New initiatives in biology, engineering, and AI
| NS Weekly is a roundup of the latest Asian tech news. ‘NS’ is an acronym for NODESHORE, representing the N and S poles of a magnet. We gather news from across the globe and present it in an easy-to-read format. This series is published every Monday at 5 p.m. |
Myanmar’s Housing Now Wins Nikkei Asia Award for Bamboo Homes
ㆍHousing Now, a Myanmar-based startup specializing in affordable prefabricated bamboo homes, has won the fourth annual Nikkei Asia Award for its significant social and economic impact. The company builds homes, health clinics, and facilities for refugees using environmentally friendly bamboo, with prices starting at just $1,000.
ㆍThe startup not only provides housing but also supports local communities by employing low-income individuals to process bamboo and construct homes. This initiative contributes to both economic empowerment and sustainable development in Myanmar.
China’s DeepSeek Unveils Record-Breaking AI Model
ㆍChinese AI company DeepSeek has launched DeepSeek-V3, the largest open-source large language model (LLM) to date, with 671 billion parameters. Released on June 26, the model is 1.5 times larger than Meta’s Lama 3.1 405B and reportedly outperforms top models, including GPT-4o and Alibaba’s QWON 2.5 72B.
ㆍDeepSeek-V3 excels in tasks like coding, translation, essay writing, and email composing, demonstrating advanced capabilities in processing textual prompts. This release cements DeepSeek’s position as a leader in open-source AI innovation.
Israel to Launch First Biochip Lab with $31 Million Investment
ㆍThe Israel Innovation Authority is investing $31 million to establish the country’s first biochip laboratory, focusing on serving industrial and high-tech companies. This initiative aims to enhance Israel’s biotech capabilities, particularly in developing optimized sensors for medical diagnostics, waste-to-energy technologies, and environmental cleanup.
ㆍThe project is a collaboration between Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Bacamos Technologies, a Herzliya-based company specializing in optical and chip components. The lab is expected to play a key role in advancing Israel’s biomedical and environmental tech sectors.
Yondr Secures $900 Million for Hyperscale Data Center in Malaysia
ㆍGlobal data center developer Yondr Group has obtained $900 million in financing to build a hyperscale data center campus in Johor, Malaysia. The project highlights Malaysia’s growing prominence in the global tech infrastructure market.
ㆍThe financing includes $100 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank Group member, along with investments from a consortium of six international financial institutions, including DBS and HSBC. This funding marks a significant boost to Malaysia’s data center ecosystem.
Tesla Rival Li Auto Ventures into AI Humanoid Robot Market
ㆍChinese electric carmaker Li Auto, known for competing with Tesla in the EV market, is expanding into the AI humanoid robot sector. Founder Li Xiang stated the company’s ambition to become a top-three player in China’s AI model market, signaling competition with major tech companies beyond automobiles.
ㆍLi Auto plans to launch an AI assistant app powered by Mind GPT, its self-developed multimodal cognitive super-model. With a training dataset of 3 trillion tokens, Mind GPT underpins Li Auto‘s strategy to establish itself as a leader in AI innovation.
