The Latest from Rita Liao
How SeaTable navigates the China backlash as it goes West
Chinese startups aspiring to make it big in the West now face a major hurdle: their connections to home. The scrutiny faced by TikTok in the U.S. over its management structure and data practices is a
NFT avatar enabler GoodGang has the blessings of Korean giants Kakao and Naver
Critics have long discredited non-fungible tokens as overpriced JPEGs sold by people who want to make quick bucks. NFT believers want to prove them wrong and show that these certificates of digital ar
The Shein-Reliance India alliance could offer inspiration for Chinese startups
Shein is partnering with Reliance to re-enter India, a strategy which, if proven viable, could set an example for startups grappling with the China backlash amid rising geopolitical tensions. The Chin
China bans Micron chips in key infrastructure over ‘national security’ risks
China has banned some sales of Micron products after launching a probe into the American memory chip giant for cybersecurity risks in early April. The decision is widely seen as part of the tit-for-ta
Alibaba to spin off its cloud, AI and business messenger unit
Seven weeks after Alibaba announced its historic restructuring plan to split itself into six independent companies, the juggernaut is gearing up to spin off its intelligence group. Alibaba went public
Beijing calls on cloud providers to support AI firms
As large language models from Western tech firms show the potential to disrupt everything from marketing to teaching to coding, China is rushing to cultivate its home-grown AI pioneers by stepping up
‘Midjourney China’ launches — then its announcement disappears
After igniting a global obsession over generative art, ten-month-old Midjourney appears to be entering the Middle Kingdom, the world’s largest internet market. In an article posted on the Tencen
Alibaba’s autonomous driving lab to focus more on monetization
Alibaba founded Damo Academy in 2017 to carve out a program focused on cutting-edge research that is relatively free of short-term money-making pressure. One of the Academy’s 16 labs conducts re
China’s phone giant Oppo disbands chip design unit as shipments slump
Chinese smartphone giant Oppo is disbanding its young chip design unit Zeku as weak global demand forces major handset manufacturers to cut costs and restrategize. The decision comes as a surprise to
Nexon takes 20-year-old MapleStory into web3 with Haechi’s help
Nexon, one of the biggest gaming companies in the world, is wading into web3 like some of its peers in Asia. The developer of MapleStory is creating a blockchain-powered ecosystem based on the 20-year
China has its DrakeGPT moment as AI singer goes viral
Mandopop singer Stefanie Sun has gone viral on Bilibili, China’s largest user-generated video streaming site. But the sudden revival of interest in Sun, who hasn’t released an album since
TikTok’s parent ByteDance eyes a new chapter in book publishing
After aggressively promoting its new lifestyle social media platform Lemon8 in the U.S., ByteDance appears to be brewing another content app for its biggest overseas market. Lemon Inc., a subsidiary o
NFT spinoff from newspaper SCMP gets funded to tokenize historical artifacts
When an NFT series commemorating the handover of Hong Kong from the U.K. to China generated $260,000 in sales, Artifact Labs, the startup that launched the collection, saw the long-term potential of t
Temu accelerates global expansion with parent’s new Dublin office
Temu, a fast-growing e-commerce platform known for cheap deals, is making inroads into new markets as its parent firm sets up a base in Dublin, joining a raft of tech giants including Meta and Twitter
As the US cracks down on crypto, Hong Kong extends a warm welcome
On a balmy day in mid-April, thousands of people queued in line to enter the Hong Kong Convention Center where the city’s inaugural web3 festival was underway. Most had flown in from mainland Ch
China’s central bank digital currency takes a bigger place on WeChat’s platform
For the last few years, China’s central bank has been trying to ramp up the adoption of digital yuan, or e-CNY, which forms part of the country’s monetary base, M0. The bank has a designat
AI assistants come to Alibaba and a16z-backed Cider
The generative AI world is evolving so rapidly that every few days we see startups rolling out new applications powered by large language models (LLMs). The latest attempt to monetize artificial intel
Now valued at $500M, Cosmose ditches Stripe to adopt Near’s crypto solution
For all the investment speculation and hype, cryptocurrency has so far struggled to find meaningful use cases. Now there’s some effort from Singapore to turn the general public into crypto adopt
Why the $830M gaming fund Bitkraft is bullish on Asia
With $830 million in assets under management, Bitkraft Ventures has built a name for backing early- to mid-stage web3 games and other immersive technologies. After eight years of investing mostly in t
Volkswagen pumps 1B euros into China electric vehicle center
Auto Shanghai, which is underway this week, is a yearly opportunity for carmakers and auto suppliers to flex their muscles and show their commitment to China, the world’s largest auto market. At