This Week in Asia #11: Deja Vu, TikTok Ban

In our 11th issue, the TikTok ban dominates the headlines of every major news outlet from the US to Asia. We have done a deeper dive and curated the news sources that will help you work out whether TikTok is going to be forced to divest and how it is going to work for them moving forward. Other than the TikTok ban bill by the US Congress, we shared the ambitions of COMAC, China's challenger to the duopoly of Airbus and Boeing in Southeast Asia, the secrecy behind Pinduoduo and Temu and Silicon Box's investment to build a $3.5B AI factory in Italy. We have added an events section and our podcast is now a media partner for Super AI. Last but not least, our host has recently dropped by Jeremy Au's Brave SEA podcast and shared his thoughts on being a 2nd time startup founder and the high-level idea behind his new enterprise AI startup.

What we are reading this week

China: This week is all about the TikTok Ban

• It all started from the US House passed a bill to force ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a ban. We are in deja vu as you will be reminded that the same thing happened 4 years ago with the last US administration threatening to do the same. Then, Microsoft and a consortium by Walmart and Oracle tried to buy it.

• Is the new push to ban TikTok for real? by Nicole Narea from Vox.

• As TikTok Faces Ban Bill, Investors Distance Themselves From App by By Kate Clark, Juro Osawa and Jing Yang from TheInformation. Of course, the investors are worried that they will be tainted with the same brush. It is of no surprise that almost half the world are investors in Bytedance, the parent company of TikTok.

• One interesting fact came out. For a long while, we have heard from different parts of Asia that Bytedance is a money-printing machine for Douyin in China and that naturally extends to TikTok. It turns out that assertion might not be true thanks to this article: TikTok Ban Bill Spotlights Open Secret: App Loses Money from TheInformation.

• An in-depth analysis from The Financial Times which is worth a read over this weekend: The battle over TikTok.

• Of course, TikTok has their official response from their Singaporean CEO: Chew Shou Zi.

• The rise of Pinduoduo and Temu: profits and secrets, a short video firm in Financial Times explaining the secrecy and business of Pinduoduo. We don't have a take but it is best to make up your mind after watching this.

Southeast Asia

• Chinese jet maker COMAC eyes Southeast Asia after Singapore debut by Mayuko Tani, Kenji Kawase and Peggy Ye in Nikkei Asia Review. Our Take: Of course, Boeing's recent mistakes have created an opening for COMAC to enter the aviation market as a new challenger against the duopoly of Airbus and Boeing. There is just one thing: COMAC is still heavily reliant on the aviation parts from Europe and the US and does not have an internal supply chain. Don't be surprised at some point, they will start to be sufficient on the aviation market if being forced by export controls.

• Shiok-ing news? Alt protein startups Umami Bioworks and Shiok Meats merge by Backscoop. Our Take: Singapore has been a key hub for alternative foods. The zero-interest-rate period (ZIRP) era has artificially bumped up every valuation and now these companies are struggling to raise their next round funds.

• Singapore’s Silicon Box to build $3.5b AI chip factory in Italy by Jofie Yordan in Tech in Asia. Our Take: There are likely major subsidies from the Italian government because the company has raised $200m and has enough revenues to be able to substantiate such a high-cost endeavour.

Recommendations

• Disrupting ERP Systems as our host, Bernard Leong was on Jeremy Au's Brave SEA podcast as a guest. Of course, they discuss other important topics such as 2nd-time founders in a startup and making family decisions. You can watch the YouTube video here and also in Chinese and Bahasa.

Our Moment of Zen:

• Oscar winner 'The Boy and the Heron' offers what Hollywood can't by Rei Nakafuji from Nikkei Asia Review. Our Take: Hayao Miyazaki is still the GOAT of all time and he rocks even coming back after retirement. Believe it or not, he drew his way to the 3rd Oscar instead of relying on technology.

Upcoming Events:

• NUS-ISS Webinar: Simplify Your Business with AI by Bernard Leong, 26 March 2024.

• Token 2049: Dubai, 18-19 April 2024

• Tech in Asia: Founders Meetup, Singapore, 24 April 2024

• Super AI, 5-6 June 2024 and we have become their official media partner.

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Image Credits:

The image is generated with DALLE-3 from OpenAI by the following prompt: "Generate an image on the US banning TikTok App with people protesting outside the US Congress" with Gen ID: "cawALt1t0PJokW0d". The artwork depicting a scene outside the US Congress, with people protesting the ban on the TikTok app, has been created. It captures the diverse crowd, their signs and banners, the Capitol building in the background, and the use of smartphones by protesters, reflecting a peaceful but energetically charged atmosphere of civic engagement. By the way, DALLE-3 still cannot generate words on pictures properly.