US and China agree that machines should not control nuclear weapons • The Register

ASIA IN BRIEF President Xi Jinping of China and President Joe Biden of the US have pledged to continue working together to ensure AI does not harm humanity.

The two met on Saturday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru.

In the Chinese And American In the reports of their meeting, both leaders affirmed the need to maintain human control over the decision to use nuclear weapons.

The two leaders also commented on continuing work to ensure AI is used productively.

The Chinese reading also included the following statement.

-Simon Sharwood

Samsung is almost done resolving a labor dispute

Samsung Electronics appears to be close to a ten-month settlement dispute with local unions.

The agreement includes a number of key points: paid time off for union members to attend meetings, two million loyalty points for all employees that can be used to purchase company products, a 5.1 percent pay increase and expanded long-service leave.

The agreement also promises non-quantifiable things, such as mutual respect and improved relations between labor and management, and joint corporate social responsibility activities.

But the proposed deal covers 2023 and 2024 – terms for next year have not yet been agreed.

LG unveils a portable and stretchable screen

LG introduced a display panel last week that can extend more than 10,000 times from 12 inches to 18 inches.

The 100 ppi full-color RGB screen is an upgrade from a 2022 prototype that was just two inches tall.

The device is made of a silicon substrate similar to substances used in contact lenses.

The display made its debut during a demonstration at the LG Science Park before its release recommended (VIDEO) during Seoul Fashion Week, where LG took to the runway to show off clothes that change color and display moving images.

Singtel’s profits are falling as it faces disruptions and scams

Asian telecom giant Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) last week reported a 42 percent decline in first-half net profit, which stood at S$1.23 billion ($920 million).

The decline was attributed (PDF) to the “exceptional profit” of S$1.2 billion in the previous year after a merger.

The telecom too attracted attention at his home last week as government ministers discussed an Oct. 8 outage that included disrupting emergency hotlines.

The root cause of the outage was attributed to “a technical issue that affected the proper functioning of a network component in one of the two systems supporting Singtel’s landline voice service.”

Two systems, housed in different telephone exchanges, are configured to automatically handle the full load should an outage occur. However, that did not happen and services were disrupted.

Minister of State for the Interior Sun Xueling proposed in parliament (VIDEO) that the government is now considering diversifying emergency hotline providers.

Singtel also made headlines afterwards reports of a woman scanning QR code to receive a free ice cream cone and discovered that she was being charged $7.99 on her phone bill for supposedly subscribing to cell service – even after immediately canceling the subscription.

The Register asked Singtel to confirm the incident and better understand the airline’s approach to preventing QR code scams, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

Despite the eventful week, the CEO reportedly found time to express optimism about an upcoming presidency of Donald Trump. Group CEO Yuen Kuan Moon thinks “new opportunities” could emerge if companies can be inspired to move their operations or investments to Southeast Asia.

Vietnam threatens Chinese e-commerce giants with a ban

The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade set a deadline By the end of November, Chinese online retailers Shein and Temu must register with the government or risk having their apps and domains blocked.

Until the companies comply with the regulations, both platforms are required to cease their advertising and marketing activities.

The move comes amid concerns over the platforms’ deep discounting practices, which have caused problems for local businesses, as well as fears over the sale of counterfeit products.

The government is also considering ending the tax exemption for imported goods under $40. Vietnam’s e-commerce market, now valued at $22 billion, is growing rapidly, but the government is focusing on regulating foreign platforms to ensure fair competition and consumer protection.

Japan postpones cybersecurity law

The Japanese government is likely to postpone the introduction of a bill for an ‘active cyber defense system’ until next year.

Local media reported that there is simply not enough time to thoroughly consider the bill during the upcoming session of Parliament as other issues take priority.

“Cyber ​​attacks pose an immediate threat. We will accelerate our efforts to formulate a bill to further improve our cybersecurity response capabilities so that we can submit it to Parliament as soon as possible.” declared this year’s new Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, during a press conference last Monday.

APAC Deal Book

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

• The parent company of telecom company Reliance Jio, Reliance Industries and Disney completed the transaction will see the pair establish a digital streaming joint venture for the Indian market.
• The Malaysian TM Global, the wholesale branch of Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM), is expand its data centers in Cyberjaya and Johor. The expansion includes a second phase for the Klang Valley Data Center (KVDC) and Iskandar Puteri Data Center (IPDC), with a combined capacity of 20 MW.
• GoTo Group, Tencent Cloud and Alibaba Cloud announced agreements to improve cloud infrastructure and digital talent in Indonesia. Tencent Cloud will invest $500 million to build a third data center in the country by 2030. Alibaba Cloud, which already operates three data centers, plans to double its training efforts to 800,000 individuals by 2033 and establish a university skills center. Both will be built around GoTo cloud service contracts.

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