AI in ASIA
Wednesday, 4 February 2026

3Before9

3 must-know AI stories before your 9am coffee

Who should pay attention

AI leaders, founders, enterprise decision-makers, and teams deploying AI across Asia.

What changes next

Regulatory expectations tighten, infrastructure buildout accelerates, and enterprise AI governance matures.

1

APEC economies tackle AI, digital trade and online safety

At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Digital Economy Steering Group meeting in Guangzhou, policymakers focused on coordinating digital trade policies, AI deployment challenges and online safety priorities across member economies.

Why it matters for Asia

APEC’s consensus on AI and digital trade issues signals growing multilateral cooperation in Asia-Pacific to shape responsible AI deployment, cross-border data flows and digital governance.

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2

Qualcomm launches APAC AI innovators programme

Qualcomm has kicked off its AI Program for Innovators 2026 in the Asia-Pacific, offering grants, technical support and tools to startups in Japan, Singapore and South Korea to accelerate edge AI solutions.

Why it matters for Asia

expanded support for edge AI development strengthens Asia’s ecosystem for locally relevant AI applications and helps diversify innovation beyond cloud-centric models.

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3

Samsung and SK Hynix valuations exceed Chinese internet giants on AI boom

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have each risen more than 39 per cent in 2026, pushing their combined market value above that of Alibaba and Tencent, reflecting investor enthusiasm for memory and infrastructure plays in the global AI boom.

Why it matters for Asia

shifting investor preferences toward Asia’s core hardware suppliers underscores how compute infrastructure is central to AI’s economic impact, with implications for investment and regional tech leadership.

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Wednesday

1 April 2026

3 must-know AI stories before your 9am coffee. The signals that matter, delivered daily.

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Tuesday

31 March 2026

  • 1.Asia now accounts for 62 per cent of global AI hardware trade, with US tariffs shifting supply chains to Southeast Asia and India.
  • 2.Southeast Asia faces significant challenges from tropical heat and humidity as data centre demand is projected to grow 20 per cent annually.
  • 3.Singapore is investing in liquid cooling, underwater data centres, and sustainable energy to boost capacity and address environmental hurdles.
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Monday

30 March 2026

  • 1.OpenAI is discontinuing its Sora AI video generation app, approximately one year after its public release.
  • 2.Vietnam's FPT AI Factory will integrate NVIDIA HGX B300 systems, enhancing its artificial intelligence infrastructure.
  • 3.New research suggests generative AI tools are considerably contributing to an increase in academic dishonesty.
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Saturday

28 March 2026

  • 1.OpenAI appoints JioStar CEO Kiran Mani as its first Asia-Pacific managing director, based in Singapore from June
  • 2.FPT AI Factory deploys NVIDIA's Blackwell HGX B300 chips across Vietnam and Japan for reasoning and agentic AI workloads
  • 3.Forrester projects 9.3% Asia-Pacific tech spending growth in 2026 but warns AI cost inflation and regulatory fragmentation will erode real value
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Thursday

26 March 2026

  • 1.OpenAI created a brand-new APAC managing director role and filled it with JioStar CEO Kiran Mani, starting June in Singapore
  • 2.Boao Forum report declares Asia is evolving from AI followers into frontrunners with full-chain industrial maturity
  • 3.SuperAI 2026 expects 10,000+ attendees at Marina Bay Sands with OpenAI, Google, and AWS confirmed
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Wednesday

25 March 2026

  • 1.Arm launches its first in-house chip, the 136-core AGI CPU, with SK Telecom, Rebellions, and Meta among launch customers for AI data centres
  • 2.SK Hynix files confidentially with the SEC for a potential $10 billion Nasdaq listing to fund AI memory chip expansion
  • 3.Boao Forum report declares Asia the new global epicentre of AI development, with China, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore leading distinct niches
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