Asian Tech Roundup: China prepares for asteroid strike on Earth

Plus: Taiwan rushes to placate Trump

Welcome to Computing's weekly roundup of tech news in Asia. This time we look at China’s preparations to divert an asteroid that has a chance of hitting the Earth in 2022.

Say what you like about China, but the country thinks big and it plans long. Famously, when asked in the 1970s about the success or otherwise of the French Revolution, premier Zhao Enlai reportedly said “it’s too early to tell”. (In fact, he may have been referring to the Parisian street uprisings of 1968, but let’s not let that get in the way of a good story.) The reason China is way ahead on EVs and solar power, for example, is because they planned for them decades ago and put in the R&D and infrastructure to match. Few experts doubt that China will be able to match the AI capabilities of the US within the next two or three years, and its domestic semiconductor capabilities will almost certainly be able to overcome any trade restrictions imposed from outside.

Now China is looking up at the potential (2.2% probability) strike on the Earth in 2032 by a 90-metre asteroid that could, in the worst-case scenario, take out a city and kill millions. Its space agency is reportedly recruiting graduates to study monitoring and create early warning methods. NASA and others are doing similar work. In divisive times, it’s to be hoped they will come together to share their findings, in the spirit of science rather than the global power games we are seeing so much of right now.

Speaking of which, Taiwan finds itself between a rock and a hard place, seeking to placate a belligerent Trump regime with chip deals, well aware that one of China’s long-term plans is a reunification of the island, by force if necessary, into the country as a whole.

Australia

• Australian healthcare start-up Harrison.ai has raised $112 million in series C funding to scale AI enabled medical diagnostic software into US, EMEA and Asia Pacific markets. Source
• Australia has joined the UK and US in in targeting the Russia-based Zservers service provider for its role in supporting Lockbit ransomware gangs. Source

China

• China is recruiting for a “planetary defence” team to counter the threat from an asteroid that is currently being given a 2.2% chance of hitting Earth in 2032. Source
• China’s tech stocks have entered a bull market as DeepSeek’s breakthrough attracts investors. The Hang Seng Tech index, which tracks the 30 largest tech groups listed in Hong Kong, is up 25% since 13^th January. Source
• Security researchers claim Chinese hacking group Salt Typhoon is continuing to compromise telecoms companies in the US, Italy, South Africa and Thailand. Source
• Apple will use Alibaba's generative AI on iPhones destined for China. Source
• Baidu is making its AI assistant Ernie free to use from April. An advanced search version with upgraded reasoning capability will be included. Source

India

• Google's public policy chief in India, Sreenivasa Reddy, has quit after just over a year in post, becoming the second holder of that position to resign in two years at a time when Google faces multiple legal challenges in the country. Source
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced an exclusive domain for Indian banks, bank.in, to help citizens differentiate between legitimate websites and scam sites. Another new domain, fin.in, will be introduced for the financial sector. Source
• US-based chip toolmaker Lam Research will invest over 100 billion rupees ($1.2 billion) in the next few years in India's southern Karnataka state in a boost to the country's semiconductor ecosystem. Source
• Streaming apps Hotstar and JioCinema have merged to create JioHotstar. The merger follows Jio-owner Reliance’s $8.5 billion merger with Walt Disney’s Indian assets last year. Source

Japan

• SoftBank has reported a 369.2 billion yen ($2.4 billion) loss for fiscal Q3, less than a month after publicly committing to a massive AI investment in the USA. Source
• Honda and Nissan are no longer planning to merge, but the two automakers, together with Mitsubishi, will continue a strategic partnership in software-defined vehicles and EVs . Source

South Korea

• The South Korean National Intelligence Service has accused the Chinese start-up DeepSeek of “excessively” collecting personal data and using all input data to train itself. Source
• Samsung Electronics is weighting up whether it can afford to join Stargate, the $500 billion joint venture between OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank for AI infrastructure in the US. Source

Taiwan

• Taiwan's president says he wants to talk to Donald Trump about increased chip trade and defence spending with the US. Source
• Taiwanese chip giant TSMC has informed Chinese clients using its advanced technology that it cannot fulfil their orders unless they a US-approved chip packaging supplier source.

Other Asia

• North Korea: US-based TRM Labs says North Korean hackers stole $800 million in cryptocurrency in 2024: a third of the total stolen virtual funds across the world. Source
• Singapore: Data from Kaspersky says Singapore recorded the second-lowest proportion of users affected by web threats in Southeast Asia in 2024. Source
• Indonesia, which has banned sales of the iPhone citing Apple's failure to meet its requirement that at least 35% of its components be made in the country, is reportedly in talks with the company over setting up factories there. Source