Asian Tech Roundup: India bypasses its own data protection

Plus, China cracks down on minors' internet freedoms

The government is considering a plan to crack down on children's electronic device and internet use, limiting time to as little as 40 minutes a day. Source
Substandard data is making it difficult to track the spread of mpox in China. Source
Service providers holding data on more than 1 million people will be subject to at least one security review a year if they are supplying data overseas. Source
Web giant Baidu is building its ERNIE large language model into cars produced by some Chinese manufacturers, for navigation and entertainment. Source
AMD is working on an export-compliant version of its processors to sell in China, compliant with US sanctions. Source
The Chinese government has awarded a $6 million contract that explicitly requires surveillance camera maker Hikvision to identify Uyghurs. The cameras are powered by Nvidia hardware, according to security research group IPVM. Source

India's new Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023, gives the government broad powers to exempt its agencies from all provisions of the Bill, meaning it can collect and process the personal data of citizens without following any of the safeguards prescribed. Source
India's Data Protection Bill will not offer exemptions for journalists. "If journalists were made to adhere to the grounds of processing personal data, it would be extremely onerous for them to access information" said Editors Guild of India . Source
X (formerly Twitter) is challenging an Indian court ruling that it did not comply with federal government orders to remove content. The lawsuit has been ongoing since July 2022. Source
Foxconn will invest $600 million in two projects in Karnataka, in southern India, to make components for iPhones and chip-making equipment. Source
AMD said it plans to invest around $400 million in India over the next five years, and to build a design centre in Bengaluru. Source
China's Ant Group has sold almost half of its stake in India's Paytm to the company's CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma. Sharma now owns close to 20% in Paytm and Ant is left with a 13.5% stake in the company . Source

Scientists at Chiba University say they have used lasers to create diamond wafers, which could be used in semiconductors. Source
Ink producer DIC has developed new materials for semiconductors that do not use 'forever chemical' PFAS compounds. Source
The Japanese government plans to help people acquire the skills they need to work with AI systems, aiming to add about 100,000 new people to the digital workforce next year. Source
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology aims to develop a generative AI system that can produce medical and scientific hypotheses by analysing past research. Source
Japan's Mitsubishi Electric is investing in startup Novel Crystal Technology to support its aim to accelerate gallium oxide power semiconductors production in support of global decarbonisation. Source

Malaysia seems likely to abandon legal action against Meta for failing to act against "undesirable" content relating to race, royalty, religion, defamation, impersonation, online gambling and scam advertisements. Source
US electronics manufacturer TT Electronics is expanding its manufacturing facilities in Kuantan, Malaysia, including installing a new, high-speed SMT line to support customer demand and increase production capacity. Source
Bosch has announced a €350 million investment in a semiconductor testing plant in Penang, Malaysia, including clean rooms, office space, and laboratories for quality assurance and manufacturing. Source

Vietnamese prime minister Pham Minh Chinh has called on Samsung to recruit more locals to manage its factories in the country, where the company makes half its smartphones. Source
Australia's Select Committee on Foreign Interference through Social Media has recommended a ban on Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat on security grounds. Source