Tencent shares fell more than 3% last Tuesday after it was announced that the tech giant will not be able to sell a hugely popular game called “Monster Hunter: World” on its WeGame distribution platform. Chinese regulators reportedly banned the game for not meeting regulatory requirements. However, a source close to the matter said that the removal was due to bureaucratic infighting with the country’s new regulator. The tech giant’s gaming business has become a significant source of revenue, with titles like “Honor of Kings” boosting smartphone gaming revenues up by as much as 68%. Source: CNBC

Bitcoin fell to $5900 last Monday for the first time since June, taking the majority of other cryptocurrencies along with it. According to CoinDesk’s index data, the world’s biggest virtual currency by value went down by 4% before recovering to $6112. Meanwhile, Ethereum fell to its lowest level since September to $267.61, while Ripple retreated to 27 cents. CryptoCompare CEO Charles Hayter says that the downtrend was due to the postponement of a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposed by VanEck and Solid X.   Source: CNBC

According to a recent survey by IT market research and advisory firm IDC titled IDC Asia/Pacific Enterprise Cognitive/AI says that AI adoption in Southeast Asia is on the rise, with 34% of organisations in Malaysia revealing plans to adopt AI in the next two years. Malaysia also placed fourth with 8.1% of all companies being open to the adoption and integration of artificial intelligence into their operations. It is said that Malaysia’s increasing focus on AI is brought by its smart cities initiatives and applications in public safety and intelligent transportation. However, a these initiatives would need more time to […]

India’s Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad recently asked Amazon India head Amit Agarwal to set up servers within the country to prevent the unregulated migration of customers’ personal data. Prasad said that while big foreign companies are welcome in India, it is important that they keep the data of Indian customers in onshore servers and the consent of the subject is obtained. Amazon India has not yet made an official reply, but government officials said that the company is already making efforts towards the data protection of Indians. Source: Business Standard

It was recently reported that Australia’s Telecommunications and Other Legislation Amendment (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018 [PDF], which was released on Tuesday, promises not to weaken encryption and will not compel providers to implement vulnerabilities into forms of electronic protections. However, it was pointed out that the Bill creates a framework for providing access to endpoint devices which means that messages can be intercepted before they are encrypted. It will also require providers to use software given by the government, which could include spyware. It was also pointed out that there was a possibility that providers may substitute a service […]

A new report from the Wall Street Journal revealed that Google had been increasing its partnership with local companies in China for years in preparation for its re-entry into the market. It was revealed that CEO Sundar Pichai had been cultivating partnerships with developers who had been using Google’s infrastructure, as well as companies using Google Ads to reach customers outside of China. The search giant had also been engaging in talks with Tencent on jointly offering cloud computing services. The WSJ also pointed out that the partnerships should show the ruling Communist Party that Google is contributing to local […]