H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (11 April 2019) – The first research book written by an AI could lead to on-demand papers

H.E.R.O.’s Journey in Tech (11 April 2019) – The first research book written by an AI could lead to on-demand papers

Companies

• Pinduoduo’s reputation as fake seller endures as Apple seeks to halt sales (Technode)
• Chinese satellite operator shoots for June IPO; Move comes as Beijing urges state-owned enterprises to go public (Nikkei)
• China Travel Site Ctrip Plans Convertible Bond Sale, Sources Say (Bloomberg)
• Rakuten’s Mikitani Bets $5.5 Billion To Shake Up Telecom Industry (Forbes)
• Japan’s booking-site clampdown exposes industry’s arm-twisting; Powerful online players Rakuten, Expedia and Booking.com hold enormous clout over hotels (Nikkei)
• Trend Micro Releases Innovations that Increase Security for Google Cloud Platform, Kubernetes and G Suite Gmail (BI); VIVOTEK Enhances Protection In Its Cybersecurity Management Solution By Collaborating With Trend Micro (SI)
• Delta Electronics reports strong March revenues (Digitimes)
• Infosys has strengthened its ability to provide technology services in the area of mortgage processing by acquiring 75 percent of Stater NV, a wholly owned subsidiary of ABN Amro Bank NV (Forbes); TCS, Infosys likely to post strong quarterly revenue on surging outsourcing deals (Nikkei)
• Nearmap boasts expansion into Canada is “well underway” (MF)

BATTSS – Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, TSMC, Samsung, Softbank

FAANNMG – Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Nvidia, Netflix, Microsoft, Google

• Why Google Is Expanding In Taiwan Again And Again (Forbes)
• Google’s Next Big Money Maker Could Be the Maps on Your Phone; Service was mostly ad-free for years. That’s changing now (Bloomberg)
• Google Cloud announces Traffic Director, a networking management tool for service mesh (TC)
• Google launches an end-to-end AI platform (TC)
• Google raises price of YouTube TV to $49.99, adds Discovery, Animal Planet (Reuters)
• Salesforce and Google want to build a smarter customer service experience (TC)
• The Fight for Smart Speaker Market Share (VC)
• Amazon Alexa now offers long-form news coverage in addition to Flash Briefings (TC)
• Amazon Workers Are Listening to What You Tell Alexa; A global team reviews audio clips in an effort to help the voice-activated assistant respond to commands. (Bloomberg)
• Amazon buys warehouse robotics startup Canvas Technology (Reuters)
• Microsoft worked with Chinese military university on artificial intelligence; Concerns raised on research that could be used for surveillance and censorship (FT)

Asia Tech & Innovation Trends

• Chinese plastic surgery app eyes $150m Nasdaq IPO; So-Young finds its niche with looks-conscious women (Nikkei)
• Didi will struggle to get back its groove; Safety fears dog China’s car-hailing leader as new challengers threaten its dominance (FT)
• 700 Japan banks rush to debut smartphone payment app in October; Launch moved ahead 6 months as government readies consumer incentives (Nikkei)
• Cloud pharmaceutical management service “9lione” beta version operation start, already over 130 stores are using (TC)
• A look at what’s behind Smilegate RPG’s IPO push (Investor)
• Customers benefit as Ola and Uber slug it out in India; Result of battle for dominance will show whether local knowledge or deep pockets matter more (FT)
• New York’s Via enters ride-hailing market in Indonesia; App takes on Go-Jek and Grab with focus on minivan taxis (Nikkei)
• Singapore’s Carousell raises USD 56 million from OLX parent company Naspers (TC, KRA)
• CleverTap lands $26M for its mobile-focused customer marketing service (TC)

Global Tech & Innovation Trends

• The first research book written by an AI could lead to on-demand papers (TC)
• PagerDuty IPO: 5 things to know about the DevOps company (MW)
• Sending money across borders is becoming cheaper and easier; Fintech start-ups are disrupting the international money transfer market (Economist)
• Jumia’s anticipated billion-dollar IPO has been delayed (qz); Here’s how Jumia’s IPO will go-according to investors who’ve backed global e-commerce giants (qz)
• Startup Front Shakes Up Pricing To Take Its Email Collaboration Mainstream (Forbes)
• Congress Is About to Ban the Government From Offering Free Online Tax Filing. Thank TurboTax. (PP)
• Waiting for WeWork profits no longer a labour of love (AFR)
• Zillow and its recent shift towards Opendoor’s model (KC)
• The big tech companies are smothering small start-ups; Minor changes to a platform’s algorithms can harm a business’s traffic overnight (FT)
• Uber and Pinterest try to lock down investors ahead of IPOs; Tech giants seek to avoid a fate like Lyft, which has traded below its offer price (FT)
• Taser stun gun maker files facial recognition patents; Axon has filed patents for technology that can guess a person’s race and age (FT)
• How ABB FIA Formula E championship built a fan base from scratch; The all-electric motorsport tapped into e-gaming and social media to attract young supporters (FT)
• IBM’s AI Knows When People Will Quit Their Job With 95% Accuracy (ZH)
• Qualcomm Targets AI Inferencing in the Cloud (EET)
• Wayfair Heads Into 36-Hour Sale as Piper Sees ‘Mind-Share Gain’ (Bloomberg)
• Zoom’s IPO Highlights Rapid Growth In The Videoconferencing Space (CB)
• Mailchimp Bootstraps To $600 Million Revenue (LinkedIn)
• Dote raises $12M and introduces live-streamed Shopping Parties (TC)
• Expanse, which lets its customers know when their digital assets aren’t safe, has raised $70 million in new funding (TC)
• Restaurant website builder BentoBox raises $16.4M (TC)
• GoDaddy acquires Sellbrite to launch cross-marketplace tools (TC)
• Online used car startup Shift adds another $40M, snags COO in road to IPO (TC)
• Snap Is Projected to Lose Users in the U.S. for the First Time (Bloomberg)

Life

• The Passion Paradox: A Conversation with Brad Stulberg (BS)