The Business Times

Catherine Thorbecke

Installation art 'Dynamics of a Dog on a Leash'. Watching a machine strain against a chain and seeing people empathise with its yearning to be free is a preview of one of the most quietly consequential shifts in AI.

Why do we feel empathy for robots?

The hardest governance problems may not be what these systems can do, but how they make us feel

After a quiet removal from Chinese app stores, "Are You Dead" has been launched internationally as "Demumu".

Forget DeepSeek, dying alone is China’s latest tech obsession

The new breakout app that asks ‘Are you dead?’ says much about society

Building foundation models and massive AI systems trained on enormous amounts of data requires billions of dollars, scarce chips and vast engineering talent.

Is Asia’s sovereign AI push an exercise in futility?

Countries trying to develop their own foundation models may end up wasting a lot of money

The World AI Conference has convened thousands of people – as well as scores of robots – and brought to life all the passions and pitfalls of the current state of AI in China.

China’s AI strategy relies on frenzy and frenemies

Beijing is calling for solidarity while Washington favours ‘America First’

The AI "agent” is often used to describe an AI system that can act autonomously and work with outside applications to complete increasingly complicated tasks.

AI ‘agents’ aren’t matching up to the buzzwords

We should cool off comparing the technology to gods or even humans

The outsize role that Chinese talent play in developing AI systems for the US, its geopolitical rival, likely is not lost on Beijing.

Can China compete in the AI talent war?

Half of DeepSeek’s team never left China for education or work, and those who did ultimately return to pursue AI development, say Stanford researchers

Son has built his career on taking long-shot gambles. It hasn’t always worked out. But such a mentality has propelled his rise from Japanese slum to the single-largest foreign investor in the US.
THE BOTTOM LINE

The magical thinking of Masa Son

The SoftBank founder has a long-shot ambition to create an AI robot hub in the US desert

Although President Donald Trump’s trade war has brought turmoil to global markets, the hits won’t knock China’s AI development off-course. Not only does the industry’s domestic focus shield it from tariff blows, the sector is also buoyed by government support.

Chinese AI’s secret to withstanding the trade war

The government set up a 60b yuan investment fund to buoy the sector amid market volatility as it throws its entire might behind becoming a world leader in AI

The likes of Huawei and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp are working around the clock to produce domestic alternatives to Nvidia’s AI processors.
THE BOTTOM LINE

Nvidia chips don’t belong on the bargaining table

News that Nvidia Corp will not be able to sell its customised artificial intelligence (AI) chips in China caught both the company and markets by surprise.

An engineer working on humanoid robots at a factory in Shanghai. China's tech sector has witnessed a remarkable revitalisation this year, propelled by fresh exuberance over AI development.
THE BOTTOM LINE

Silicon Valley’s loss will be China’s gain

This is where the trade war meets the tech war

Latest T-bills Treasury Bills Results & Interest NewsLatest SSB Singapore Savings Bonds NewsLatest COE Certificate of Entitlement News
Latest Johor-Singapore SEZ NewsLatest BTO Build To Order & Sales of Balance NewsLatest STI Straits Times Index NewsLatest SGX Dividends, Share Price NewsLatest Bonds Market NewsLatest Singapore Stocks To Buy NewsLatest Singapore Economy News
View More