Welcome back,
This week’s delayed installment of ATR comes with notes on Grab-Grojek’s apparent revival of potential merger talks, the impact of Deepseek on all things from stocks, to governments and trade restrictions. SoftBank has come out swinging on AI, strongly in the camp of OpenAI, and elsewhere Huawei’s mobile recovery is progressing nicely, India may rethink its stance on crypto and more.
Have a great rest of the week,
Jon
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The idea of Grab and Gojek joining forces has never made more sense than now.
Both companies are public, both are making an effort to be more financially sustainable, many of the egos from both sides (mostly Gojek) are gone and both companies are concerned about survival in more challenging times.
Deal Street Asia reported that conversations over a potential deal “have resurfaced and gained momentum in recent weeks.” Bloomberg later reported the same. This time around the deal could see Grab buy Gojek for around $7 billion:
One scenario under discussion involves Grab purchasing GOTO shares at Rp 100 per share, representing a 13.6 percent premium over GOTO’s current trading price of Rp 88, according to an analysis by Stockbit Sekuritas.
It feels a little like ground hog day as it is almost a year to the day since Bloomberg reported deal talks had resumed. Maybe it’s a New Year thing…
Deepseek was the major story from our previous issue so it is not a surprise that last week saw a lot of the reaction and second- and third-order effects play out from this sudden emergence. (Deepseek wasn’t made overnight but knowledge of its existence did blow up over night.)
China rightly celebrated the success of another of its tech companies gaining recognition overseas. Already it has ByteDance through TikTok but Deepseek going toe-to-toe with OpenAI and gathering plaudits for more ingenuity and thriftiness is a major PR win for China. And it did so using open source, too.
That was also reflected in the stock market, which began with Japanese shares dropping and later, as the US awoke, over $1 trillion was shaved off public market stocks as the world reacted (perhaps overreacted) to the idea that US companies don’t have a monopoly on AI innovation and the future of tech.
The pushback around Deepseek included the US government banning its use among employees (no surprise), people digging into areas that its AI can’t respond to such as human rights or Taiwan (no shock) but there were deeper digs, too.
OpenAI claimed DeepSeek used its proprietary models for training, potentially violating IP rules. The company didn’t share any further information but we can expect to hear more. Microsoft is working with OpenAI to figure out what happened:
Microsoft researchers observed suspected DeepSeek affiliates extracting large amounts of data via OpenAI’s API last fall. Microsoft, OpenAI’s top investor, flagged the activity, which may violate OpenAI’s terms of service or indicate an attempt to bypass data limits.
Then the US government is investigating whether and how Deepseek got access to Nvidia tech using third parties located in Singapore.
My friend Tim Culpan has a measured take on Deepseek’s coming out moment. I recommend reading it. Yes, Deepseek is a big deal that blindsided many but actually there’s a huge overreaction to it all.
Masayoshi Son and SoftBank are back in the news following reports that the Japanese firm plans to lead a fundraising round for OpenAi that could raise up to $10 billion for the AI startup at a valuation that could reach $300 billion.
That’s quite a shot in the arm given the instability that Deepseek’s arrival on the scene had caused, with many doubting OpenAI’s strategy and innovation. SoftBank is also setting up a joint venture in Japan with OpenAI, that’s something it has a history of doing with major tech companies. The deal is said to be worth $3 billion and will target corporate AI clients in the country.
That’s not quite all as Softbank is also reportedly in talks to lead a $500 million round for AI robotics startup Skild AI, which is raising at a valuation of $4 billion.
Elsewhere, Kakao and OpenAI are deepening AI integration in Korea’s top social platform
Decoupling Huawei from the Google services baked into the Android operating system was a one-two punch designed to hobble the company alongside restrictions on components.
The Chinese manufacturing ecosystem went into overdrive to bridge the gap on chips and other critical components on the hardware side, but Huawei itself has also excelled on building its Google-free software play.
Bloomberg reported last week that the launch of Huawei’s Mate 70 device, its first major flagship using its HarmonyOS (without Google) represents “the most serious push for a third mobile ecosystem outside Apple and Google.”
We’ve reported regularly on the progress HarmonyOS is making with major app developers such as Tencent and ByteDance. They’ve been lured with deals to cut the fees on in-app purchases taken by Huawei, and they’ve developed customised versions of their apps for the Huawei operating system.
This year will be a major one for Huawei and HarmonyOS but the signs are already positive. Android’s fragmentation means Huawei, as China’s top smartphone brand and an institution in its own right, has a big chance to take the initiative and become second to Apple’s iOS.
The trouble might not be over for Nvidia with sources claiming that Trump officials are discussing tightening curbs on the company’s China sales link
WSJ looks at how Chinese crypto traders are using brokers to move cash exceeding $100k into stablecoins and other tokens—including more sinister players like money laundering for criminal syndicates, including fentanyl traffickers, to helping individuals move funds abroad in violation of strict capital controls link
Zhan Ketuan, the billionaire founder of Bitmain, is facing mounting challenges as U.S. authorities target his business empire. In recent months, shipments of Bitmain’s Bitcoin mining rigs have been impounded, and his AI-focused companies, including Xiamen Sophgo Technologies, have been blacklisted link
Alibaba’s Qwen team released AI models that can control PCs and phones link
Alibaba also released Qwen 2.5, an upgraded AI model that it claims outperforms DeepSeek-V3, GPT-4o, and Meta’s Llama-3.1-405B link
Top Chinese memory chip maker YMTC claims to have made another another design breakthrough, defying US sanctions link
There’s also signs that ChangXin Memory Technologies has advanced its chipmaking technology despite US export controls—Canada-based TechInsights says its DDR5 DRAM, featured in Gloway memory modules, employs manufacturing techniques previously unseen in the Chinese market link
Weibo, China’s top microblogging service, has “adjusted” its algorithms to improve ‘public values’ amid government crackdown link
One of the expected impacts of Trump’s new freewheeling approach to crypto (which I’ve written about here) is that other nations may borrow some of that spirit and adopt a more positive approach to regulating the industry. That looks like it might happen in India, which is renewing its stance on digital assets exactly due to other countries’ stance link
Shein reentered India via a partnership with Reliance Retail, nearly five years after its ban amid India-China tensions link
Meesho raised a further $250M-$270M more for its social e-commerce service. That takes it to $550M raised to date although this round reportedly came at around $4B valuation, down from its previous $5M—the deal is seen as a precursor to a planned IPO, which could happen next year link
OpenAI has asked an Indian court to quash a plea by a group representing Indian and global book publishers that accuse it of copyright breaches, arguing its ChatGPT service only disseminates public information, legal papers show link
India is accelerating AI development, supporting 18 projects to build foundational models within 10 months—the government aims to deploy over 18,000 GPUs, with companies like E2E Networks and Jio Platforms competing to provide infrastructure link
Apple is in discussions with India’s Bharat Forge to make it a supplier, potentially manufacturing components like mechanics link
Slice Bank is in talks to raise $250M to expand its digital banking operations link
Speedy by nature, quick-commerce startup Zepto moved its domicile to India from Singapore in what is reportedly the fastest shift so far—the news is linked to a planned IPO for the young startup link
A US judge found Byju’s executive Vinay Ravindra and company ally Rajendran Vellapalath in contempt of court, imposing a $25,000 daily fine for noncompliance link
Tata Technologies is investigating a ransomware attack that hit its IT assets link
India axed import tax on some smartphone parts in boost to Apple, Xiaomi and others link
Vietnam’s military-run postal service is building robots to deliver on the country’s e-commerce boom link
Thailand will hold banks, telecoms, social media, and online lenders accountable for financial fraud on their platforms as part of a crackdown on cybercrimes and call-center scams link
Singapore-based Tanglin Venture Partners, an investor in several Indian consumer brands, is looking to raise $250M for a third fund link
SignalPlus, a Singapore-based provider of software and infrastructure solutions for crypto derivatives, closed a $11M in Series B round link
Singapore fintech startup 129Knots launches with $10M from Sing Fuels link
Thailand approved TikTok’s $3.8B investment in data hosting as it seeks to become a regional data hub link
Indonesia could be the latest country to introduce an age limit on social media link
Singapore said its authorities will work with US counterparts amid concerns that China’s DeepSeek acquired Nvidia chips via local intermediaries link
Samsung and LG are trying to outpace Chinese display rivals with new OLED tech link
Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida will step down in April after seven years, having led the company’s shift from consumer electronics to global entertainment link
Japan is adding advanced chips and quantum computing technology to its export controls, a move China warns could hurt trade link
Chinese TV makers now dominate Japan’s market, accounting for over half of all flat-screen TV sales last year for the first time, according to BCN link
TSMC founder Morris Chang was interviewed on Acquired Podcast link
Taiwan banned government agencies and key infrastructure from using Chinese AI startup DeepSeek’s technology over security concerns link
Nepal-based SecurityPal is streamlining security compliance for major tech firms like OpenAI, Figma, and Airtable link
Hackers from China, Iran, and other nations are using AI to enhance cyberattacks on US and global targets, according to a US officials and security researchers link
