Asian Tech Roundup: 'Indian youth should work 70 hours a week' says billionaire

Plus: China joins other nations in signing Bletchley Park AI declaration

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Asian Tech Roundup: 'Indian youth should work 70 hours a week' says billionaire

Microsoft plans to invest US$5 billion in Australia over the next two years, expanding its cloud provision and support for critical national cyber security and skills. Source
Google will connect several Pacific Island regions with undersea internet cable, following a US-Australia deal. Source
A small Australian company called Flow Chemical was found to have helped malicious doxxing forum Kiwi Farms to stay online and fined more than AUS$400,000 in damages. Source

China has joined the UK, US and 25 other nations in signing the Bletchley Park declaration for safe and responsible AI. Source
The EU aims to cut its economic dependence on China with a focus on "de-risking" trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, an executive vice president at the European Commission, has said. Source
China's most popular social media platforms, including WeChat and Weibo, have said that accounts with more than 500,000 followers can no longer be anonymous. Source
IPO listings for tech startups have declined markedly in China as regulators crack down. Source
China has announced export controls on certain categories of graphite, a material crucial for electric vehicle batteries. Source
China's tax authorities have initiated a series of investigations into Foxconn, the company responsible for manufacturing Apple's iPhone. Source
China is investing massively in memory companies. Source

Apple has warned prominent Indian opposition politicians, journalists and activists that their iPhones may have been targeted with spyware by "state-sponsored" hackers, aka the government. Source
In an interview with a VC firm, Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy called for young Indians to work 70-hour weeks. "Our youth have a habit of taking not so desirable habits from the West," he said. Source
India's Tata Group is set to start assembling iPhones in the country after its acquisition of manufacturer Wistron was approved. Source
India's Semiconductor R&D Committee has recommended the creation of the India Semiconductor Research Center (ISRC) at a cost of US$8 billion over five years. Source
Dozens of phoney tech support scam operations were raided by police across 12 Indian states in a crackdown aided by Amazon and Microsoft. Source

Taiwanese chipmaker Powerchip has selected Miyagi in northern Japan to build a $5.4 billion foundry, with funding support from Japanese financial firm SBI Holdings. Source
Japan has launched an investigation into Google for alleged violations of the country's anti-monopoly laws by agreeing licence arrangements with Android mobile device manufacturers. Source
Japan successfully activated a new nuclear fusion reactor, which uses superconducting magnets to confine a hot plasma in a chamber. "This proves to the world that the machine fulfils its basic function," an official said. Source

US financier KKR is to invest US$400 million in Malaysian subsea telecommunications cable services provider OMS Group. Source
Malaysia has warned TikTok and Meta not to block pro-Palestinian content on their platforms. Source

Samsung's operating profit rose to 2.43 trillion won (US$1.8 billion) for the quarter ending September, a big year-on-year drop but still Samsung's best quarter of this year. Source
Samsung has said it will continue to cut chip production to ease a supply glut, but it expects industry-wide investment to focus on high-end chips for gen-AI next year. Source

Vietnam, South Korea and the US have launched a joint research project on the extraction of rare earth elements in Vietnam, as part of a drive to diversify the supply chain of critical minerals. Source
Vietnam has been talking to chip companies with the aim of attracting investment and possibly building chip-making plants in the future. Source

A threat group called DoNot Team has been using a novel .NET-based backdoor called Firebird to target victims in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Source