Afp Business Asia

The Philippines said Wednesday it will end its ban on Elon Musk’s Grok, less than a week after blocking the AI chatbot over its ability to generate sexualised deepfakes. The decision follows developer xAI agreeing to modify the tool for the local market and eliminate its ability to create “pornographic content”, the Philippines’ Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) said in a statement.Musk’s social media platform X announced last week that it would “geoblock the ability” of all Grok and X users to create images of people in “bikinis, underwear, and similar attire” in jurisdictions where such actions are illegal. The archipelago nation on January 15 became the third country in Southeast Asia — following Indonesia and Malaysia — to block the chatbot amid a global backlash. “The Grok AI app has reached out to us and stated that its platform will no longer use any content manipulation,” CICC undersecretary Renato Paraiso was quoted as saying in Wednesday’s statement. “The company has pledged to modify the tool specifically for the local market, including the omission of image/content manipulation features that allowed for deepfake creation,” the statement said. The new changes would also include the “total exclusion of pornographic content, particularly child sexual abuse material,” it added. A formal meeting with xAI will determine a timeline for the tool’s reinstatement, according to the statement. At a press briefing announcing the ban last Thursday, Philippine telecommunications secretary Henry Rhoel Aguda said the government needed to “clean the internet now, because much toxic content is appearing, especially with the advent of AI”. The X platform’s geoblocking move came after California’s attorney general launched an investigation into xAI over the sexually explicit material, and several countries opened their own probes.

Investor confidence in Chinese AI startups is riding high, but obstacles to their long-term success range from US export controls to the puzzle of how to become profitable.This month, two leading players in China’s artificial intelligence industry, Zhipu AI and MiniMax, made dazzling debuts on the Hong Kong stock exchange.The pair are part of a wave of rapidly growing Chinese “AI tigers” spurred by another startup, DeepSeek, whose low-cost AI model, on par with US rivals, stunned the world a year ago.But Zhipu AI’s co-founder Tang Jie warned later that despite the achievements of Chinese companies in large open-source AI models, the gap with the United States “may actually be widening”.DeepSeek and other top Chinese AI providers have focused on free, open-source technology — a strategy that can attract users fast but brings in less cash than private, closed systems.”Large-scale models in the US are still mostly closed-source… we need to acknowledge challenges and gaps we face,” Tang said at a conference in Beijing.Geopolitical struggles could also hold Chinese AI back.US export sanctions on advanced microchips used to train and run AI systems, as well as precision chipmaking equipment, have been cited as a key constraint by top industry figures.”The challenge isn’t just technology,” Nick Patience, practice lead for AI at tech research group Futurum,told AFP.”It’s the high cost of computing under sanctions and the delicate balance of innovating within a strict regulatory framework.”- ‘Burning cash’ -Shares in Zhipu AI, a major provider of chatbot tools to Chinese businesses, have soared 80 percent since it went public.MiniMax, which targets the consumer market with its multimedia AI tools, has seen even stronger gains.Their IPOs came ahead of any such move from OpenAI, the San Francisco-based startup behind the phenomenally popular ChatGPT.Although OpenAI’s value has ballooned in funding rounds to a staggering $500 billion, it does not expect to be profitable before 2029 owing to huge outlays to build the computing infrastructure it relies on.Zhipu AI and Minimax are also logging increasing losses while costs, including for training new AI models, rise.Both are “burning cash faster than they can generate sustainable revenue streams”, analyst Poe Zhao, founder of Hello China Tech, told AFP.US restrictions bar the most advanced, energy-efficient AI chips on the market, made by US company Nvidia, from sale in China.Using domestic chipsets, Chinese AI developers need two to four times more computational power to train their models, according to Lian Jye Su, chief analyst at Omdia.Zhao and other analysts call 2026 a critical test for the global AI sector as it chases elusive monetisation prospects.Whether companies “can move beyond coding and unlock real commercial value” is vital to their survival, Zhao said.- Industrial uses -Koda Chen said his firm Suanova Technology, which provides and invests in computing power for Chinese AI companies, has identified opportunities in finance and healthcare.He sees this year as a “turning point” for China’s AI businesses to achieve profitability in more sectors.”Clients are developing payment habits, and products are gaining customer stickiness,” the Suanova CEO said.China is handing out massive subsidies to support AI innovation and its industrial policies also illustrate its ambition to compete with the United States in the sector.Beijing this month announced plans to deploy three to five general-purpose large AI models in manufacturing by 2027.The government said it also planned to strengthen supplies of computing power.These moves show the country is serious about AI driving the real-world economy, Futurum’s Patience said.China “is trying to build the AI-powered factory of the world”, he said.The large language model market in China, still in its early stages, is estimated to grow to $14.5 billion by 2030, according to consultancy Frost and Sullivan, with the future unit price of computing power expected to decline.China’s engineering talent base and the lower cost of generating electricity there work in its favour, said Tang Heiwai, an economics professor at the University of Hong Kong.”These factors would grant China greater resilience in development than the United States as an AI superpower”, he said.

Asian equities stabilised Wednesday after a rough start to the week fuelled by Donald Trump’s Greenland-linked tariff threats, though uncertainty rattling through trading floors saw safe-haven precious metals hit fresh record highs.Japanese bond yields also settled back following Tuesday’s surge on the back of a pledge by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to cut taxes.The US president injected a fresh dose of volatility into markets Saturday after threatening to hit several European countries — including France, Germany, Britain and Denmark — with up to 25 percent tariffs over their opposition to his takeover of Greenland.The move has sparked a warning of retaliation, with French President Emmanuel Macron raising the possibility of deploying an unused, powerful instrument aimed at deterring economic coercion.And speaking at the Davos gathering in Switzerland, European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen warned Washington that hitting allied nations with punitive tariffs over Greenland would be a “mistake”.In response, US Treasury chief Scott Bessent said Monday that any retaliatory EU tariffs would be “unwise”.Markets have sunk globally this week, and Wall Street’s three main indexes tanked Tuesday as they reopened after a long weekend.But Asia saw a mixed performance in early trade Wednesday.Tokyo, Sydney, Singapore, Taipei and Manila fell, while Hong Kong, Shanghai and Jakarta rose. US futures advanced.However, concerns about the outlook and concerns the crisis could grow saw precious metals — a go-to in times of turmoil — continue to hit new peaks.Gold topped out at $4,836.80 and silver touched $95.89 an ounce.Eyes are now on Trump’s visit to the World Economic Forum at Davos later in the day.”Traders continue to monitor the prospects for an agreement around Trump’s claim on Greenland, alongside the ongoing pricing of risk that Trump subsequently raises tariffs on European imports… and whether Europe responds with impactful tariffs of its own,” wrote Chris Weston at Pepperstone.”The focus from traders now turns to Trump’s scheduled speech in Davos, but prior to that, the reaction and the ensuing price action through the Asian session.”Bond markets also saw some calm following Tuesday’s rally in Japanese yields to record highs after Takaichi called a snap election for February 8 and said she would suspend an eight percent sales tax on food and beverages for two years if she wins a fresh mandate.Her comments saw 40-year yields surge more than a quarter of a percentage point to a record on Tuesday, marking the biggest jump since Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff bombshell in April.The moves saw US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent call Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama following a lift in Treasury yields.But they fell back Wednesday after Katayama called for “everyone in the market to calm down” and highlighted rising tax revenues and the country’s lowest reliance on debt issuance in three decades.However, Katsutoshi Inadome at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management warned: “Katayama’s comments will have some impact on the market, but these are not the type of moves that can be stopped with just verbal intervention.”Bonds will likely be bought today, but the upside momentum is likely to gradually fade.”- Key figures at around 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.6 percent at 52,693.43 (break)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.2 percent at 26,536.78Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 4,131.77Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1729 from $1.1719 on TuesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3454 from $1.3433Dollar/yen: DOWN at 158.00 yen from 158.21 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 87.18 pence from 87.23 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.0 percent at $59.75 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.2 percent at $64.18 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 1.8 percent at 48,488.59 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.7 percent at 10,126.78 (close)

Taiwan’s economy soared last year on skyrocketing exports of AI hardware and semiconductors, but companies in more traditional manufacturing sectors could only look on with envy as they were clobbered by US tariffs and a strong local currency.The island’s growth has for decades been based on overseas shipments of a range of goods including machinery, metals and chemicals, mostly small and medium-sized manufacturers employing thousands of workers. But the past 12 months saw companies in those sectors dealt a body blow as their goods sold into the United States were loaded with 20 percent levies as part of President Donald Trump’s global trade war, threatening people’s jobs.One area that was exempted, however, was semiconductor chips — a critical sector dominated by Taiwanese tech giant TSMC. That meant economic growth likely ballooned 7.4 percent last year, according to government estimates, which would be the fastest in 15 years.”We don’t really feel that growth,” Chris Wu, the sales director of machine toolmaker Litz Hitech Corp in Taiwan’s manufacturing hub of Taichung, told AFP. “Overall the data looks strong, but for traditional industries, and for our company in particular, exports have declined — we’re down 30 percent.” Trump initially announced a 32 percent tariff on Taiwanese exports, which was later lowered to 20 percent, as part of his sweep of measures against dozens of trade partners last April. A trade deal announced last week cut that again to 15 percent, in line with key manufacturing rivals South Korea and Japan. While it was good news for traditional manufacturers, Wu said it was not a panacea.- ‘Miserable’ – Overseas demand for Litz Hitech’s precision tools and processing machines hasn’t recovered, and a 15 percent tariff is still nearly three times the company’s profit margin.On top of that, Wu said, the Taiwan dollar was stronger than the won, yen and euro, meaning Taiwanese exports are more expensive.”I don’t think there is a single Taiwanese machine toolmaker that can negotiate to absorb (the tariff) in full — maybe two to three percent, but absorbing everything is impossible,” he said.”Our company can’t absorb even one percent.”Taiwan’s information and communication technology (ICT) sector, which includes semiconductor chips, has become by far the biggest driver of the island’s export-dependent economy. Data for last year laid bare the stark difference in fortunes for tech and more traditional industries, with ICT exports soaring, while metals, plastics and metal-cutting machine tools were all lower.  “Last year’s situation was miserable, very miserable,” Jerry Liu, chairman of the Taichung Importers and Exporters Chamber of Commerce, told AFP. Taiwan’s reliance on AI has left some experts worried about the economic impact if the bubble of excitement around the technology were to burst. “That’s dangerous,” said Chen Been-lon, a research fellow and professor in the Institute of Economics at Academia Sinica.”But what can you do? You cannot force people not to invest in semiconductors.”- ‘Gritting my teeth’ – Taiwan hopes its semiconductor industry remains protected from Trump’s tariffs after the trade deal with Washington committed Taiwanese chip and tech businesses to invest up to $500 billion on US soil. However, a potential US Supreme Court ruling against Trump’s power to apply levies could upend the agreement. “If it’s unconstitutional… the current negotiated result may need to be redone,” said Wu Meng-tao, an economist at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, raising the risk of tariffs on the ICT sector. Many in Taiwan’s traditional manufacturing sector, including Litz Hitech, have put employees on unpaid leave or reduced their working hours. Wu, the sales director, estimates thousands are affected.Conditions for small and medium-sized manufacturers could get tougher in 2026 if the US Federal Reserve cuts interest rates. The Taiwan dollar, which has pulled back from its highs last year, could come under renewed upward pressure. Liu said he was “gritting my teeth and holding on” — and hoping that the government helped to “stabilise the currency”. But manufacturers also needed to move with the times by adopting AI and offering customers “comprehensive solutions”, said Patrick Chen, chairman of the Taiwan Machine Tools and Accessory Builders’ Association.”Simply selling standalone machines or individual pieces of equipment is a business model of the past.”

World stock markets lost ground on Tuesday and precious metals hit fresh peaks as rising US-EU tension stoked volatility following President Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs in his drive to acquire Greenland.Major US indices spent the entire day in the red, with the broad-based S&P 500 finishing down more than two percent. The pullback on Wall Street and the reverberations across other financial markets reminded some observers of last April when Trump’s dramatic “Liberation Day” trade announcement sparked market turmoil that relented once Trump backed off his most draconian threats.The US president is expected to make more waves at Wednesday’s World Economic Forum.Trump’s posture towards Europe is “making ties with our biggest ally look fragile,” said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management. “Unless he retracts some of the rhetoric he’s had, I think it only gets worse.”Europe’s main markets also suffered, with London closing off 0.7 percent and Frankfurt ending down 1.0 percent.Earlier, Tokyo suffered a similar fate even though Asia overall closed mixed.Gold, seen as a safe-haven investment, notched yet another record high, surpassing $4,750 an ounce. Silver also peaked, surging above $95.50 an ounce.Key bond yields jumped on the heightened trade fears with the US 10-year Treasury note jumping to above 4.29 percent while Japanese long-dated bond yields reached record highs.Large tech names including Apple, Amazon and Nvidia fell more than three percent, while industrial giant 3M slumped 7.0 percent on concerns about its outlook. “Overall, this is a manmade crisis, and the continued sell off on Tuesday suggests that US threats to Greenland and their effects on financial markets could have further to go if the situation does not deescalate soon,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.After a bright start to the year fueled by fresh hopes for the artificial intelligence sector, investors have taken fright since Trump ramped up his Greenland demands, on grounds of US national security.After European capitals pushed back, Trump on Saturday said he would impose 10 percent levies on eight countries — including Denmark, France, Germany and Britain — from February 1, lifting them to 25 percent on June 1.- ‘Mistake’ -The move has raised questions about the outlook for last year’s US-EU trade deal, the ratification of which was frozen on Tuesday by the European Union parliament.Speaking at the Davos gathering in Switzerland, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warned the United States that hitting allied European nations with punitive tariffs over Greenland would be a “mistake.””The European Union and the United States have agreed to a trade deal last July. And in politics as in business — a deal is a deal. And when friends shake hands, it must mean something,” she said.US Treasury chief Scott Bessent on Monday said that any retaliatory EU tariffs would be “unwise.”Trump on Tuesday ramped up his rhetoric against France, warning he would impose 200-percent tariffs on French wine and champagne because it was declining his invitation to join a “Board of Peace”. That body was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza but its charter gives it a much broader, global remit, with Trump in charge.- Key figures at around 2115 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 1.8 percent at 48,488.59 (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN 2.1 percent at 6,796.86 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 2.4 percent at 22,954.32 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.7 percent at 10,126.78 points (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 1.0 percent at 24,703.12 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.6 percent at 8,062.58 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.1 percent at 52,991.10 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 26,487.51 (close)Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 4,113.65 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1719 from $1.1646 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3433 from $1.3425Dollar/yen: UP at 158.21 yen from 158.11 yenEuro/pound: UP at 87.23 pence from 86.74 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 1.5 percent at $64.92 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 1.5 percent at $60.34 per barrelburs-jmb/dw

The EU executive on Tuesday proposed banning third-country companies from European mobile networks if they are deemed a security risk, in a move seen as targeting China.The European Commission did not name any country or company as a target but Brussels has previously sought to restrict Chinese suppliers in the sensitive field.The step builds on actions taken in 2023 when the EU executive urged states to exclude Huawei and ZTE from their mobile networks due to security risks.The EU has taken an increasingly tough line on trade issues with China, but there are also security concerns — often raised by Washington.The EU will evaluate which states or suppliers to ban and, once identified, telecoms providers will have three years to phase them out from their networks.Brussels has taken the step after the 2023 voluntary measures failed to yield enough change across the 27-country bloc.Current rules give national authorities powers to issue restrictions, but less than half of EU states have used them to restrict or exclude high-risk vendors.The states “haven’t implemented it, and that’s why we are now proposing that it’s becoming mandatory”, EU tech chief Henna Virkkunen told reporters.The United States has long banned Huawei and sought to convince allies to follow suit over fears its products could be used to monitor communications.- Huawei criticism -The EU did not name Huawei but the company criticised the plans.”A legislative proposal to limit or exclude non-EU suppliers based on country of origin, rather than factual evidence and technical standards, violates the EU’s basic legal principles of fairness, non-discrimination, and proportionality,” the company said in a statement.”We will closely monitor the subsequent development of the legislative process and reserve all rights to safeguard our legitimate interests,” it added.Brussels unveiled the proposal as part of plans to revise its cybersecurity rules in a bid to bolster Europe’s defences against a surge in cyber attacks.The commission said it would work with EU states to identify and consider what steps to take to tackle risks to 18 critical sectors, such as energy and health.- Revamping telecoms -The commission will also unveil its proposal on Wednesday for a Digital Networks Act to overhaul Europe’s telecoms networks.The EU wants to bolster its competitiveness and boost investment. But critics say that is difficult when key sectors including telecoms and defence are fragmented with different national rules which make it difficult to scale up.The bigger question is where the money will come from, as Brussels says Europe needs 200 billion euros ($235 billion) to modernise the telecoms network.In a win for tech giants, a draft document seen by AFP made no mention of “fair share” payments from the world’s biggest web companies for the large amounts of bandwidth they use.Despite being a fervent wish of telecoms firms, the idea was deeply unpopular.It became even more unlikely after the EU-US tariff deal last year, which the White House said included an EU promise not to adopt fees.The EU executive will also give member states until 2035 to move off copper telecommunications networks, according to the draft document.This would mean the industry has more time to switch to faster fibre networks.Both texts will need to be approved by member states and the EU parliament.

European stock markets slid further Tuesday, while precious metals hit fresh peaks on fears of a US-EU trade war fuelled by Donald Trump’s tariff threat over opposition to his grab for Greenland.Asia’s main equity indices closed mixed, while US equity futures were sharply down, indicating sizeable losses on Wall Street when it reopens after Monday’s close because of the Martin Luther King holiday.Gold, seen as a safe-haven investment, notched yet another record high, at $4,726.70 an ounce.Silver also peaked, touching $95.51 an ounce.The dollar retreated and key bond yields in the United States and elsewhere climbed.”The US dollar is not serving as a safe haven because it seems to be entirely US-driven and raises fears about US policy and European exposure to US assets,” noted Neil Wilson, investor strategist at Saxo UK.When Wall Street reopens, the “Nasdaq looks set to chalk up the biggest declines amid concern about possible retaliatory action from Europe against America’s big tech contingent”, predicted AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould. Frankfurt led losses in Europe, shedding 1.5 percent in midday deals. There were sizeable falls also in London and Paris.After a bright start to the year fuelled by fresh hopes for the artificial intelligence sector, investors have taken fright since the US president ramped up his demands for the Danish autonomous territory, citing national security.With Copenhagen and other European capitals pushing back, Trump on Saturday said he would impose 10 percent levies on eight countries — including Denmark, France, Germany and Britain — from February 1, lifting them to 25 percent on June 1.- ‘Mistake’ -The move has raised questions about the outlook for last year’s US-EU trade deal.EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday warned the United States that hitting allied European nations with punitive tariffs over Greenland would be a “mistake”. “The proposed additional tariffs are a mistake especially between long-standing allies,” von der Leyen told the Davos gathering in Switzerland. “The European Union and the United States have agreed to a trade deal last July. And in politics as in business — a deal is a deal. And when friends shake hands, it must mean something,” she added.US Treasury chief Scott Bessent on Monday said that any retaliatory EU tariffs would be “unwise”.Trump meanwhile ramped up his rhetoric against France on Tuesday, warning he would impose 200 percent tariffs on French wine and champagne over its intentions to decline his invitation to join his “Board of Peace” set up to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza.- Key figures at around 1100 GMT -London – FTSE 100: DOWN 1.2 percent at 10,075.62 points Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 1.5 percent at 24,578.77Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 1.3 percent at 8,009.37Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.1 percent at 52,991.10 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 26,487.51 (close)Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 4,113.65 (close)New York – Dow: Closed Monday for holidayEuro/dollar: UP at $1.1732 from $1.1641 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3478 from $1.3428Dollar/yen: DOWN at 157.85 yen from 158.09 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.04 pence from 86.71 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.4 percent at $64.18 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.4 percent at $59.56 per barrelburs-bcp/ajb/jh

Asian markets extended losses Tuesday, while precious metals hit fresh peaks on fears of a US-EU trade war fuelled by Donald Trump’s tariff threat over opposition to his grab for Greenland.After a bright start to the year fuelled by fresh hopes for the artificial intelligence sector, investors have taken fright since the US president ramped up his demands for the Danish autonomous territory, citing national security.With Copenhagen and other European capitals pushing back, Trump on Saturday said he would impose 10 percent levies on eight countries — including Denmark, France, Germany and Britain — from February 1, lifting them to 25 percent on June 1.The move has raised questions about the outlook for last year’s US-EU trade deal, while French President Emmanuel Macron has called for the deployment of a powerful, unused instrument aimed at deterring economic coercion.In response, US Treasury chief Scott Bessent said Monday that any retaliatory EU tariffs would be “unwise”.Trump ramped up his rhetoric against France on Tuesday, warning he would impose 200 percent tariffs on French wine and champagne over its intentions to decline his invitation to join his “Board of Peace” set up to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza.The prospect of another trade standoff between two of the world’s biggest economic powers has fuelled a rush to safety and dealt a blow to risk assets.Asia equities extended Monday’s losses.Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Mumbai, Manila and Wellington were all down, while Shanghai was flat. Taipei, Bangkok and Jakarta edged up.London, Paris and Frankfurt were also sharply lower for a second successive day.Gold hit a fresh record of $4,722.76 and silver also peaked, touching $94.73.Meanwhile, Treasury yields rose amid a move out of US assets fuelled by the uncertainty sparked by Trump’s latest volley.Japanese government bonds yields also rose — with that on the 40-year note hitting the highest since it was launched in 2007 — after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called snap elections Monday and pledged to cut a tax on food for a two-year period.The announcement fuelled fresh worries the government will borrow more cash at a time when questions are already being asked about the country’s finances.Her cabinet approved a record 122.3-trillion-yen ($768 billion) budget for the fiscal year from April 2026, and she has vowed to get parliamentary approval as soon as possible to address rising prices and shore up the world’s fourth-largest economy.Eyes are now on Davos, Switzerland, where the US president is expected to give a speech to the World Economic Forum.”Davos now becomes the theatre that matters. Not for soundbites, but for whether the adults step back into the room,” wrote Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management.”If this turns sour, volatility will not stay bottled. What would normally be a Ukraine-focused week risks being hijacked by a far more destabilising question, namely, whether the transatlantic alliance is being stress-tested in public. “A NATO fracture, even a rhetorical one, is not something markets are trained to shrug off.”- Key figures at around 0815 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.1 percent at 52,991.10 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.3 percent at 26,487.51 (close)Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 4,113.65 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.8 percent at 10,116.01 Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1691 from $1.1641 on MondayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3477 from $1.3428Dollar/yen: UP at 158.39 yen from 158.09 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.75 pence from 86.71 penceWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $59.58 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $63.76 per barrelNew York – Dow: Closed for a holiday

A record number of tourists flocked to Japan in 2025, officials said Tuesday, despite a steep fall in Chinese visitors in December as a diplomatic row between Beijing and Tokyo rumbled on.Japan logged 42.7 million arrivals last year, according to the transport ministry, topping 2024’s record of nearly 37 million as the weak yen boosted the appeal of the “bucket list” destination.However, the number of tourists from China last month dropped about 45 percent from a year earlier to around 330,000.Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s suggestion in November that Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on Taiwan triggered a sharp diplomatic backlash from China, which urged its citizens to avoid travelling to Japan.Tuesday’s announcement showed the warning had impacted visitor numbers.China has been the biggest source of tourists to the Japanese archipelago, with almost 7.5 million visitors in the first nine months of 2025 — a quarter of all foreign tourists, according to official figures.Attracted by a weak yen, Chinese tourists splashed out the equivalent of $3.7 billion in the third quarter.In the wake of Beijing’s travel warning, Li Benjing, an employee at a small travel agency in Tokyo targeting Chinese tourists, told AFP the firm had seen a 90 percent decline in sales.”The impact for our business is huge,” she said. However, Transport Minister Yasushi Kaneko said it was a “significant achievement” that overall visitor numbers had topped 40 million people for the first time. “While the number of Chinese tourists in December decreased, we attracted a sufficient number of people from many other countries and regions to offset that,” he said, adding that there had been a “steep” increase in tourists from Europe, the United States and Australia.”We also hope and want to make sure that Chinese visitors will return to us as soon as possible,” he added.  The overall increase is partly due to government policies to promote attractions from Mount Fuji’s majestic slopes to shrines and sushi bars in more far-flung parts of the archipelago.The government has set an ambitious target of reaching 60 million tourists annually by 2030.- Overtourism -Japan’s biggest travel agency JTB forecasted that overall tourist numbers this year would be “slightly lower” compared to 2025 due to a decrease in demand from China and Hong Kong.Nevertheless, tourism income was expected to increase due to rising prices of items such as lodging and strong spending among visitors. It added that due to an uptick in repeat visitors to Japan, the places people want to visit are shifting from large cities to rural areas.Authorities say they want to spread sightseers more evenly around the country, as complaints of overcrowding in hotspots like Kyoto grow. As in other global tourist magnets like Venice in Italy, there has been a growing pushback from residents in the ancient capital.The tradition-steeped city, just a couple of hours from Tokyo on the bullet train, is famed for its kimono-clad geisha performers and increasingly crowded Buddhist temples.Locals have complained of disrespectful tourists harassing the geisha in a frenzy for photos, as well as causing traffic congestion and littering.Elsewhere, exasperated officials have taken steps to improve visitors, including introducing an entry fee and a daily cap on the number of hikers climbing Mount Fuji.A barrier was briefly erected outside a convenience store in 2024 to stop people from standing in the road to photograph a view of the snow-capped volcano that had gone viral.

Before DeepSeek shook up the tech world and put Chinese artificial intelligence on the map, Wu Chenglin’s own startup had nearly folded three times — but in the past year it has raised $30 million.The January 2025 release of a low-cost generative AI model from DeepSeek that performed at a similar level to ChatGPT and other top American chatbots upended assumptions of US dominance in the sensitive sector.The breakthrough has galvanised China’s AI scene, despite hurdles posed by rivalry with the United States, and fears of a global market bubble.”It gave a lot of people confidence” that China’s AI community previously lacked, Wu told AFP.His venture DeepWisdom, whose flagship product is a platform for AI-powered software development, had struggled to stay afloat despite its popularity among programmers.But as excitement around DeepSeek fuelled a boom in spending, Wu raised 220 million yuan in two funding rounds.Meanwhile, Shi Yaqiong and her team at Beijing-based Jinqiu Capital have closed deals with more than 50 AI firms over the past 12 months.Shi, the fund’s vice-president, described a “clear surge” in enthusiasm around Chinese AI and competition among investors since the DeepSeek shock.”The kind of projects with an initial valuation in 2024 of $10-20 million were, in 2025, expected to have initial valuations around $20-40 million,” she said.- Engineer dividend -Shares in two leading Chinese AI startups, Zhipu AI and MiniMax, soared on their market debuts in Hong Kong this month.Frenzy over the much-hyped potential of AI to change the world is driving global stocks to record highs, led by chipmakers and tech giants.But the big-spending euphoria has sparked fears of a market crash, with many investors hyper-focused on any sign the AI bubble could burst, and questioning when new companies will become profitable.Access to top-end chips made by US giant Nvidia is also restricted in China under White House policies designed to curb China’s technological development.But that hasn’t dampened the spirits of young developers in the world’s second largest economy.At an AI networking event held on a brisk winter afternoon last week in a stylish Beijing cafe, animated discussion filled the air about the future of the fast-moving industry.Chip export controls mean Chinese AI is more likely to be “open-source and cheap” which could make it more useful to society, said one participant, entrepreneur Li Weijia.China is often said to enjoy an “engineer dividend” that benefits its AI sector, and talent is flocking to the field.Online hiring platform Zhilian Zhaopin reported a 39 percent increase in applications to AI-related jobs in the first three quarters of 2025, after DeepSeek’s breakout.- ‘Cost-efficient’ -“China has a huge application developer ecosystem and people are very good at building apps,” Shen Qiajin, founder of ideaFlow, told AFP.”But for a very long time, we didn’t have a good cost-efficient model,” he said.That is a gap DeepSeek has now filled.The firm began in 2023 as a side project of a data-driven hedge fund co-founded in the tech hub Hangzhou by Liang Wenfeng, which had access to a cache of powerful Nvidia processors.Today, the company — expected to release its next AI model within weeks — holds four percent of global market share for chatbots, according to web traffic analysis company Similarweb.ChatGPT dominates at 68 percent while Google’s Gemini is catching up at 18 percent, Similarweb estimates.DeepSeek’s decision to make its systems’ inner workings public, in contrast to the closed AI models sold by OpenAI and other Western rivals, has boosted adoption of its tools by developers and businesses, Neil Shah at Counterpoint Research said.Its tools have had “strong adoption in cost-sensitive emerging markets”, he said.But in the West users are more cautious, “primarily on account of privacy and national security concerns”.Even so, the domestic market is huge. By June 2025, more than half a billion Chinese internet users reported having used generative AI products, according to the China Internet Network Information Center.Entrepreneur Yang Yiwen said her parents had their first meaningful encounter with AI during last year’s Chinese New Year, when they watched her use DeepSeek to plan a family trip.”They found it quite fun,” she said.