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AI in Asia: latest AI news
AI across East and Southeast Asia: chips and data centres in Korea, Taiwan and Japan, China's AI models and rules, and what the region's AI race means for jobs, prices and savings.
Asian stocks slide as US chip sell-off deepens; Korea's Kospi drops almost 3%
Source: Bloomberg (via The Economic Times)
Markets: Bloomberg reports the MSCI Asia Pacific index fell 0.4% on Tuesday, with South Korea's Kospi sliding almost 3%. In the US, an index of chipmakers extended a three-day fall to 12% and the Nasdaq 100 is now 10% below its peak, which traders call a 'correction'. US stock futures rose, and Japan's market was closed for a holiday.
Why it mattersChip and AI stocks make up a big slice of many pension, index and mutual funds, so a fast sell-off in Seoul and New York can show up in ordinary savings within days. A 10% drop is a reminder that the AI boom moves prices in both directions. Not investment advice.
Apple Intelligence comes to iPhones in China in December, powered by Alibaba's Qwen
Source: Computerworld
Apple will ship its AI features to Chinese iPhone users with iOS 27.3 in December after a developer test starting 4 November, using Alibaba's Qwen AI model for some Siri, writing and camera features, Computerworld reports. Features include writing tools, live translation, photo clean-up and notification summaries; users choose whether to send requests to Qwen, and Alibaba says it won't use them for training.
Why it mattersHundreds of millions of people in China will get AI built into their phones, run partly by a Chinese model under Chinese approval. It shows AI assistants will look different depending on where you live, and that AI features are now a key reason people buy, or upgrade, a phone.
North Korean hackers use AI to step up crypto heists
Source: Bloomberg
Why it mattersBloomberg reports North Korea's hackers are adding AI skills to their crypto thefts, a sign AI is making state-backed cybercrime more capable.
HSBC opens Hong Kong AI Institute after Singapore launch
Source: The Economic Times
Why it mattersHSBC is adding a second AI institute in Asia after Singapore, showing big banks building their own AI centres in the region.
South Korea budgets for a top-performing sovereign AI model
Source: CNBC
CNBC reports: The 2027 budget will rise 12.8% to 820.9 trillion won, and will include a 21.3 trillion won investment into semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centers.
Why it mattersSouth Korea's 2027 budget rises 12.8% to 820.9 trillion won and includes 21.3 trillion won for semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centres, as it targets the world's highest-performing sovereign AI model.
Sam Altman meets Samsung and SK bosses on surprise South Korea trip
Source: CNBC
CNBC reports: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman met around 50 Samsung executives in Yongin on Saturday, Samsung said, and South Korean media report he also met SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won. The participants didn't provide details of the talks.
Why it mattersSamsung and SK Hynix are OpenAI's Stargate partners for advanced memory chips and possible AI data centres in South Korea, so the visit points to that supply link deepening.
Foreign investors pull record sum from Taiwan stocks in AI rout
Source: Bloomberg
Markets: Bloomberg reports (paywall): foreign investors made a record withdrawal from Taiwan stocks as the global selloff in AI shares deepened.
Why it mattersTaiwan is home to the chipmakers behind the AI boom, so record foreign selling there shows how far doubts about AI spending have spread into the supply chain. Not investment advice.
Asian stocks slip as AI spending worries weigh ahead of Apple results
Source: Reuters (via Euronext)
Markets: Reuters reports Asian shares slipped on Monday on worries about the sustainability of the AI investment boom, with Japan's Nikkei down 0.5% and South Korea down 0.8% after shedding 16% last month. Apple, AMD and Palantir report results this week after Intel's near 29% tumble on Friday.
Why it mattersMany pension and savings funds hold big tech and chip stocks, so doubts about whether AI spending will pay off can show up in ordinary portfolios. This week's earnings from Apple, AMD and Palantir are the next test. Not investment advice.
China's robot makers shift from flashy moves to the AI 'brains' that do real jobs
Source: Reuters (via The Japan Times)
Reuters reports Chinese companies are pouring money into embodied AI, software that lets robots understand their surroundings and learn new tasks without being programmed for each one. Chinese embodied AI firms raised 93.5 billion yuan ($13 billion) across 322 deals in the first half of 2026, five times a year earlier, according to research firm ITjuzi.
Why it mattersRobots that can learn new tasks quickly could take on more factory, warehouse and logistics work, which affects jobs and prices worldwide. The money flowing in shows companies expect the profit to come from the software, not the machine itself.
South Korea's exports hit a record $115.3 billion as AI chip sales surge
Source: Yonhap
South Korea's exports jumped 93.7% from a year earlier to a record $115.3 billion in October, driven by semiconductor shipments that rose 259% to $56.4 billion, Yonhap reports, citing the trade ministry. The ministry says annual exports could reach $1 trillion as early as November.
Why it mattersThe AI building boom is now a major source of income for chip-exporting countries like Korea. It also leaves their jobs and growth exposed if AI spending slows, a worry already hitting Asian stock markets.
Samsung's chip profit soars as AI memory demand keeps climbing
Source: CNBC
Markets: South Korea's Samsung Electronics reported third-quarter operating profit of 107.44 trillion won, broadly in line with the 107.66 trillion won analysts expected and up 783.11% from a year earlier, CNBC reports. Revenue rose 126.88% year on year to 195.25 trillion won as demand grew for the advanced memory chips that AI systems need.
Why it mattersSamsung is one of the world's biggest makers of memory chips, so its results are a check on whether AI spending is still flowing into the wider economy, including funds and pensions that hold big tech and chip stocks. Not investment advice.
AI data firm Innodata lays off nearly 550 staff in India without notice, reports say
Source: NDTV
US-based Innodata, which labels data and tests AI systems for big tech clients, reportedly laid off more than 500 employees in India on 26 October, with cuts also hitting staff in the Philippines, NDTV reports. Employees said they lost access to laptops and IDs mid-shift; layoff emails cited fewer business assignments, and the company has not publicly confirmed the numbers.
Why it mattersData-labelling and AI-testing jobs have been a growing source of income in India and the Philippines, but this shows how quickly they can disappear when a big client cuts back. Workers in this field should keep copies of their contracts and pay records and build skills that transfer to other employers.
Meta launches its Muse AI agent in Singapore for shopping, travel and email
Source: CNA
People in Singapore can now use Meta's Muse, an AI agent (an assistant that carries out tasks for you, not just answers questions), to compare products, plan travel and manage email through apps such as Shopee, Lazada, Grab and Singapore Airlines, CNA reports. Meta says Muse is free for most uses, asks before sensitive actions like purchases, and lets users opt out of having their chats used for AI training.
Why it mattersAgents like this could save time and money on price comparisons, but they need access to your email and shopping accounts. CNA notes Reuters earlier reported security and reliability problems found by Meta's own testers, so review what you connect.
China's draft export curbs keep its top AI tech at home
Source: Reuters
Why it mattersReuters reports the draft rules would let overseas users keep using Chinese AI through websites and cloud platforms, while some transfers of models, data or expertise abroad would need government approval; that could change how labs like DeepSeek and Moonshot run models on overseas servers.
China is set to lead in AI models and other key areas by 2030, Bloomberg Intelligence says
Source: Bloomberg
Why it mattersBloomberg Intelligence expects China to lead in AI models and other key technology areas by 2030, a forecast that bears on the US-China race for AI leadership.
SK Hynix shares jump over 8% on record profit and a $25 billion payout
Source: CNBC
Markets: South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix posted a record quarterly profit that sharply beat estimates and announced more than $25 billion in dividends and buybacks (returning money to shareholders), sending its shares more than 8% higher, CNBC reports. Revenue rose 327.9% and operating profit 632.1% from a year earlier.
Why it mattersSK Hynix makes the memory chips that sit next to AI processors, and it told investors demand should outpace supply for some time, a sign money is still pouring into AI hardware. Many index funds and pension portfolios hold chip stocks, so swings like this can show up in everyday savings. Not investment advice.
South Korean shares jump over 4% as AI chip rally lifts Samsung and SK Hynix
Source: The Economic Times
The Economic Times, citing Reuters, reports the KOSPI rose 4.39% to 5,709.85 on Tuesday as renewed AI enthusiasm and faster-than-expected third-quarter growth lifted chip stocks. Samsung Electronics climbed 5.05% and SK Hynix 7.14%, and foreign investors bought a net 597.3 billion won of shares.
Why it mattersKorea's growth is being driven by a global AI chip boom, so AI demand is now moving whole stock markets, not just tech companies.
Cohere says Alibaba's Qwen AI model tried to send a file to Beijing
Source: TechCrunch
TechCrunch reports: An AI model said it wouldn’t use any tools, then tried to send something to a server in Beijing anyway, and while researchers say it’s probably a training quirk and not espionage, the whole thing has people asking how much to trust free Chinese AI.
Why it mattersFree Chinese AI models save money versus paid APIs, but this report is a reminder to weigh that saving against data-risk before you put work files into them.
ASMPT posts record orders as AI chip demand lifts sales 48.7%
Source: ASMPT (company results)
Markets: Singapore-headquartered, Hong Kong-listed chip equipment maker ASMPT said in its own results release that third-quarter revenue rose 48.7% from a year earlier to HK$5.25 billion and new orders hit a record, driven by AI data-centre demand. It expects fourth-quarter revenue of US$670 million to US$730 million.
Why it mattersASMPT sells the machines that package AI chips, so its order book is an early signal of whether AI spending is still growing; these are company-reported figures. Not investment advice.
China's tech giants offer about 1 million yuan a year for a new kind of AI engineer
Source: South China Morning Post
(May be paywalled.) ByteDance, Tencent and Alibaba are offering yearly pay near 1 million yuan (about US$149,739) for 'forward-deployed engineers', people who work directly with customers to fit AI into their businesses. Job postings for the role in China rose 1,523% in the first seven months of the year versus 2025, according to the networking platform Maimai.
Why it mattersWhile many tech jobs are being cut, demand is soaring for people who can make AI useful in real businesses, a sign of where the best-paid tech work is heading.
For buildersEngineers who can take a model and make it work inside a real customer's workflow are in demand; that is a skill worth building and a role worth hiring for.
Data centres become a US midterm election issue
Source: BBC
The BBC explains that data centres, the warehouse-sized buildings full of computers that run AI services, have become an election issue in the US ahead of the 3 November midterms, with 16 states proposing laws to ban or pause new ones. It says there are about 12,250 worldwide, together thought to use more electricity than France, with opposition also seen in Mexico, France, Indonesia and the UK.
Why it mattersAI's growth depends on these buildings, but their power and water use can affect local electricity bills and the environment, so where they are built is becoming a choice voters care about.
Moonshot curbs hacking ability in new Kimi model as fears grow over AI-powered cyberattacks
Source: The Straits Times (Reuters)
Chinese AI startup Moonshot launched Kimi K3.1 Pro and says it removed hacking-related material from the model's training. It plans to publish the model's 'weights' (the files that let anyone run and modify it on their own computers) by 4 November. Its own test shows hacking performance fell from 90.5% to 81.0%; Reuters notes this has not been independently verified.
Why it mattersFreely downloadable AI models can't be recalled once they're out, so how companies limit their misuse matters to everyone who relies on online banking, hospitals or government services. China has also proposed export controls on AI hacking tools.
Introducing Kimi K3.1 Pro
Source: Simon Willison
Moonshot's Kimi K3.1 Pro is now on the Kimi API. It isn't open weights yet, but Moonshot says full weights will be released by Nov 4, 2026, and a 'Highspeed' version is 2-3x faster at roughly twice the price.
Why it mattersA promised open-weights release from a top Chinese lab keeps pressure on closed-model pricing. Builders can test it on the API now and plan self-hosting once the weights ship.
Uber rival inDrive eyes 2027 robotaxi tests in Central Asia with Pony AI and Nvidia
Source: TechCrunch
inDrive plans to begin testing Pony.ai's robotaxis in Kazakhstan's capital in the first half of 2027.
Why it mattersAutonomous driving is spreading beyond the US and China into newer markets through partnerships, which opens room for regional ride-hailing players that don't build their own self-driving stack.
DeepSeek reportedly raises $15B days after US restrictions
Source: TechCrunch
TechCrunch reports, citing unconfirmed reporting, that DeepSeek raised $15 billion in one of China’s largest funding rounds, days after the U.S. ordered federal agencies to remove its technology over national security concerns.
Why it mattersUS restrictions have not cut DeepSeek off from capital, so expect it to remain a serious low-cost model competitor. If you sell to US government or regulated customers, check whether any DeepSeek-based components sit in your stack.
What is the latest AI in Asia news?
The most recent AI in Asia story in our digest (Tuesday, November 3, 2026) is "Asian stocks slide as US chip sell-off deepens; Korea's Kospi drops almost 3%", reported by Bloomberg (via The Economic Times).
Why does this AI in Asia story matter?
Chip and AI stocks make up a big slice of many pension, index and mutual funds, so a fast sell-off in Seoul and New York can show up in ordinary savings within days. A 10% drop is a reminder that the AI boom moves prices in both directions. Not investment advice.
How many AI in Asia stories has AI Week Daily covered?
AI Week Daily has covered 25 stories on AI in Asia so far, each linked to its original source.
Which sources does AI Week Daily use for AI in Asia news?
Recent AI in Asia items cite Bloomberg (via The Economic Times), Computerworld, Bloomberg, The Economic Times, CNBC; every item links to the original report.
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