Sequoia has split, what about other investors?

This week’s On the Rise looks at investors caught in the US-China trade war, the impact of purpose-bound money, and an autonomous AI system. [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: - [The effect]( of the ongoing US-China trade war on tech investors as well as the impact of purpose-bound money. - Is BlackRock making Bitcoin trading legal in the US? - An open-source generative AI that can create mobile applications. Hello {NAME} When I was younger, my family's dinner table was a hub of lively discussions and a source of daily news. We would delve into global affairs and explore the forces shaping our world. One topic that consistently fuelled our conversations was the intricate dance between the US and China. Now, those very discussions have come alive. In our first big story, my colleague Collin analyzes the US-China trade war and its impact on the venture capital and private equity (PE) scene. The Biden administration's upcoming rules restricting investment in China have sent shockwaves through the industry. Sequoia Capital made headlines last month by splitting its business into three separate entities—a move indicative of the challenges posed by the trade war. And they're not alone. Many other VC firms and limited partners have scaled back or halted their investments in China as restrictions tighten. To provide you with further insights, we've compiled a handy list of specific VC and PE firms that have investments in both the US and China. Speaking about families, our family is getting bigger. The On the Rise newsletter is going to expand its coverage to incorporate crypto content moving forward, looking into the world of digital currencies. We’ll also have short analyses in our new crypto segment, Token Issue. For our second big story this week, my colleague Scott dives into the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s recently released whitepaper on purpose-bound money, which is not your run-of-the-mill cryptocurrency. It represents a new breed of digital asset, where central bank digital currencies, tokenized bank liabilities, and well-regulated stablecoins take center stage. And that's not all! In this week’s AI Odyssey, I explore an AI system with the ability to perform tasks without human intervention. For Token Issue, Scott takes a look at the significance of BlackRock’s move to make Bitcoin trading legal in the US. But first, the Big Stories. -- Deepti  --------------------------------------------------------------- THE BIG STORIES 1️⃣ [Tech investors caught in the US-China trade war]( The US-China trade war has led to significant changes in the VC and PE landscape, with investments in China-focused funds dropping by nearly 3x in 2022 and several prominent firms and pension funds exiting or reducing their operations in China. 2️⃣ [Is MAS’ purpose-bound money really money?]( Purpose-bound money is a blockchain-based concept that incorporates specific conditions into digital currency transactions. It adds an additional layer of security and efficiency by restricting the use of funds based on predetermined criteria.  --------------------------------------------------------------- AI ODYSSEY Promising AI projects we’re noticing AutoGPT gives autonomy, but challenges persist OpenAI has been pretty busy lately, and I'm not just talking about [Sam Altman's world tour](. The company recently launched [GPT Engineer]( which we discussed a few weeks earlier. But there's another intriguing product from OpenAI, called AutoGPT, that we wanted to take a closer look at. AutoGPT is like an autonomous assistant built on top of the powerful GPT-4 language model. It can perform tasks without needing human intervention. It's not just about writing code; it can even help you create a full-fledged mobile application. Imagine having a brilliant app idea but lacking the technical know-how to bring it to life. That's where AutoGPT comes in. You just share your idea with the agent, and it gets to work. The possibilities with AutoGPT are vast. It can handle a range of tasks - from generating self-completing to-do lists to outlining podcasts and building web applications. It's even capable of generating research papers or articles based on given keywords. The agent isn't limited to simple jobs, either. It can tackle complex problems that require careful planning and multiple steps. Let's say you want to create a weather app. Just give AutoGPT the keywords "weather" and "app," and it will generate code snippets or even an entire program that shows the current weather and forecast for your location. Pretty cool, right? However, like any technology, AutoGPT has its challenges. Some users have [reported shortcomings]( in the tech’s ability to handle complex problems effectively. The agent also usually covers about 40% of the work, leaving users to finish the rest themselves. Another common issue is the maximum content length limit, which is a problem especially when dealing with extensive internet research. "At this point, it is pretty useless for me, as the majority of my agents end up with the dreaded maximum content length exceeded message. I have tried creating separate agents for one big task, but anything that needs extensive internet search just runs out of prompt length," a Reddit user named Brucebay wrote. Despite these setbacks, many users have found value in AutoGPT for specific tasks. It has proven helpful in market research, competitor analysis, product feature set creation, code generation, and automating routine tasks. According to Reddit user Guanfranco, "I was once able to get it to create a list of websites that Spanish speakers can find jobs on. They executed the task pretty well and did a summary of each website." It's worth noting that AutoGPT is an ongoing open-source project that continuously evolves based on user feedback. While there may be some limitations, OpenAI aims to refine and improve the agent's capabilities. -- Deepti  --------------------------------------------------------------- TOKEN ISSUE Can BlackRock make Bitcoin trading legal in the US? Trying to keep up with the ever-changing rules in the crypto industry can make your head spin. For example, on June 6, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it was suing Coinbase for running an unregistered (meaning illegal) exchange. Fast forward to this week, the SEC seems on the verge of formally making Coinbase an official provider of market data. How did that happen? The answer lies with BlackRock, the world's biggest asset manager, which applied for a license to open a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) on June 15. An ETF is basically a shared investment in a commodity. The individual shares are securities that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange. The bottom line here is that an ETF would allow US investors to share ownership of a basket of bitcoins managed by BlackRock. Previously, the SEC blocked all attempts to launch spot Bitcoin ETFs. But BlackRock is different. Whatever special sauce [CEO Larry Fink]( is cooking, it's working. BlackRock's [approval rate]( with the SEC for ETFs is revered in the industry, with 575 successful applications and only one rejection, according to Eric Balchunas, the senior ETF analyst for Bloomberg. When news about the application for the ETF broke, word quickly spread that "BlackRock knows something." Markets jumped on the news. [Bitcoin surged]( almost 20%, breaking back above US$30,000. The SEC dumped fuel on the speculation bonfire on June 30. Apparently, BlackRock did know something because the SEC did not say "no" to the ETF application. The regulator didn't say yes, either, but instead just called the application inadequate and asked for more information. Specifically, it wanted to know which crypto exchange BlackRock would be working with. This is where Coinbase enters the conversation. On Tuesday, the application for the ETF [was refiled](. It revealed that Coinbase would enter into a "surveillance-sharing agreement" with the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. Now, the company will be the one that provides the data used to price Bitcoin in the ETF. That's significant because the SEC has previously made the argument that crypto markets are too volatile and that adequate information on crypto assets was not available. BlackRock is making the pitch that Coinbase can provide the missing ingredient that finally makes Bitcoin a tradable security in the US. Will it work? Will Coinbase make the shift from market outlaw to key market innovator? As wild as it sounds, some analysts [say yes](. This could happen. -- Scott Shuey  --------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW Also check out Tech in Asia’s coverage of the emerging tech scene [here](. 1️⃣ [Singaporeans to embrace AI-enhanced, immersive dining by 2040]( According to a report by food delivery firm Deliveroo, Singaporeans can expect a significant shift in their eating habits and dining experiences by 2040, as a future where personalized diets driven by AI tech and immersive dining will become the norm. 2️⃣ [OpenAI gets another competitor]( China's renowned venture capitalist and former Google China president, Kai-Fu Lee, says that Sinovation Ventures has launched 01.AI to advance "artificial intelligence 2.0" across platforms, with a focus on large-scale model foundations. 3️⃣ [The Needle in the AI haystack]( Needle, an AI-powered marketing platform from Singapore, has raised US$1.2 million in its pre-seed round led by Iterative. It helps ecommerce brands optimize their marketing activities. 4️⃣ [HK incubator eyes Southeast Asia for greentech investments]( The Mills Fabrica, a Hong Kong-based VC firm, aims to invest in Southeast Asian greentech startups in the agrifood tech and sustainable textile sectors and will have a focus on the circular economy and conscious consumption. 5️⃣ [Alodokter buys Indonesian pregnancy app]( The SoftBank-backed Indonesian digital health platform has acquired Diary Bunda, an app that helps mothers track their pregnancy, from Japan-based Marubeni Corporation for an undisclosed sum.  --------------------------------------------------------------- FYI 1️⃣ [Vietnamese consumers still bullish on crypto]( Despite the bear market, 53% of Vietnamese consumers plan to increase their crypto investments in the next year, making crypto the second-most popular investment choice in the country. 2️⃣ [How serial founder bootstrapped beauty brand Coco & Eve to profitability, strong growth]( Coco & Eve blooms as the beauty subscription box trend fades, hitting profitability with sustainable products, glowing reviews, and plans for expansion and investor partnerships.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  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 next week! [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 © 2023 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 63 Robinson Road, Singapore 068894