Last year, 65 AI-related companies achieved billion dollar+ valuations. This month we delve into the AI phenomenon, examining how it will complement or replace human decision-making. We also feature three AI startups across the region, each blazing their own trail.

Enjoy, from all of us at North Ridge Partners.

Original Thinking From North Ridge Partners

70 per cent of companies will be using some form of AI in their business by 2030, so forget about the kill bots and follow the money.

Use cases for AI are as varied as the devices and humans who generate data points. Here are some examples ranging from honey bees to heavenly bodies and all the invoicing in between. 

In this month’s minicast, North Ridge Partners’ Kevin Waller describes the commercial opportunities arising from AI, as well as the risks of algorithmic bias

Feed your brain with our playlist about intelligence, (although these artists prefer the human variety to the artificial)

Asia Tech News

GoTo shares jump after raising US$1.1bil in one of 2022’s biggest IPOs

Hero to zero?: just how solid are Southeast Asia’s listed tech companies?

About that iPhone you were going to buy…you might just need to wait a while. At least until FoxConn’s Mainland China factories re-open

Tata launches superapp. Really?

Tencent under pressure after China’s regulatory crackdown leads to slowest revenue growth on record

Markets Action

Elon Musk buys 9% of Twitter (messing up his SEC filings…again) - read Prof Galloway

JP Morgan: ‘Chinese tech stocks are uninvestable’

Bargain basement?: Meta is looking like a value stock after US$500bn rout

Not content with threatening to delist five Chinese stocks, the SEC is now going after Weibo

The Oracle of Omaha circles HP (whose original garage ‘marks the birth of Silicon Valley’)

Big Tech

Three Apple stories to ponder: is Apple building a bank?, is its walled garden is under threat? and will its subscription model change the way we iPhone?

Bezos is your big brother: one in every 150 American workers works for Amazon.

Softbank declares US$1.35bn investment in Cruise, changes its mind and sells holding to GM

Waymo launches autonomous driving in San Francisco: big news, even if it’s years overdue

The long game: amid crackdown, Tencent’s Pony Ma presses ahead

From Russia without Love

The Great Retreat: the tech, media and finance companies who pulled the pin on Russia

The long arm of Putin threatens techies who try to leave Russia

No more bank for Buyk as the Russian-funded New York delivery firm collapses  

From the bizarre but true files….the White House has been telling key influencers on a Chinese social media app how to think about Russia’s war in Ukraine

The quiet Ukrainian dissent on Telegram

Stuff We Found Interesting:

Peter Thiel lets loose, labelling Buffet and Dimon the ‘financial gerontocracy’

Ouch! hackers steal US$600m of crypto

The old advertising model that was broken by the new model may just be the new new advertising model! Confused?: advertising could be on its way to subscription media

Metaverse mania: SenseTime says metaverse is driving ‘massive demand’ for AI computing

What happens when your secure security software is compromised?

Chart of The Month

McKinsey charts reveal cybersecurity trend lines

North Ridge Partners: technology investment banking across the Asia Pacific

North Ridge Partners works with technology companies across the Asia Pacific to achieve transformational outcomes through providing strategic financial advice, advising on M&A transactions and raising capital. We’re experienced deal-makers who have built, run, and sold numerous technology companies.

Contact us here.

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