Abu Dhabi delegation visits Korea to expand economic, investment ties

StarCraft is finally returning, but not as a real-time strategy sequel many fans were expecting.

Plaud, the maker of the credit-card-sized AI voice recorder that has become a fixture on lanyards and phone cases across Asia, has opened an Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore. The Chinese-founded, San Francisco-incorporated firm has also committed at least SGD20 million (~US$15.7 million) to the island nation. This is double the amount it pledged when it […] The post Plaud doubles its Singapore bet to US$15.7M. Now it has to prove the growth is real appeared first on e27.

Razer has brought down Sensa haptics from the Kraken V4 Pro, and put it into the body of a Kraken V4 X.

Cambodia’s startup ecosystem is still small by Southeast Asian standards, but its newest crop of founders is starting to build with a wider market in mind. Newwave Tech Foundry, a Phnom Penh-based artificial intelligence and software development company, is one example: barely two years old, it already says more than 70 per cent of its […] The post Cambodia’s Newwave wins CIFC backing to build AI tools for regional businesses appeared first on e27.

With less than a month to go before we see another Amazon Prime Big Deal Days event, here is what you need to know about the sale.

According to its specifications for the Mainland Chinese market, the phone will likely come with triple 200MP cameras and a powerful MediaTek chipset.

In the era of hyper-liquidity and ultra-low interest rates, the corporate software market witnessed an extraordinary transformation. The rapid global expansion of certain comprehensive business management applications, most notably Odoo, serves as a textbook example of a highly successful “capital + brand” growth narrative. Propelled by substantial venture capital injections and private equity backing, the […] The post The Capital-Driven Rise of Modern Business Suites appeared first on e27.

Southeast Asia’s robotics sector just posted a record year. Look closer, and the story isn’t strength; it’s fragility wearing a big number as a costume. Tracxn’s new Robotics – SEA report says the region’s robotics companies raised US$696 million so far in 2026, blowing past the US$52 million raised in all of 2025. On its […] The post Singapore’s robotics dominance is a warning sign dressed up as good news appeared first on e27.

The Mac mini-sized computer is designed for developers and businesses that want to run AI models locally.

Rosaline Chow Koo has spent much of her career trying to make corporate health benefits less rigid, less opaque and, ultimately, less expensive. Her last company, CXA, attacked the problem from the employee side, giving workers more room to customise their benefits while helping employers manage costs. Now, at 65, she is coming at the […] The post CXA founder Rosaline Chow Koo returns with Covee, an AI tool for benefits brokers appeared first on e27.

In 2018, Carnegie Mellon launched the first bachelor of science degree in artificial intelligence in the United States. A handful of universities followed over the next five years. Then 2025 happened. Bachelor’s level AI programs jumped from 90 to 193 in a single year, a 114 percent expansion. Northwestern launched its own AI major in […] The post Why some Gen Z graduates are skipping AI degrees entirely, and getting better jobs because of it appeared first on e27.

The iPhone did not destroy the compact camera because it was a better camera. It destroyed much of the market because it was already in people’s pockets. A dedicated camera could take better photographs. A specialist GPS unit could navigate more reliably. An iPod could be a better music player. But owning the specialist device […] The post Does the iPhone show us which industries AI will destroy? appeared first on e27.

The digital asset market stumbled through a bruising 24-hour stretch as two outside forces collided with a market already stretched by borrowed money. Bitcoin lost 3.12 per cent to trade at US$75,697.61. Ethereum fell 4.49 per cent to US$2,399.07. Both underperformed a flat broader market. A procedural vote in the United States Senate on September […] The post Bitcoin falls 3.12% to $75,697.61: Did Washington just kill the rally? appeared first on e27.

Ricoh, the Japanese office-equipment and digital-services giant, has made its first bet from a freshly launched corporate venture fund and it has chosen mental health as the theme. The company confirmed on Tuesday that it has invested in Intellect, a Singapore-based workplace mental-health platform, through the RICOH Innovation Fund II. Also Read: YC-backed mental health […] The post Japan’s Ricoh backs Singapore’s Intellect in first deal from new US$20M fund appeared first on e27.

Sometimes, last-minute in-store shopping might be your best option.

Three weeks ago I sat in on a pitch from a Jakarta fintech founder who used the word AI-powered four times in six minutes. When I asked what the model actually predicted, he could not answer. He knew the term. He did not know the mechanism. That gap is the real story of Southeast Asia’s […] The post The AI boom won’t help you scale. Your unit economics will appeared first on e27.

Foreign founders entering Taiwan should organise their research around decisions, not a long directory of programmes. The useful question is not simply what support exists, but which resource removes the next obstacle to testing a business. As the operator of EZStartup, I approach this as a sequencing problem: validate the commercial opportunity, identify the appropriate […] The post Entering Taiwan: A practical resource map for foreign founders appeared first on e27.

A new class of AI tools has changed how research gets done. These tools help researchers gather and present their work, sift thousands of papers in minutes, flag fabricated data in submissions, and, more broadly, are authoring the future of scientific presentation and communication. Already, millions of scientists use them, but outside the lab, almost […] The post Asia’s research-tech companies: Millions of users and nearly invisible to funders and customers appeared first on e27.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent faced lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday, amid concerns over rapidly developing artificial intelligence (AI) and surging bond yields. During the nearly three-hour-long hearing, Bessent brushed off concerns about AI and defended his department’s intervention in the bond market. But that did not stop Democrats on the panel from taking him to task on...

MANILA, Philippines – The two best Philippine Call of Duty: Mobile (CODM) teams will enter the biggest stage for the  CODM World Championship 2026 on December 4 to 6 in Mexico City.  Alula SC and ELEVATE have secured CODM Garena’s two spots after finishing first and second in the Southeast Asian Qualifiers. The two squads will

A cryptocurrency regulation bill failed to advance on the Senate floor Tuesday, after all Democrats and a few Republicans blocked a procedural vote. The Senate voted 49-50 on a motion to proceed with consideration of the Clarity Act, failing to reach the required 60-vote threshold. It marks a major setback for the industry, which has long pushed for the measure setting up a regulatory...

Democratic Rep. Stephen Lynch (Mass.) on Tuesday urged Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to convince President Trump to reverse course on regulating artificial intelligence (AI). During Bessent’s appearance before the House Financial Services Committee, Lynch said Trump does not have “a grasp” of “what we’re dealing with” regarding AI. “I’ll be honest, I don’t think the...

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) went after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday for the Trump administration’s policy on artificial intelligence, as warnings about the technology percolate. During Bessent’s appearance before the House Financial Services Committee, Waters said President Trump is “blindly” pushing for the development of AI models and data centers “with absolutely no safeguards.”...

For many technology startups, the hardest part is not invention. It is everything that comes after. A breakthrough in a university lab, a working prototype, or even an early customer pilot may prove that a product can exist. It does not prove that a company can scale. To get there, founders need to pay customers, […] The post How Hong Kong solves tech’s hardest problem: the final mile to market appeared first on e27.

Rep. George Whitesides (D-Calif.) on Monday said that the U.S. needs "a safety stand-down" regarding AI amid growing calls for regulation coming from both the tech industry and members of Congress. "I'm setting out a vision for how we need to develop AI," Whitesides told NewsNation's Blake Burman on "The Hill." "I think we need,...

Adaptations for Crazy Taxi and Yakuza prequel Stranger than Heaven will be live-action, while the Sonic adaptation is set to be an animated series for kids.

Inflation has thinned consumers’ wallets, yet budget and midrange smartphones are losing ground just when buyers need affordable options most. Soaring component costs, particularly for memory chips, are making it harder for manufacturers to sustain a low-margin, high-volume business model. As manufacturers focus on expanding their premium foldable phone lineups, consumers are increasingly turning to repairs and secondhand devices. iPhone 17e surpasses 1 million won Rising prices for budget and midrange smartphones are putting further pressure on consumers. According to smartphone industry observers Monday, Apple raised the price of its entry-level iPhone 17e, released in March, by 16.1 percent on Thursday, from 990,000 won ($726) to 1.15 million won. The company repriced the existing model as it launched its new iPhone 18 series at substantially higher prices amid so-called “chipflation” driven by global chip shortages. Samsung Electronics has also raised prices for its entry-level Galaxy A series. The Galaxy A37, released in Korea in June, costs 598,400 won, up 19.8 percent from la

Korea's homegrown Nuri rocket will carry 15 satellites on its fifth launch next month, including five satellites that will form part of the country's first domestically launched microsatellite constellation, the space agency said Tuesday. The launch is scheduled for Oct. 7 between 12:23 p.m. and 1:23 p.m. from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, about 330 kilometers south of Seoul, with the exact time to be decided on launch day, the Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) said. The payload consists of five New-space Earth Observation Satellite Constellation for National Safety (NEONSAT) as the primary payload and 10 CubeSats as secondary payloads. The five NEONSATs weigh about 500 kilograms combined, while the CubeSats weigh about 96 kilograms. The mission will be Nuri's first attempt to deploy multiple satellites performing the same mission sequentially into orbit. To prevent collisions, the five NEONSATs will be released in different directions at intervals of 35 to 40 seconds. "On its fifth launch, the Nuri rocket will attempt Korea's first satellite constellation launch mission," Park J

E-commerce giant Coupang Corp. said Tuesday it has launched an information-dedicated committee to overhaul its security system and bolster public confidence in the company. The move comes months after the company was slapped with a record fine of 624.7 billion won ($460 million) by the Korean government in June over a massive customer data leak late last year. "We will continue to improve our security system by incorporating the expertise and know-how of specialists, while striving to exceed global standards," a Coupang official said. The Information Security Advisory Committee consists of seven experts in information security, law, management and information technology (IT), the company said. They include Coupang Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Brett Matthes, Eumene Kang, a senior adviser at law firm Kim & Chang, and Kim Hyun-kyung, a professor at Seoul National University of Science and Technology. At their first meeting Tuesday, the committee members discussed changes in relevant laws and regulations, growing security threats in the market and possible countermeasures. U.S.-li

Software company Hancom plans to launch Nomadian, an artificial intelligence (AI) workforce platform that allows solo entrepreneurs to assemble teams of task-specific AI agents, targeting the U.S. market with a beta release planned for December. Hancom said Tuesday it has formed a dedicated task force to develop the web-based platform, which will be offered on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) basis, with a full subscription service planned for 2027 following the beta release. Nomadian is designed primarily for the growing number of solo entrepreneurs and small businesses in the United States, allowing users to hire AI agents for roles such as data analysis, content marketing and email marketing, and connect them to the tools they need. Users will be able to issue a task in a single sentence, prompting the platform to break it down into smaller tasks and assign them to appropriate AI agents, while they can also create custom agents for roles that are unavailable. The agents can produce documents, spreadsheets and presentations. The agents' work is displayed in a 3D virtual office, allowing

Asiana Airlines passengers will be able to keep their existing mileage and use it on Korean Air-operated flights for 10 years after the two airlines merge, under a mileage integration plan approved by Korea’s antitrust regulator Monday. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) approved Korean Air’s revised plan with conditions aimed at preserving customer benefits and expanding opportunities to redeem mileage following the carriers’ merger on Dec. 17. Under the plan, Asiana mileage will be managed separately for 10 years from the merger date, even after Asiana ceases to exist as a corporate entity. Customers will not have to immediately convert their Asiana mileage to Korean Air’s program. During the 10-year period, Asiana customers will retain the airline’s existing redemption standards and expiration rules. They will also be able to use their mileage across all Korean Air-operated routes for award tickets, seat upgrades, mileage-and-cash payments and shopping. Customers who choose to convert their Asiana mileage can do so at any time during the 10-year period. Flight-earned mileage wi

Global X, the New York-based provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), announced Tuesday the launch of a new fund that seeks to invest in the manufacturers of multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) and related components. A key building block of many modern electronic devices, MLCCs are used in artificial intelligence (AI) servers, electric vehicles, smartphones and other items. Roughly 85 percent of the global MLCC industry is controlled by five manufacturers based in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. The Global X MLCC & Electronic Components ETF provides exposure to all of these companies, which can be difficult for U.S. investors to access directly. Its portfolio includes Murata Manufacturing, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Yageo Corp., TDK Corp. and many others. "The manufacturers of these components sit at a genuine chokepoint in the AI supply chain and could be difficult to access directly through U.S.-listed shares," said Pedro Palandrani, head of product research & development at Global X. Global X has long been known for thematic ETFs, including innovations such as its AI and technology ETF,

Samsung SDS has become the first Korean company to earn Select-tier status in Anthropic’s Claude Partner Network (CPN), strengthening its ability to help businesses adopt and operate Claude-based artificial intelligence (AI) services. The designation comes about two months after the company signed a strategic partnership with the U.S. firm in July at an AI summit in San Francisco to expand enterprise AI business opportunities in Korea. The CPN’s Select tier recognizes partners with certified technical expertise and experience deploying Claude-based solutions in customers’ production environments. Samsung SDS said the new status strengthens its end-to-end AI adoption framework, covering consulting on Claude deployment, access to the model through Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) Amazon Bedrock platform, service implementation and operations and ongoing technical support. “By combining Anthropic's frontier AI technology with Samsung SDS's digital transformation expertise across industries, we will accelerate domestic companies’ AI adoption and help create tangible business value,”

Korea is shortening its timetable for preparing for threats in orbit, moving to a five-year cycle for its national space-risk plan as satellites multiply and solar activity creates new uncertainties. The Korea AeroSpace Administration said Tuesday that an amendment to the Space Development Promotion Act was promulgated and took effect the same day, cutting the planning cycle from 10 years to five. The change is intended to give the government more flexibility as private sector space development accelerates, satellite launches increase and the risk of collisions involving orbital debris grows. The previous law required the government to establish its basic plan for preparing against space risks every 10 years. The Korea AeroSpace Administration said the rapid increase in low-Earth-orbit satellites and fluctuations in space weather linked to solar activity have underscored the need for more frequent policy reviews. Under the revised law, the five-year cycle will also apply to plans adopted before the amendment took effect. That means the second Basic Plan for Space Risk Preparedness, adopted

Kim Ji-ho stared at his stock trading app in confusion on Monday evening. He knew that the after-hours market was opening and noticed that a stock he was interested in had risen 10 percent. But by the time he returned from the bathroom, all the gains had disappeared. "It was a little scary, so I don't think I'll be trading in the after-hours market for a while," said Kim, a 25-year-old college student. For investors who eagerly jumped in, the experience was not entirely satisfying either. Some brokerages experienced technical glitches, while some investors said the new system was confusing because they could not easily distinguish regular-session closing prices from prices in the after-hours session. Others said the separate Korea Exchange (KRX) and Nextrade after-hours markets made trading more cumbersome and confusing, as investors had to choose between two different order screens. The KRX extended stock trading hours Monday, allowing almost all listed stocks to be traded between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. Until now, Nextrade, an alternative trading system, had been the only option for after-hou

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday that it has successfully completed a key technology trial for commercializing sixth-generation (6G) networks with U.S. mobile carrier Verizon Communications Inc. The two companies successfully completed an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) trial at a major international soccer fan event in Texas, enabling real-time sensing-driven intelligence across a virtualized network, the Korean tech giant said. The milestone marks one of the industry's first practical implementations of a key 6G technology, demonstrating how operators can leverage software-driven network architectures to create infrastructure that actively perceives, understands and responds to its surroundings. For the ISAC trial, Samsung integrated commercial AI-powered virtualized radio access network (vRAN) and virtualized core network (vCore) technologies with an ISAC application. This enabled the ISAC trial to leverage connectivity from a 5G network without requiring additional equipment. "This successful ISAC trial underscores how Verizon's decisio

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won on Tuesday appealed the prosecution's decision not to indict a lawyer representing his former wife over claims that Chey spent more than 100 billion won ($74.2 million) on his live-in partner. Chey had filed a complaint against his former wife Roh Soh-yeong's lawyer, whose identity was withheld, accusing him of defamation for allegedly spreading false information about Kim Hee-young, the SK chairman's partner, during their divorce lawsuit in November 2023. Chey's legal representatives issued a statement following the prosecution's decision not to indict the lawyer last week, saying the amount claimed had been inflated by more than 50-fold because it included money paid to Roh and charitable donations. The statement said the total amount Chey and Kim spent on living expenses was approximately 2 billion won at the time the claim was made, which was verified through an examination of financial transaction records and fully explained to a court handling the property division between Chey and Roh. The 100 billion won figure cited by Roh's lawyer included not onl

Hyosung Heavy Industries has secured 386.5 billion won ($277 million) worth of ultra-high-voltage transformer orders from two major U.S. Big Tech companies this month, strengthening its position as a key power infrastructure supplier amid the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. The company said Tuesday that the transformers will be installed at newly built AI data centers in the northern and southern United States. The orders include 220 billion won worth of 765-kilovolt transformers and 166.5 billion won worth of 345-kilovolt transformers. The equipment will supply electricity to power-intensive data center facilities. The latest deals reflect Hyosung Chairman Cho Hyun-joon’s yearslong efforts to establish a local production and solutions network in the U.S. Cho has described the surge in demand for power infrastructure as a “once-in-60-years supercycle” driven by AI. He has set a goal of making Hyosung Heavy Industries one of the world’s top three power equipment companies within five years by offering a broad portfolio ranging from transformers and ci

Hyundai Motor’s autonomous driving road map is putting its ability to keep pace with Tesla under scrutiny, as the U.S. automaker rapidly gains stronger ground in Korea’s electric vehicle (EV) market. Last week, Hyundai Motor Group’s self-driving arm — 42dot — said it will introduce cars with Level 2+ autonomous driving technology based on Nvidia’s platform in the first half of 2028, followed by Level 2++ technology later that year. Vehicles equipped with the carmaker’s proprietary Atria artificial intelligence (AI) system will also be mass-produced in the second half of 2029, according to 42dot. Under the road map, the automaker seeks to close the gap with Tesla and other overseas autonomous driving leaders. But the timeline for Hyundai Motor's self-driving commercialization still leaves much to be desired, as Tesla has already turned into a consumer-facing product. Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) Supervised system is already available in Korea in limited form, although regulatory approval for its broader domestic operation remains a key hurdle. Tesla has also been expand

Kim Sang-yeol, founder and former chairman of Hoban Group, has built the company into one of Korea’s most aggressive investors, with his latest bet on Korean Air bringing Hoban’s Hanjin KAL stake nearly level with that of the airline’s controlling shareholder. Hoban Group has so far amassed a 20.15 percent stake in Hanjin KAL, the parent company of Korean Air, putting it just 0.42 percentage point behind Hanjin Group Chairman Cho Won-tae and his related parties, which collectively own 20.57 percent. That narrow gap puts Kim in a position to challenge the balance of power at Korea’s flagship airline — particularly if Korea Development Bank (KDB) decides to sell its 10.58 percent stake. The state-run bank has yet to decide how to sell its stake in Hanjin KAL. The decision may determine who holds the upper hand in the management rights for the integrated airline that is scheduled to launch on Dec. 17 following Korean Air's takeover of Asiana Airlines. Hoban has expanded far beyond its housing construction roots through a string of acquisitions and investments, including Taihan Cab