Chinese chip equipment maker AMEC sues Pentagon for entity list removal

ASIA IN BRIEF Chinese semiconductor equipment manufacturer Advanced Micro-Fabrication Equipment (AMMEC) is challenging its inclusion on a US blacklist for alleged ties to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), according to numerous reports.

AMEC was added to the Section 1260H list, which links firms to China’s military. The Pentagon justified the inclusion based on an award from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, according to a lawsuit filed by the firm.

AMEC supplies equipment to major chipmakers like SMIC and TSMC. It argued in its complaint that its leadership is rooted in the United States as its founder Gerald Yin is a US national who even holds a doctorate from UCLA and has previous professional experience at Intel and Applied Materials.

This lawsuit is part of a broader trend of Chinese companies attempting to overturn U.S. blacklisting of Chinese companies believed to support the PLA.

The Financial Times reported last week that the Pentagon had decided to remove the world’s biggest laser sensor maker, Hesai, from the blacklist of PLA supportive entities as it did not meet the legal criteria for inclusion.

Like AMEC, Hesai is based in Shanghai.

Hesai told The Reg it had not seen any official announcement or confirmation from the Department of Defense on the matter.

“Hesai has consistently maintained that our inclusion on the 1260H list was a mistake. Our products are strictly for commercial and civilian use, and we have no connection to the Chinese military or any other military body. We are not a vendor to any military bodies in any country either,” a spokesperson added.

Microsoft scores major deal in India grade schools

Microsoft scored a deal in 200 IT vocational schools, or ITIs, across India – ensuring Copilot and other product skills are in the hands of the next generation of IT workers.

According to India’s Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Microsoft’s SkillSaksham Program will now cover 200 ITIs, aiming to train over 10,000 candidates, and introduce the ‘AI Programming Assistant’ course in 15 National Skill Training Institute (NSTIs) starting in the 2024-25 academic session.

The number adds to 8,500 students trained in the program in the last session.

“With thousands of young minds already benefitting from our AI-focused skilling programs, along with cyber security and digital productivity, we are now focused on expanding this impact for vocational education in India,” explained Microsoft India and South Asia president Puneet Chandok.

“By joining forces with industry partners, we will enhance our training programs and extend the reach to over 200 ITIs and 15 NSTIs, copiloting India in its innovation journey from ‘incredible opportunity’ to ‘credible impact’,” he added.

Vietnam to put citizen bank account and education data on national ID app this year

Vietnam’s prime minister, Pham Minh Chinh, ordered an expansion to the nation’s digital identification app, VNeID, to include bank accounts, educational background and driving license data.

The government app, which aims to replace traditional documents for online administrative procedures, will hopefully include the new information by the end of the year.

The prime minister has asked the government to speed up the digitzation of administrative procedures so that 80 percent of public service document processes will be fully online, also by the end of the year. In that timeframe, the government hopes to have 20 million users.

Most APAC governments believe regulations needed for AI, but less than a quarter have them

Market intelligence firm International Data Corp (IDC) said last week that 86 percent of Asia Pacific (APAC) government agencies believe laws and regulations for AI are essential for progress – but only 22 percent of have comprehensive AI governance policies.

The firm also released a forecast on the sovereign cloud market that pegged growth at 34.3 percent in 2024, driven by rising investments in hybrid cloud strategies.

The market is expected to reach $36.7 billion by 2027, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 31.5 percent. Organizations are increasingly adopting sovereign cloud solutions to meet digital sovereignty requirements – including data privacy, security, and regulatory compliance.

Google engineer turned e-commerce entrepreneur now China’s richest man

Forty-four year old Colin Huang is China’s richest man, with a net worth peaking at ¥512 billion ($71.5 billion) as of 2021, according to the Bloomberg Billionare Index.

The former Google engineer is the founder of Chinese e-commerce platform Pinduoduo, and its international version and subsidiary Temu.

Singtel profit jumps 43 percent after shedding assets

Singapore telco Singtel announced [PDF] a Q1 net profit jump of 43 percent year-on-year to S$690 million ($523 million)

The increase coincides with a reduction in the telco’s stake of Indian telco Bharti Airtel and the shedding of some telecommunication towers owned by Philippine-based telco Globe Telecom. Singtel owns a 47 percent stake in Globe Telecom.

APAC Dealbook

Recent alliances and deals spotted by The Register across the region last week include:

• Malaysian telecommunications service provider Maxis partnered with Singtel to launch Malaysia’s first all-in-one platform for 5G, edge computing, and cloud services, built on Singtel’s Paragon.”Our collaboration addresses customer needs by providing a unified 5G platform that simplifies orchestration across network and cloud environments. The platform enables greater access, speed and flexibility for businesses to deploy and manage 5G and cloud computing solutions seamlessly,” explained Maxis CEO Goh Seow Eng.
• The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), four banks, local telco SPTel and quantum tech firm SpeQtral signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) for enhancing cyber security in financial services.The collaboration aims to assess QKD’s effectiveness in protecting cryptographic keys against quantum computing threats, validate its security features, and build technical expertise.