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AI in ASIA
3Before9
•1Japan's major technology companies, including SoftBank, Honda, Sony, and NEC, have launched a joint venture to build a trillion-parameter AI for autonomous machines, ensuring all data remains within Japan.•2Chinese embodied AI startup Spirit AI secured $420 million from prominent investors, including Lei Jun and Jack Ma, to develop humanoid robots and general-purpose robotics.•3These investments signify a strategic pivot in Asian AI, with Japan prioritising data sovereignty for physical AI and China focusing on hardware and real-world embodied intelligence.•1Japan's major technology companies, including SoftBank, Honda, Sony, and NEC, have launched a joint venture to build a trillion-parameter AI for autonomous machines, ensuring all data remains within Japan.•2Chinese embodied AI startup Spirit AI secured $420 million from prominent investors, including Lei Jun and Jack Ma, to develop humanoid robots and general-purpose robotics.•3These investments signify a strategic pivot in Asian AI, with Japan prioritising data sovereignty for physical AI and China focusing on hardware and real-world embodied intelligence.
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Life

AI's impact on everyday life, health, culture, and society

7 new this week
The Loneliness Paradox: Asia's AI Companion Boom and the Emotional Dependency Crisis Nobody Saw Coming
LifeFeatured

The Loneliness Paradox: Asia's AI Companion Boom and the Emotional Dependency Crisis Nobody Saw Coming

Asia's AI companion boom reveals a fundamental mismatch between technological capability and human need. Platforms designed to ease loneliness are creating emot...

Koo Ping Shung5 min read
Human eye reflecting AI neural network patterns on a dark screen

When Sci-Fi Stopped Being Fiction: 10 Times AI Made the "Impossible" Very Real

11 min
Extreme close-up of a graphite pencil resting on a traditional lined school notebook, focusing on the texture of the paper fibers. Shallow depth of field with dramatic side lighting in warm amber and cool blue accents highlighting the graphite tip. The pencil and the paper's surface subtly incorporate glowing neural network circuit patterns and floating golden data particles. No text, no words, no logos, no letters. 16:9 aspect ratio.

The AI Generation Gap: Your Kids Are Using Chatbots and Nobody Knows What to Do About It

11 min
Your Phone Just Got 800 Million Times Smarter: Samsung AI Push Rewrites Daily Life Across Southeast Asia

Your Phone Just Got 800 Million Times Smarter: Samsung AI Push Rewrites Daily Life Across Southeast Asia

5 min
Your Personal AI Trainer Has Arrived: How Smart Wellness Apps Are Rewriting Health Across Asia

Your Personal AI Trainer Has Arrived: How Smart Wellness Apps Are Rewriting Health Across Asia

5 min
Life
9 Apr

The Earbuds That Understand Everyone: How AI Translation Is Rewriting Daily Life Across Asia

Intelligence Desk

Life
9 Apr

Your Supermarket Just Got Smarter: How AI Is Reinventing Grocery Shopping Across Asia

Intelligence Desk

Life
8 Apr

Swiping Right on Robots: How AI Is Both Deepening and Trying to Fix Asia's Baby Bust

Intelligence Desk

Life
7 Apr

Asia's Consumer AI Revolution: Smart Devices and Voice Tech Are Changing Daily Life

Intelligence Desk

Life
7 Apr

Your Face Is Not Inventory: The BanRay Campaign Against AI Smart Glasses

Intelligence Desk

Life
7 Apr

Agentic AI Is Outperforming GenAI in Asia s Hospitals, and the Shift Is Just Beginning

Intelligence Desk

Life
6 Apr

AI Meets Ageing Asia: How Digital Therapy Is Tackling the Region's Cognitive Health Crisis

Intelligence Desk

Life
6 Apr

China's Agentic AI Phone Sold Out in a Day. Then the Platforms Switched It Off.

Intelligence Desk

Deep Cuts from the Archives

Editor-picked articles that are just as relevant today as when they were published.

Timeless
1 Dec

AI's Influence on "Word of the Year" Choices: A Reflection of Asia's Landscape

Timeless
5 Dec

AI: Clever Mimic or True Conscious Companion?

Timeless
5 Dec

Human-AI Differences: Artificial Intelligence and the Quest for AGI in Asia

Timeless
5 Dec

Creating Your AI Twin: The Revolutionary Human Generator Transforming Asia's Digital Landscape

Timeless
5 Dec

AI Danger in Asia: Forget Killer Robots, the Real Threat is Happening Now

Timeless
5 Dec

AI Revolution in Asia: the 7 Stages of AI

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