Asian Tech Roundup: US clamps down on AI chips

Plus, India goes big on astro ambitions

Welcome to Computing's fortnightly roundup of tech news in Asia. This time we look at the next move in the US-China trade war; India's ambitious space programme; and a Vietnamese spyware campaign.

Australia

• Australia's eSafety Commission has fined X AUD$610,500 (£318,000) for failing to fully explain how it is addressing child sexual exploitation content. Source
• Australia will allow its central bank to regulate digital wallet providers including Apple Pay and Google Pay. Source

China

• The USA is updating its export restrictions on AI chips, making it more difficult to send them to China. Source
• Ex-Arm executives are reported to be starting a Chinese government-supported spinoff to create server chips. Source
• Tencent-funded electric vehicle start-up WM Motor has filed for bankruptcy, blaming macroeconomic conditions. Source
• US concern about growing technology transfer between Saudi Arabia and China could restrict access to US AI technologies, Saudi academics fear. Source
• Apple has bowed to China, updating its App Store policy to say that only apps with the required licences from the Chinese government will be available in mainland China. Source
• At the same time, Tim Cook made a surprise visit to China, with which he said Apple has a "symbiotic" relationship. Source

India

• India is seeking to send its first astronauts to the moon by 2040, building on the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission this year. Source
• Google has announced that it will begin manufacturing smartphones in India, following the lead of Apple and other vendors who are seeking to diversify their supply bases amid US-China tensions. Source
• Wipro shares fell by more than 6% this week after a subdued quarter for the services giant. Source
• Meanwhile shares in IT services company Coforge rose by 16.2% on new deal wins. Source
• Amazon is seeking approval from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre to offer satellite broadband in the country. Source
• Spotify is restricting free features for users in India as it attempts to generate more money from subscriptions. Source
• India's Ministry of Electronics and IT has written to X, YouTube and Telegram warning them to remove Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) from their platforms, saying that any delay in complying will result in the withdrawal of their safe harbour protection. Source
• West Bengal state government engineers have fixed a bug in the Aadhaar ID system that allows state residents to access government services online, which was revealing ID numbers and fingerprints. Source
• Indian authorities arrested four individuals in a money laundering probe against the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo. Source
• India needs to build an additional 80 exaflops of power in new computing infrastructure to drive its AI vision, the India AI group at the nation's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has said. Source
• The government will no longer require PC, tablet and server manufacturers to secure an import licence. Source
• CtrlS Datacenters plans to invest $2 billion to scale its operations over the next six years. It plans to build new hyperscale facilities, adding 350MW of capacity across India and Southeast Asia. Source

Japan

• G7 economies should develop international AI regulations by the end of this year, Japanese prime minister Fumia Kishida has said. Source
• Researchers from Japan's University of Tokyo and Chiba University are testing wireless fast charging of moving electric vehicles. Source

South Korea

• Samsung and SK Hynix have been excluded from the US sanctions that could restrict their use of Chinese manufacturing plant. Source
• South Korea plans to punish Google and Apple for abusing their dominance in the apps market. Source

Taiwan

• TSMC has abandoned plans to build a new 2nm chip fab in northern Taiwan, after local opposition. The company is allegedly now seeking new locations for the plant. Source
• Nvidia and Foxconn are working on new AI datacentres ("AI factories") that will be dedicated to applications including smart manufacturing, generative AI and EV platforms. Source
• D-Link has denied that a hacker has sensitive data on Taiwanese politicians and CEOs after a data leak. Source

Other Asia

• Amnesty International has identified a spyware campaign allegedly originating from Vietnam, targeting foreign officials in the EU, USA and Taiwan. Source
• Singapore is unhappy about the power of large tech companies and governments' dependency on them. They "wield an unprecedented level of influence over economies and societies," says Singapore national security minister Teo Chee Hean. "At the same time, they enjoy a remarkable degree of freedom from regulation and accountability." Source