Technology

A screen grab from a video showing a man chanting pro-Huawei slogans in an Apple store in Hanghzhou, China. Can support for China-made brands like Huawei be taken too far? (Internet)

Can Chinese patriotism sustain Huawei through tough times?

Can patriotism be taken too far in supporting Huawei or any other China-made product regardless of quality? Does Huawei even need this form of support? Zaobao’s China Desk takes a look at Huawei’s outlook, as it seems that it needs more than acts of patriotism to tide it over the difficulties it will face in the coming years.
 A central processing unit (CPU) semiconductor chip is displayed among flags of China and U.S., in this illustration picture taken 17 February 2023. (Florence Lo/Reuters)

Tech war: The US's mimicking of Chinese policies is fundamentally flawed

Erik Baark observes that the US has an added motive for using ‘national security’ to impose various high-tech export restrictions on China — to give itself wriggle room vis-à-vis WTO rules for trade trade and trade restrictions. In fact, many of their policies seem to be mimicking the very Chinese techno-nationalist and neo-mercantilist attitudes that have been criticised by the West, and may or may not achieve their intended effect.
An illustration projected on a screen shows a robot hand and a human one moving towards each others during the "AI for Good" Global Summit at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva, Switzerland, 7 June 2017. (Denis Balibouse/File Photo/Reuters)

AI is us, we are AI

Malaysian academic Goh Chun Sheng ponders the weighty issues thrown up by artificial intelligence, seeking a little assistance from none other than OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Teachers are seen behind a laptop during a workshop on ChatGPT organised by the School Media Service (SEM) of the Public education of the Swiss canton of Geneva, on 1 February 2023. (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP)

ChatGPT could be partners in education if we overcome these challenges

Academics Wong Lung Hsiang and Looi Chee Kit note that information and AI literacies are or will become essential for anyone living in the IT era. One must possess both literacies to responsibly and constructively produce and disseminate information, as well as to understand and appraise the functions and limitations of AI tools, and the challenges they pose.
The ChatGPT logo is seen in this illustration taken 3 February 2023. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

Is a Chinese ChatGPT on the way?

Following OpenAI’s launch of ChatGPT, players such as Google are scrambling to develop their own AI chatbot. It is also rumoured that Baidu is developing a project called ERNIE Bot to rival ChatGPT. With tech giants feeling the heat, will we see the race quickening to build a truly sentient chatbot?
Semiconductor chips are seen on a circuit board of a computer in this illustration picture taken 25 February 2022. (Florence Lo/Reuters)

How geopolitics will drastically change chip manufacturers’ ecosystem

As the semiconductor industry is a highly complex and truly global ecosystem, academic James Pang assesses that the US’s increasingly restrictive policies to contain China’s semiconductor industry will affect those of other countries as well. Will the global semiconductor industry pivot from globalisation and cooperation to regionalisation and competition?
A researcher plants a semiconductor on an interface board during a research work to design and develop a semiconductor product at Tsinghua Unigroup research centre in Beijing, China, 29 February 2016. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Can China's semiconductor industry survive under sanctions and the Chip 4 alliance?

Researcher Ding Ke looks at the US’s Chip 4 alliance initiative and its implications for China’s semiconductor industry. With the US seemingly intent on containing China’s high-tech industries, it will take a lot of effort for China to keep this sector going and growing, especially if the Chip 4 alliance works out.
Shoppers crowd at the Ameyoko shopping district, Tokyo, Japan, 29 December 2022. (Issei Kato/Reuters)

AI is taking the place of mental labour but fear not

Technology expert Yin Ruizhi believes that the advent of AI-enabled ChatGPT might be a solution to the ageing populations in Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and China, as humans are freed from jobs that ChatGPT can handle.
The ZTE logo and a sign for 5G are seen at the World 5G Exhibition in Beijing, China, 22 November 2019. (Jason Lee/File Photo/Reuters)

US sanctions forcing Chinese firms to switch to made-in-China tech

According to a development plan for China’s software and information technology (IT) service industry from 2021 to 2025, China is expected to significantly expand its capacity for developing key software and build two to three open-source communities with international influence by 2025. Meanwhile, China’s giant state-owned enterprises are also rushing to crank up domestic purchases of innovative IT applications under government pressure.