In terms of geopolitical optics, this week was nothing short of a banquet. It served up at least two sets of images that seem to crystallize our historical moment and that will live on in the Wikipedia of history as shorthand for where the world was in 2025.
One is the waves of uncannily synchronized soldiers and a bewildering array of high-tech weaponry gliding down Beijing’s Chang’an Avenue. The ...
Category: AI
Chinese AI Firms Turn to the Middle East Amid Domestic Funding Crunch
A recent feature in Economic Observer, a business news outlet, shows how Chinese AI companies, squeezed by fierce competition and a shrinking capital pool at home, are pivoting toward the Middle East, where deep-pocketed sovereign funds and ambitious digital transformation agendas are opening new doors.
China and Brazil Sign Nuclear, AI Agreements
Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a raft of bilateral cooperation agreements on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro. They include a letter of intent between Brazil's Ministry of Mines and Energy and China General Nuclear ...
Fake War Footage Clouds Israel-Iran Conflict, Say Chinese Fact-Checkers
A recent investigation by Mingcha (明查)—the fact-checking and fake news verification desk under The Paper, a major Shanghai-based digital news outlet—has revealed how an avalanche of AI-generated images, video game footage, and recycled clips have flooded social media during the recent Israel-Iran conflict. ...
Trend Tracker: China’s AI Outreach to the Global South
The Chinese company DeepSeek’s success in building a world-leading artificial intelligence system on inexpensive chips isn’t only shifting tech conversations. AI is an increasingly common theme in China’s wider outreach to the Global South. This week, a Xinhua op-ed framed AI ...
Malaysia to Target Chip Flow to China Under U.S. Pressure
Malaysia will tighten regulations on the trade in semiconductors after coming under U.S. pressure to stem the flow of high-end chips to China. Trade Minister Zafrul Aziz told reporters: “ asking us to make sure that we monitor every shipment that comes to Malaysia when it involves Nvidia ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Singapore Probes Final Destination of Possible Nvidia Chip Servers
Servers that may contain AI-powering Nvidia chips shipped from the United States to Singapore ended up in Malaysia, but their actual final destination remains a mystery, the city-state's interior minister said Monday. The United States is cracking down on exports of ...
South Korea Says DeepSeek Removed From Local App Stores Pending Privacy Review
By Kang Jin-kyu South Korean authorities said Monday that DeepSeek would not be available from local app stores pending a review of the Chinese AI startup's handling of user data. DeepSeek's R1 chatbot stunned investors ...
UAE to Launch DeepSeek-Inspired AI Models: Senior Official
By Talek Harris The United Arab Emirates is planning to launch new artificial intelligence models inspired by China's DeepSeek, a senior official told AFP, calling the system's disruptive emergence "fantastic news." Faisal Al Bannai, the ...
Kenyan-Chinese Robotics Partnership Breaking AI and STEM Barriers for Schoolchildren
China is the world’s factory, but for one Kenyan company, it has become more than just a source of goods—it is a gateway to affordable technology for education. Afribot Robotics, a Nairobi-based firm specializing in STEM education, discovered this advantage ...
Introducing ChatCGSP (beta)
Regular listeners of our podcast may have heard me discuss some of my anxieties about artificial intelligence and the threat that tools like ChatGPT and Google Bard pose to small independent news organizations like ours. In April, when U.S. Secretary of ...