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Australia has banned social media for children under 16. Photo: dpa
Australia

Why Southeast Asia’s move to protect children online may fuel state surveillance

Measures to rein in tech companies risk opening the door to tighter state oversight of online platforms, analysts say.

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Artificial intelligence

Alipay and Rokid open up AI payment function on smart glasses to developers

Artificial intelligence

China’s Xreal to power Google’s Android AI glasses as smart eyewear demand grows

Australia

‘#seeyouwhenim16’: Australia’s social media ban for children takes effect

PM Albanese called the ban, which is being closely watched by other nations considering similar measures, ‘a proud day’ for families.

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A girl uses her phone as she walks with a group of children in Sydney on Monday. Photo: AP
Social media

‘A lot of fear’: Australia’s under-16s anxious ahead of social media ban

As blocks begin on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram before the summer holiday, teens worry they will be ‘basically isolated’ from their friends.

Australia

Video | Australia’s under-16 social media ban due to take effect

Platforms have started notifying users under 16 that their access will soon be blocked.

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Britain

‘Follow me’: UK’s Starmer launches TikTok account despite security ban

Prime minister’s office insists ‘security mitigations’ are in place as he turns to the popular Chinese-owned app for greater outreach.

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer taking part in a Q&A session last month on youth employment and the cost of living. Photo: Reuters
Australia

TikTok will block under-16s in Australia to comply with ‘upsetting’ new law

Australia’s world-first legislation banning under-16s from social media platforms and websites comes into effect on December 10.

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US-China tech war

Editorial | China’s low-cost AI is showing up America’s high-cost tech model

The real China threat is in exposing America’s AI myths by showing what can be achieved at much lower costs and with greater efficiency.

United States

Hegseth’s Signal use posed risk to US forces, Pentagon review finds

White House ‘stands by’ Pentagon chief Hegseth, who is also under intensifying scrutiny over US strikes in the Caribbean.

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US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth uses a phone at the White House in February. Photo: Reuters
Tencent

Elon Musk reiterates aim to transform X into a ‘WeChat++’ super app

Users ‘live their life on WeChat in China’ and there is no equivalent app elsewhere in the world, the entrepreneur says.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Photo: Reuters
India

India scraps mandatory cybersecurity app on new phones after backlash

The Indian government confidentially ordered companies like Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi to install the Sanchar Saathi app on their new phones.

Australia

Fight’s over: YouTube becomes last major platform to accept Australia’s age rule

Despite agreeing to comply, YouTube maintains that it is still ‘fundamentally different’ from other social media services.

Artificial intelligence

Ant Group’s LingGuang a hit as users create millions of flash apps with AI tool

The multimodal AI assistant can generate simple apps in as little as 30 seconds in response to users’ prompts.

Ant Group’s AI tool Lingguang has churned out millions of flash apps since its launch two weeks ago. Photo: Handout
Alibaba

Alibaba launches US$537 Quark AI glasses to challenge devices from Meta, Xiaomi

The glasses are expected to ‘usher in a revolution in human-computer interaction in the AI era’, Alibaba vice-president Wu Jia says.

Alibaba Group Holding’s Quark AI Glasses are named after the company’s Quark AI assistant. Photo: Handout
Artificial intelligence

Hong Kong’s HKChat raises AI expectations as 90,000 users join app in debut week

HKChat tops free app ranking on Apple’s Hong Kong App Store on Sunday.

Alibaba

Alibaba to lead AI capital spending among Chinese firms amid strong demand

The group’s intention to boost AI-related capital outlay reflects its aim to spearhead China’s efforts in the race for global AI leadership.

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Australia

Australia’s under-16 social media ban faces high court challenge

Critics say the world-first law, effective next month, infringes on political communication rights. Australia lacks an express free speech right.

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A 14-year-old boy browses social media on his phone. Starting December 10, Australia will mandate that social media platforms remove users under 16. Photo: AFP
Artificial intelligence

US, Chinese firms add AI shopping bells and whistles to dominate all-in-one apps

OpenAI’s new ‘shopping research’ tool resembles popular AI shopping services on Chinese e-commerce platforms like Tmall and Taobao.

United States

US senator demands answers to Trump’s TikTok divestiture plan

Ed Markey questions Trump’s executive order to sell ByteDance-owned TikTok to US investors, demanding clarity on algorithm control and security.

Artificial intelligence

Alibaba’s Qwen chatbot sets record by topping 10 million downloads in debut week

Powered by Alibaba Cloud’s open-source model family of the same name, Qwen is the firm’s most significant foray into the consumer AI market.

The Qwen chatbot was developed by Alibaba Cloud, the AI and cloud services unit of Alibaba Group Holding. Photo: Shutterstock
Australia

Snapchat makes Australian teens verify age as social media ban looms

From December 10, social media platforms in Australia must remove users aged below 16 or face fines, in one of the strictest bans globally.

Bianca Navarro, 10, looks at a screenshot of herself using a Snapchat filter at her home in Sydney on October 30. Photo: AFP
Artificial intelligence

Ant Group’s vibe coding app hits 1 million downloads in just 4 days

LingGuang, an AI app that generates custom software applications, sees a surge in popularity.

Artificial intelligence

Chinese tech giants from Kuaishou to Tencent reap early gains from big AI bets

Executives double down on long-term AI growth, as return-on-investment culture cushions tech companies amid worries over costs, analysts say.

Ant Group

Alibaba founder Jack Ma visits Ant Group as fintech giant ramps up AI efforts

Ma’s visit marks almost a year since he publicly endorsed Ant Group’s AI initiatives during the firm’s 20th anniversary.

Jack Ma, wearing a white cap, walks alongside Ant Group chairman Eric Jing Xiandong (left) and CEO Cyril Han Xinyi at the fintech giant’s campus in Hangzhou. Photo: Handout
United States

Meta defeats US antitrust case over Instagram and WhatsApp acquisitions

The ruling gives Big Tech its first decisive win against the antitrust crackdown started in Trump’s first term.

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Meta’s corporate headquarters are seen in Menlo Park, California, in November 2022. Photo: TNS
Tencent

Alibaba bets on ‘everything app’ Qwen to define AI era for global consumers

Qwen has the potential to become super-app, the same way Tencent’s WeChat defined the mobile internet age, analysts say.

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United States

ChatGPT and X among sites disrupted in worldwide Cloudflare outage

The company, whose network handles around a fifth of web traffic, says a fix has been deployed and services restored.

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