ET CIO Southeast Asia

Singapore has unveiled a biological data centre prototype with DayOne, Cortical Labs and NUS Medicine to test whether living neurons can support lower-energy AI computing. The project ties frontier biology to the country's green data centre push and could have implications for drug discovery, neurological research and future infrastructure design.

NIC Hoa Lac is being positioned as a Vietnam-Japan technology cooperation hub, with a stronger emphasis on research, testing and investment-ready projects. Semiconductor skills development is the immediate priority, but the agenda also spans UAVs, quantum technology and cybersecurity.The move, reported by VnEconomy, reflects a broader shift from networking to execution in bilateral innovation ties. If successful, the hub could become a template for how Vietnam links international partnerships to industrial capability.

OCI Holdings is seeking a near 40 per cent output lift in Vietnam by thinning solar wafers instead of adding new production lines. According to DIGITIMES, the move is aimed at meeting stronger US customer demand while keeping capital spending in check.

Ho Chi Minh City has been urged to become Vietnam's lead testing ground for emerging technologies, with digital assets and AI taking centre stage at Conviction 2026. Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung said the city should help build models that can be scaled nationwide, while stressing that innovation must be paired with regulation, standards and risk controls.

Pluang is preparing to launch an AI-assisted trading feature in Indonesia, starting with a limited beta group before a wider mid-August release. The product combines research and trade execution, but only after user approval, with the company stressing safety controls and financial literacy.

6G is being designed as more than a faster successor to 5G. With AI-native networks, integrated sensing, digital twins and satellite connectivity, it could transform how people, machines and infrastructure interact. This article explores the global race to develop 6G, the opportunities it presents for businesses and governments, and the challenges around cost, energy efficiency, cybersecurity and infrastructure as the industry moves towards 2030.

Pluang has launched a limited beta of its agentic trading feature in Indonesia, linking live accounts to generative AI assistants while keeping user approval mandatory for every trade. The rollout arrives amid growing regulatory scrutiny of AI in financial services and underscores how wealthtech firms are balancing automation with investor protection.

Starlink is preparing to trial direct-to-device satellite connectivity in Malaysia, a service that could send internet access straight to phones in hard-to-cover areas. Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the regulator has been asked to bring telecom operators into discussions as the government weighs a lower-cost alternative to new tower builds.

An Ateneo-led research team has developed an AI model that estimates cardiac index from non-invasive sensor data with reported accuracy of 97.78 per cent. The study could help widen access to heart monitoring in settings that lack specialist equipment, especially as cardiovascular disease rises in the Philippines.

AT&T has launched OTel 2.0, an open AI model trained on 400 billion telecom-specific tokens and built in collaboration with the GSMA, Microsoft, AMD, Dell, and Red Hat. Alongside the model, AT&T revealed an AI Gateway that processes 45 billion tokens daily and cuts inference costs by up to 90% through cache-aware routing. The move reflects a broader industry push toward domain-specific AI, with the GSMA arguing that general-purpose models simply lack the telecom training data needed for network operations work.