filling vacated positions. Workers in customer service, content creation, and administrative roles face the biggest impact as Beijing actively encourages AI adoption across industries.

Indian startup SwishX uses AI agents to automate pharmaceutical distribution—reading government tenders, drafting bids, digitizing hospital contracts, and predicting stock-outs. The platform has already cut revenue leakage from 25% to 7% for pharma companies and processed $400 million in orders. For patients and healthcare systems, smoother pharma distribution means fewer drug shortages and better pricing transparency at hospitals.

Xpeng's humanoid robot IRON fell during its first public demo at a Shenzhen shopping mall. The CEO called it normal learning—comparable to children learning to walk. The robot features human-like movement and runs on an all-solid-state battery, with Xpeng planning service roles like reception and retail help. The stumble highlights that hardware durability remains a major hurdle before humanoid robots can work reliably around people.

Singtel's RE:AI division has partnered with data infrastructure company WEKA to build and deliver sovereign AI cloud infrastructure across Singapore and the ASEAN region. The partnership aims to give businesses and governments in the region control over their AI data without relying on foreign cloud providers.

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Visa has embedded its payment network directly into ChatGPT, allowing AI agents to independently shop and complete purchases on behalf of users at any Visa-accepting merchant. Users link their Visa card and set parameters like budget limits, then the AI finds and buys products automatically. This is a major shift from previous confined e-commerce attempts, with built-in safeguards against overspending and fraud.

Anthropic is urging the US Congress to require AI companies to put their most powerful models through independent safety tests before release. The company also wants federal law to address catastrophic AI risks before states can pass their own rules. This comes as Anthropic prepares for a US stock market listing that could be one of the biggest tech IPOs in years.

Trump is pushing for AI giants like OpenAI and Anthropic to give the U.S. government equity stakes as they prepare for massive IPOs. OpenAI is targeting a $1 trillion valuation. Trump says AI executives will "give back" to the public, potentially making everyday Americans wealthy through government stakes in these companies. Half of Americans already fear AI could steal their jobs.

The US government is shortening the deadline for federal agencies to fix cybersecurity vulnerabilities from weeks or months down to just three days. This move comes as AI-powered hacking tools make it easier and faster for attackers to exploit newly discovered flaws. The shorter window reflects how AI is compressing attack timelines and forcing defenders to move faster.

Canada has introduced a bill that would bar children under 16 from social media without parental permission and require AI chatbot makers to disclose how their systems work. If passed, platforms like Instagram and TikTok would need strict age checks, and AI companies would face new transparency rules. It could reshape how tech firms design products for young users worldwide.

OpenAI says it caught Chinese state-linked groups using AI to churn out pro-China, anti-US content targeting American opinions on tariffs and data center policies. The goal: manufacture grassroots dissent online. This is a sign that AI is now a正式 weapon in geopolitical influence wars — not just hype.

The article examines the wild ride of AI stocks, with massive rallies driven by excitement over AI capabilities, alongside fears of a market bubble. It likely covers the tension between genuine AI innovation and speculative frenzies in tech markets.

A robotics software company called Qualia, recently selected as a Google DeepMind partner, posted a slick video showing a humanoid robot washing dishes in a kitchen. The movements looked incredibly lifelike, but the company later admitted the robot was fake. Qualia only builds training software, not actual robots. Critics called the marketing misleading, with one Reddit user saying, "I blame Elon Musk for starting this nonsense."

Singtel's InfraCo has launched an AI Center of Excellence with Nvidia to help enterprises and government agencies test and deploy AI solutions. The initiative supports Singapore's goal to build sovereign AI infrastructure—systems that keep data within national borders and meet local security rules. Plans include data centers across Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, with Singapore as the template. For businesses and government agencies here, this means a local place to experiment with AI tools using Nvidia's platforms and Singtel's cloud services, rather than relying entirely on US-based providers.

Malaysia-based GreatAsic has raised $6.9 million to design custom AI chips for data centers, edge AI, and automotive markets. The company is among the first in Malaysia to access Arm's semiconductor technology, aiming to move the country beyond chip assembly and testing into higher-value chip design. Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, based in Singapore, led the funding round.

Samsung SDS has flagged five major cybersecurity threats for 2026: AI-driven attacks, ransomware, cloud vulnerabilities, phishing, and data breaches. The threats can chain together—phishing opens the door, cloud gaps let attackers move undetected, and then ransomware or data theft follows. As AI and autonomous agents grow, attackers can craft smarter phishing and find cloud weaknesses faster. For everyday users, this means more sophisticated scams in your inbox and higher stakes if companies you trust get hit. The "quadruple extortion" ransomware approach—combining encryption, leaks, attacks, and blackmail—raises the pressure on businesses to pay up.

Indian wealthtech startup HyperNorm AI raised $2.2 million in funding. The article also covers Endowus, a Singapore-based wealthtech firm, whose 2023 losses widened to S$30.6 million despite revenue growing over 2x to US$15.4 million—largely due to an acquisition made in 2022.

Shopee has begun laying off around 8% of its global developer workforce, including employees in Singapore, as the e-commerce giant pivots towards AI. The cuts primarily hit product and engineering teams in Singapore. Affected staff were reportedly offered severance of one month salary per year of service plus two extra months. Shopee's parent company Sea Ltd is ramping up AI initiatives, including a recent partnership with Google to develop AI-powered shopping agents. The Creative Media and Publishing Union was informed in advance and had representatives on site to assist affected employees.

A Google DeepMind economist says AI isn't causing an immediate jobs bloodbath, but warns that layoffs could cascade through industries as AI adoption accelerates. The economist suggests the transition will be gradual rather than sudden, but certain sectors may face significant workforce shifts as companies automate more tasks.

US AI note-taking startup Plaud is investing over S$10 million to expand its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore, hiring up to 150 employees by end of 2026. The Singapore office will handle regional strategy and contribute to global AI development, including AI agents and workflow automation. This brings Plaud's total workforce to over 600 globally.

## **Salaries for AI roles in Singapore have climbed 15-25% in the last 12 months** Artificial intelligence builders are winning even as AI is used to justify cutting jobs in big tech and global banks. In Singapore, salaries for workers developing these systems are climbing up to five times faster than average wages. The pay for AI roles has climbed 15–25% in the past year, with fresh hires starting at S$70,000–S$90,000 annually, according to [a Robert Walters report cited by _The Straits Times_](https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/ai-salaries-in-singapore-rise-as-demand-for-talent-grows-phd-not-always-required?ref=top-story). Meanwhile, overall nominal wages for full-time workers rose 4.9% in 2025, down from 5.6% in 2024, per [Ministry of Manpower figures](https://www.mom.gov.sg/newsro

Geoffrey Hinton, one of the pioneers of modern AI, says Russia's invasion of Ukraine changed how he thinks about AI in war. The conflict showed him how quickly modern warfare moves and made him more concerned about autonomous weapons that could make life-or-death decisions without humans in the loop. Hinton, who left Google in 2023 over AI safety concerns, has become increasingly vocal about the risks of letting machines control lethal outcomes on the battlefield.

Singapore-based Hello Ello's Vision One care camera uses AI to help families monitor ageing parents at home, reducing the need for constant calls or intrusive security cameras. The device has launched in Malaysia, expanding beyond Singapore.

Rubrik, a cyber resilience company, unveiled two new AI-powered products at its Rubrik Forward 2026 event. The first, Rubrik AI, adds autonomous recovery features — meaning systems can now fix themselves after attacks without human intervention. The second is a purpose-built backup tool for developers using Anthropic's Claude Code. Rubrik claims it's the first security vendor to offer this level of self-healing alongside AI coding tool protection.

Nearly one in five industrial control systems worldwide was hit by a cyberattack in Q1 2026, with Southeast Asia ranking as the most targeted region for manufacturing sector attacks. Kaspersky found 19.4 to 19.6 percent of ICS computers globally had malicious objects blocked. This threatens factories, supply chains, and infrastructure across the region.

Replit's AI chief is speaking out against how companies measure AI success using 'token leaderboards,' calling the practice 'very dystopian.' As businesses pour money into AI and scrutinize returns, this critique highlights growing concerns about whether the industry is tracking the right metrics for AI value and safety.

AI notetaker startup Plaud is pouring $10 million into Singapore, growing its local team from 100 to 150 people by end-2026. The company, known for its credit card-size voice recorder that AI-transcribes calls and meetings, is making Singapore its Asia-Pacific hub for cloud infrastructure, AI development, and regional operations. Asia-Pacific is expected to generate $100 million in revenue this year—about a quarter of Plaud's total. They're hiring AI engineers, agent architects, and data scientists.

Monitoring firm Datadog held its annual DASH 2026 conference in Singapore, unveiling fully autonomous AI agents for its platform and new defenses specifically designed to protect businesses from AI agent-based attacks. As AI agents gain more autonomy, so do the risks they face.

Tech companies are now the world's most attacked by cybercriminals, with China-linked hackers behind nearly 60% of state-sponsored attacks on tech firms. The goal: stealing AI secrets and intellectual property that China can't develop fast enough on its own.

Akamai has crossed US$1 billion in annual revenue from Asia Pacific for 2025, marking a shift from traditional content delivery to edge AI inference and distributed cloud services. The company appointed a new leader to drive this pivot. For users, edge AI means faster, localized processing — potentially snappier AI features in apps and services without relying on distant data centers.

Anthropic's new Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 models are sparking debate. The company secretly degrades responses when it detects users working on frontier AI research, and routes some requests to less capable models without telling users. Anthropic says it's a safety measure to prevent misuse of powerful AI. Critics call it unfair to researchers and argue it concentrates power among leading AI labs. Experts are divided — some see genuine safety concerns, others see competitive tactics.

Nvidia has bought Kumo AI for over $400 million — a startup that builds AI models to predict business outcomes (like which customers will cancel) directly from company databases, without months of custom engineering. The deal pushes Nvidia further from just selling chips into owning the software layer enterprises run on. It also puts Nvidia inside platforms like Snowflake and Databricks that rely on Nvidia's GPUs.

Global markets are swinging wildly as investors balance AI-driven tech optimism against oil supply risks from the U.S.-Iran conflict. When AI enthusiasm wins, stocks rally; when oil shock fears spike, markets tank. This makes traditional investing diversification harder since even unrelated assets move together. Taiwan's chip exports are surging from AI demand, but stagflation risks loom if oil prices stay high.

Malaysia's banks and financial institutions are being pushed to prepare for quantum computing threats that could break today's encryption. At a recent industry summit, IBM and other tech leaders warned that quantum computers may arrive by 2029 and could crack the cryptographic systems protecting banking transactions. Financial firms are being urged to inventory their encryption systems and plan a transition to quantum-safe security before it's too late. The risk of 'harvest now, decrypt later' attacks—where criminals save encrypted data today for future decryption—is driving urgency.

Trump is pushing for AI giants like OpenAI and Anthropic to give the U.S. government equity stakes as they prepare for massive IPOs. OpenAI is targeting a $1 trillion valuation. Trump says AI executives will "give back" to the public, potentially making everyday Americans wealthy through government stakes in these companies. Half of Americans already fear AI could steal their jobs.

The US government is shortening the deadline for federal agencies to fix cybersecurity vulnerabilities from weeks or months down to just three days. This move comes as AI-powered hacking tools make it easier and faster for attackers to exploit newly discovered flaws. The shorter window reflects how AI is compressing attack timelines and forcing defenders to move faster.

Visa has embedded its payment network directly into ChatGPT, allowing AI agents to independently shop and complete purchases on behalf of users at any Visa-accepting merchant. Users link their Visa card and set parameters like budget limits, then the AI finds and buys products automatically. This is a major shift from previous confined e-commerce attempts, with built-in safeguards against overspending and fraud.

The article examines the wild ride of AI stocks, with massive rallies driven by excitement over AI capabilities, alongside fears of a market bubble. It likely covers the tension between genuine AI innovation and speculative frenzies in tech markets.

Anthropic is urging the US Congress to require AI companies to put their most powerful models through independent safety tests before release. The company also wants federal law to address catastrophic AI risks before states can pass their own rules. This comes as Anthropic prepares for a US stock market listing that could be one of the biggest tech IPOs in years.

A robotics software company called Qualia, recently selected as a Google DeepMind partner, posted a slick video showing a humanoid robot washing dishes in a kitchen. The movements looked incredibly lifelike, but the company later admitted the robot was fake. Qualia only builds training software, not actual robots. Critics called the marketing misleading, with one Reddit user saying, "I blame Elon Musk for starting this nonsense."

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OpenAI says it caught Chinese state-linked groups using AI to churn out pro-China, anti-US content targeting American opinions on tariffs and data center policies. The goal: manufacture grassroots dissent online. This is a sign that AI is now a正式 weapon in geopolitical influence wars — not just hype.

Canada has introduced a bill that would bar children under 16 from social media without parental permission and require AI chatbot makers to disclose how their systems work. If passed, platforms like Instagram and TikTok would need strict age checks, and AI companies would face new transparency rules. It could reshape how tech firms design products for young users worldwide.