From baking to breaking: Cake Group’s former CTO vs. CEO in crypto court showdown

This week’s On the Rise looks at Cake Group’s legal battles, SEA family office investments, and new developments in AI chips. [Read from your browser]( On the Rise 🚀 Welcome to On the Rise! Delivered every Tuesday via email and through the Tech in Asia website, this free newsletter breaks down the biggest stories and trends in emerging tech. If you’re not a subscriber, get access by [registering here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- IN FOCUS In today's newsletter, we look at: - Cake Group’s legal issues and its [possible liquidation]( - Southeast Asia family offices and their investments - Whether 2024 will be the year of the chip Hello {NAME} , I first watched Jobs when I was in 10th grade. The movie made me want to become an entrepreneur so bad that I even started scribbling down some ideas on paper. However, these were soon lost when examinations came around and trigonometry took priority. But one thing I can’t forget about the movie is the office drama. The conflict of ideas between Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak was such an eye-opener. Later on, I found out that Jobs lied to Wozniak, took credit for his work, and even cheated him out of some payouts. And that’s the harsh truth: Businesses with more than one founder will have conflicts. Two brains simply can’t drive the chariot in the same direction smoothly. Perhaps this is what drove U-Zyn Chua, co-founder and former CTO of Cake Group and Bake.io, to file an application to wind up the business. In this week’s big story, my colleague Scott writes about why Chua has requested a Singapore court to liquidate the firm. The top reason was a falling out between him and Julian Hosp, co-founder and CEO of the company. One of Chua’s allegations includes Hosp using company funds to promote his own side business and to hire a nanny. In this week’s second big story, my colleague Elyssa dives deep into family offices in Southeast Asia and how they invest their funds. Notably, 75% of conglomerates in the region are owned by family offices, so these entities have invested in many successful startups and VC firms. Finally, in AI Odyssey, I discuss whether 2024 has become the year of the AI chip. -- Lokesh  --------------------------------------------------------------- THE BIG STORIES 1️⃣ [Is Cake cooked? Former CTO tells why he went to court to liquidate the firm]( The fight for control over Cake Group has gone to court. Can its founders make a deal to save it before a judge liquidates it? 2️⃣ [Mapping the family offices spreading the wealth across startups in SEA]( Family offices investing in Southeast Asia usually seek wealth safety, which makes Singapore a key location due to its currency stability.  --------------------------------------------------------------- AI ODYSSEY Promising AI projects we’re noticing. Is your ChatGPT slow? Blame the chip shortage When I started writing about tech in 2022, one of my colleagues was deeply involved in covering semiconductors. I thought it was super cool to write about new AI advancements, as relatively few of us were doing so at that time. He, on the other hand, claimed that his beat would be critical in the upcoming years, and he was right. As we enter the second quarter of 2024, the tech world is shifting its focus from the excitement of developing AI applications to the important work on advancing semiconductors. The need for that is clear. For instance, a few weeks back I purchased a subscription for ChatGPT 4. I was really excited until I realized how slow it was. For a service that costs more than US$20 a month, I expect a faster response. Currently, ChatGPT 4 takes anywhere around two to four minutes to produce a text article. To be fair, OpenAI probably wasn't expecting so many converts when it released ChatGPT 4 to the masses. The rapid growth has left the company facing a shortage of chips, resulting in slow processing times. But OpenAI knew this was going to be an issue. Last year, in its annual report, Microsoft highlighted the availability of graphics processing units (GPUs) as a possible risk factor for investors. Even Sam Altman, founder and CEO of OpenAI, had to [say]( at one point, “We’re so short on GPUs, the fewer people that use the tool, the better.” Maybe that’s why Altman himself is considering the [possibility]( of OpenAI producing chips in-house. And he’s not the only one doing so; Google and Meta are also building their own AI chips. Google has developed the [Axion AI chip]( specifically for handling the massive data demands of large language models (LLMs). It can be clustered for even greater performance. Meanwhile, Meta's [new AI chip]( is focused on improving its Facebook and Instagram content recommendation systems. Notably, Intel launched the [Gaudi 3 accelerator]( which the company claims has more AI computing power, networking bandwidth, and memory bandwidth to scale up AI training and inference on the LLMs that power AI chatbots like ChatGPT. Even Nvidia launched its [new GPU]( and platform earlier this year. The GPU reduces costs and energy consumption by up to 25x compared to its predecessor. It’s understandable why companies want to foray into chip design and manufacturing. Competition is intense, and companies can’t rely on existing hardware to deliver new offerings - such as power-hungry text-to-video apps like Sora - to the masses. While chip development might be exciting, the industry is also beginning to cause new problems that have wide-reaching implications. For instance, citizens of Goodyear, a city in Arizona in the US, are facing a water shortage. This is not because of climate change but because Microsoft and OpenAI are using [the town’s water supply]( to feed their data center. The three-building campus is projected to use 212 million liters of water annually, an amount comparable to the yearly water consumption of nearly 700 local households. That means for countries like India, which faces water shortages almost every year, focusing on chip manufacturing might pose additional challenges. -- Lokesh  --------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW Also check out Tech in Asia’s coverage of the emerging tech scene [here](. 1️⃣ [Wafer wealth]( Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has increased its investment in the US to US$65 billion with a US$6.6 billion government grant. This boost aims to enhance US chip production significantly. 2️⃣ [Ownership angst]( Singapore's literary community has voiced copyright concerns over a new AI project by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA). The project aims to develop a Southeast Asia-focused large language model, that some say could use copyrighted materials without proper consent. 3️⃣ [Rule wranglers]( Sprinto, an Indian-American security and compliance startup, has secured US$20 million in series B funding from investors including Accel, Elevation Capital, and Blume Ventures. 4️⃣ [Korea's AI gambit]( South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has unveiled a significant investment plan, committing US$6.9 billion to advance the country's artificial intelligence and semiconductor sectors by 2027. 5️⃣ [Gutsy move]( Peptobiotics, a Singapore startup, has secured US$6.2 million in series A funding to advance the development and commercialization of an alternative to antibiotics for use in agriculture and aquaculture.  --------------------------------------------------------------- FYI  1️⃣ [Why are Indian startups ready to pay big for a ‘reverse flip’?]( Driven by favorable market conditions and homeground advantage, Indian startups are returning to their native country to set up their headquarters. 2️⃣ [Cutting out crypto: Web3 firm looks to bring blockchain back to its roots]( Stability Protocol recently partnered with Singapore’s IMDA to help the agency digitize trade documents on the Global Trust Network blockchain. ---------------------------------------------------------------  EVENTS HAPPENING You can also check out a curated list of trending tech events [over here]( and Tech in Asia’s signature events [here](. - [Saigon Summit 2024 : Charting Vietnam’s Tech Future on May 30]( your startup on the map at our signature trade show, Startup Showcase, and get the attention of hundreds of tech professionals. Your next investor or business partner could be among the crowd! Check out the perks you’ll receive for exhibiting and [apply by April 22]( - [Tech in Asia Conference Kuala Lumpur 2024 : Malaysia on The Rise on July 24-25]( Join us this July for a time of insightful panels, skill-building workshops, and exclusive interviews with top brands. First release tickets are available until April 22nd. Participating companies include AWS, Antler, Google Cloud, Odoo, Sunrate, and more. Purchase a General Pass for just US$45 (U.P. US$80) today! - [Product Development Conference (Jakarta, 25-26 June 2024)]( This year’s conference, themed around “scaling product innovation from startup to enterprise,” will deliver tailored insights for attendees at any stage of their business journey. Get your first release before April 22, with prices starting from just US$45 instead of the usual US$80 for a General Pass. [Grab yours]( while the offer lasts! - [Tech in Asia’s Founders Meetup in Singapore on April 24]( Amid the slump in the current macroeconomic environment, are VCs now ready to deploy funds? Well, we don’t have the answer, but we know experts that do. Panlists from Square Peg, MSW Ventures, and Antler will shed light into the cautious optimism around funding. They’ll also share their take on the verticals poised for a strong recovery and offer strategic tips to navigate the ongoing tech winter. Get your ticket now! - [Tech in Asia’s Founders Meetup in Vietnam on May 30]( Founders Meetup is returning to Vietnam as part of the official closing party of Saigon Summit! Unwind and connect with founders, startup leaders, and investors from across the region at this premier networking mixer. Hurry, get your early bird ticket before promo ends on April 19! --------------------------------------------------------------- That’s it for this edition - we hope you liked it! Do also check out previous issues of the newsletter [here](. Not your cup of tea? You can unsubscribe from this newsletter by going to your “edit profile” page and choosing that option in our preference center. See you soon! [ADVERTISE]( | [SUBSCRIBE]( | [HIRE]( | [FIND JOBS]( P.S. Don't miss out on the biggest tech news and analysis. Add newsletter@techinasia.com to your address book, contacts, or safe sender list. Or simply move us into your inbox. Too many emails? Switch to a different frequency or get new content through our [preference center]( or [unsubscribe](. You can also break our hearts and remove yourself from all Tech in Asia emails over [here](  Copyright © 2024 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 63 Robinson Road, Singapore 068894