Short video app TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, said it would invest billions of dollars in Southeast Asia over the next few years, as it doubles down on the region amid intensifying global scrutiny over its data security. Southeast Asia, a region with a collective population of 630 million — half of them under 30 — is one of TikTok’s biggest markets in terms of user numbers.
Malaysia-based integrated car e-commerce platform Carsome Group Inc, has announced the closing of its latest fundraising round, which brings the group’s liquidity position to approximately $200 million. It is noted that in 2022, the group’s revenue grew 250 percent to $1.5 billion, with the newly established regional retail line Carsome Certified contributing 35 percent of total revenue.
Zuru recently announced the successful raise of $680K. The company provides digital access to top-notch cargo insurance coverage for SMEs involved in foreign trade and supply chain. The startup operates through three business divisions: E-commerce for import/export SMEs; SaaS for logistics operators; and Embedded insurance via API integration for digital partners. Zuru has main offices in Mexico and Peru, with the ability to serve clients regionally in Latin America.
Nearly one-third of major news publishers have blocked generative AI tools from reading their content. But that’s a drastic measure which could also exclude their results from conventional search engines. Microsoft has just given publishers the option to block access by Bing Chat without also removing their content from search results. We’ll see if competitors do the same.