Insights
Regularly scheduled news, articles and the latest developments in AI across Asia-Pacific — curated from industry thought leaders, latest announcements, and emerging trends.
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HSBC Doubles Its Hong Kong AI Team to 300, Betting Big on the Banking Hub
HSBC plans to double its Hong Kong AI specialist team to 300 and open a dedicated AI research institute in 2027, positioning the city as its largest AI hub in the region alongside a new Singapore centre.
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Bengaluru’s Scimplify Raises $25M to Take Its AI-Matched Chemical Sourcing Global
Bengaluru startup Scimplify has raised $25 million led by Hitachi Ventures for its AI platform Scinode, which matches manufacturers to chemical and critical-materials producers — and is now expanding into the US and Japan.
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Malaysia’s AirAsia MOVE Leans on AI as Its Travel App Hits Record Growth
AirAsia MOVE’s AI chatbot AskBo is helping power a travel platform whose monthly active users jumped 22% this year, as the app also picked up Asia’s Best Travel Booking App award for a fourth straight year.
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Vietnam Bets on Robotics: Homegrown Humanoids Meet a New Factory Floor
From a new Bac Ninh factory building robotic arms to Vingroup’s homegrown humanoids touring international robotics shows, Vietnam is pushing beyond electronics assembly into building the robots themselves.
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One Retinal Scan, Three Diseases: Inside Thailand’s AI Eye-Screening Push
A Taiwan-Thailand telemedicine partnership is putting AI-assisted retinal screening into provincial hospitals across Phuket, catching diabetic eye disease before it causes blindness.
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Malaysia’s Budget 2027 Bets Big on an “AI Nation” by 2030
Malaysia’s newly tabled Budget 2027 backs its national AI strategy with concrete targets: 200,000 AI-skilled workers, AI adoption funding for small businesses, and free AI access reaching from pondok schools to the general public.
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Vietnam Bets on Enterprise AI With New $150,000-Per-Project Fund
Vietnam’s National Technology Innovation Fund is offering up to $150,000 per project to help businesses move AI pilots into production, with disbursements tied to measurable results.
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Singapore Firms Turn AI Experiments Into Real Business Value
New Microsoft-commissioned IDC research finds Singapore businesses are converting AI maturity into measurable revenue and productivity gains, with 17% now classed as “Frontier Firms.”
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South Korea Doubles Down on Sovereign AI With New Frontier Model Push
South Korea is proposing a 4.7 trillion won ($3.4B) frontier AI program for 2027, building on a sovereign model that already ranks third globally despite GPU constraints.
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How the Philippines Is Teaching Its Irrigation Pumps to Think Ahead of El Nino
The Philippines’ National Irrigation Administration is rolling out AI-based monitoring across its solar-powered pump network, letting pumps judge crop water needs for themselves as El Nino tightens its grip on farms nationwide.
