Asia

Egune is one of several linguistically and culturally aware AI models built by smaller nations to reduce reliance on American and Chinese tech giants.

OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity create partnerships and free offers for a steady stream of consumer data that can't be scraped from the internet.

Impersonators for OnlyFans models said their sales quotas are soaring, and once AI improves, they could be out of work.

In The New Geography of Innovation, writer Mehran Gul examines the increasing competition for talent in Singapore, where big tech firms are luring people away from once-prized government jobs.

Manufacturing powerhouses Mexico, Malaysia, and India want to become less reliant on expensive imports — without competing with Nvidia or TSMC.

Vietnamese chip component suppliers are responding to growing market demands for products with no Chinese link. 

Indonesia dominates the EV nickel supply chain. But prices are falling, threatening workers in high-risk, high-reward smelting jobs.

A year after merging with local giant Tokopedia, TikTok’s business model is alienating sellers, forcing many to join rival platforms.

Backlash against Neta Auto in Thailand underscores risks of companies expanding abroad too soon.

Spanning subjects from Apple to Nvidia to OpenAI, here are six compelling books on technology, tech leaders, and the promise and perils of artificial intelligence.

The island’s offshore wind ambitions are creating a new class of cable engineers.

CyberNews researchers flag breach as “blueprint for mass exploitation.”

A Chinese courier company is out-delivering Amazon — and everyone else — across Southeast Asia.

Chinese firms iFlytek and Hytera highlighted AI translation and public safety tech — sidestepping disputes over surveillance and trade secrets.

Scarred by long hours, low pay, and a hostile work culture, many chip workers are leaving for competitors, including American companies.

The founder of inDrive, the world's second-most downloaded ride-hailing app, is going beyond rides, and dreams of delivering education and health care through a super-app.

A record number of people are leaving the Philippines to work in Taiwanese factories, where they face long shifts, low pay, and unequal treatment.

In Taiwan’s AI-fueled chip boom, brokers control everything from paychecks to dorm beds, leaving workers feeling trapped and exploited.

“Every day, for eight months, I deceived people”; Americans alone lost $12.5 billion last year to these sophisticated online cons.

In her new book, Empire of AI, Karen Hao insists that AI companies don’t have to choose between exploiting workers and chasing growth.

Following DeepSeek's rise, more Chinese companies are highlighting their roots as they expand overseas.

Automation is posed as a labor shortage solution, but workers say robots are making their jobs — and food — worse.

Patrick McGee, author of the new book Apple in China, on the too-close-to-break relationship between the world’s second-most valuable company and its biggest geopolitical rival.

Sendo, once poised to become Vietnam’s leading e-commerce company, is reinventing itself to survive against TikTok Shop and Shopee.

On the eve of its demise, Rest of World readers remember how Skype changed their world.

The Southeast Asian nation has emerged as a promising alternative for tech suppliers diversifying from China, but that comes with risks.

The U.S.-China trade war drove Apple’s Chinese suppliers to Vietnam. Now they’re stuck with hard choices.

Stephen Witt, author of a new book on Nvidia and its CEO Jensen Huang, on how the leading AI chip designer is navigating geopolitical tensions around its products.

Digital rights activist says Starlink could have connected survivors, but the devices are banned.

VinFast follows its Vietnam playbook in Asia and targets the luxury market in the Gulf.

Sarah Wynn-Williams’ memoir is a courageous feat, but it glosses over her own indifference to warnings from policymakers, civil society, and internal teams outside the U.S. about serious harm to communities from Facebook.

Gotion’s attempt to open a battery plant in smalltown Michigan is hardly the first time big companies have run into trouble abroad.

BYD is more affordable than Tesla in at least 10 places outside the West.

Global leap to 4G and 5G would cut off phone access for millions of vulnerable people.

Governments frequently disagree over the names of places. Here’s how mapping apps have dealt with various feuds.

Student-interns are paid for low-skill factory tasks and spend little time in the classroom.