Southeast Asia has a Copilot in GitHub

This week, On the Rise looks at how developer growth in SEA is critical to GitHub, a Vietnamese maker of hand prosthetics, and YouTube’s new AI rules. [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: - Why [Southeast Asia is crucial to GitHub’s growth]( according to the platform’s CEO - A Vietnam-based startup providing [affordable prosthetic hands]( - YouTube’s new AI regulations Hello {NAME} , My sister is a software developer and her husband is a coder as well. In fact, there are at least 15 developers in my extended family, and there’s at least one in every family that resides in my apartment complex. There’s even a joke in India that goes: If you throw a stone in the sky, it’ll land on a techie. So I was not surprised when I learned that by 2027, India is set to overtake the US and account for the largest pool of developers on Github. But what surprised me was that Singapore overtook India to become the fastest-growing developer community in Asia Pacific. In this week’s Big Story, GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke tells Tech in Asia in an exclusive interview that he expects Singapore to have a significant number of developers in the long term. He highlighted as well how Indonesia has surpassed Japan to become the biggest GitHub developer community in APAC. Dohmke also discusses GitHub’s goals for Copilot - its AI pair programmer - in the region and plans to increase paying users and tackle copyrights issues. In our second Big Story, my colleague Huong talks about Vulcan Augmetics, a Vietnamese robotic prosthetics startup that builds affordable bionic hands for amputees. The company, which has set up shop in India and Singapore, is eyeing expansion to the Middle East, US, and Europe. And finally in AI Odyssey, my colleague Deepti analyzes whether YouTube’s new guidelines will be effective enough in the age of generative AI. -- Lokesh --------------------------------------------------------------- THE BIG STORIES 1️⃣ [Exclusive: SEA crucial to GitHub's growth strategy, CEO says]( GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke sees growing demand for the firm’s AI code generator Copilot and plans to reduce latency for users. 2️⃣ [For this Vietnamese startup, prosthetic arms should be within everyone's reach]( Vulcan Augmetics, which is already present in India and Singapore, is exploring opportunities in the Middle East, US, and European markets. --------------------------------------------------------------- AI ODYSSEY Promising AI developments we’re noticing Can YouTube’s new AI regulations protect it from regulators? YouTube is set to tighten regulations on AI-generated content to address potential challenges tied to deepfakes and disinformation. The new guidelines, which are slated to be implemented next year, will be crucial for videos that touch on sensitive topics like politics, according to the company’s recent [blog post](. Creators will be required to disclose if they used genAI to make videos that realistically portray events that never took place or that involve real individuals saying or doing things they never said or did. However, YouTube has not yet provided a clear definition of what qualifies as "realistic" in AI-generated content. It’s also not clear how YouTube will know if an unlabelled video was actually generated by AI. The new rules also do not impose the disclosure requirement on all AI-generated videos. Furthermore, the penalties for non-disclosure only include removal of the content, suspension from its partner program, and “other penalties” that haven’t been specified. Considering the move comes at a time when crucial elections are set to take place next year in countries like the US, India, and Indonesia, these penalties seem really weak to deter people who want to create deepfakes. Those who spread misinformation and disinformation about elections and electoral candidates often use fake accounts, and by the time the video is taken down and the account gets suspended, the damage is usually done. Recently, genAI deepfake videos have been used for political mileage in India and the US. A good example is a case involving Indian athletes who accused the wrestling federation head of sexual harassment. The wrestlers, who have been [protesting]( for over a month, were featured in a groufie that depicted them as smiling while being detained in a bus by the police. The image went viral, and the athletes were accused of staging their arrest. But it turned out the photo was manipulated - the unedited photo surfaced soon after, showing the wrestlers as unsmiling. Similarly, a [deepfake video]( claiming that US President Joe Biden has announced a military draft to support Israel in its war with Hamas. While no country has specific rules against AI in place at the moment, several governments are exploring such regulations. Biden and China’s Xi Jinping haven't seen eye to eye recently, but the risks of AI have certainly got them [back into a dialogue recently](. With such developments, it only seems natural for platforms like YouTube to look towards self-regulation in order to avoid the heavy hand of government mandates. It also comes across as a PR move to show authorities around the world that they are taking proactive steps to stop the spread of disinformation and misinformation on their platforms. For YouTube, the move is also to protect its music-related interests. After all, the company hosts the most number of artists and record labels on its platform. The use of deepfakes could lead to an exodus among artists. “This was bound to happen. There just needed to be a rule and the threat of lawsuits. One cannot profit of the NIL (name, image, likeness) of another, or in this case the name, voice and career of a music artist,” said Rafael Brown, CEO at software firm Symbol Zero, in a [LinkedIn post](. The song Heart On My Sleeve, which used AI to replicate the voices of Drake and The Weeknd, has gained popularity in the last few months. Other fake tracks include a deepfake where Rihanna is made to appear as if she is singing Beyoncé's Cuff It and a replicated version of Kanye West performing Hey There, Delilah, an acoustic ballad. YouTube’s new policy will also enable users to request the removal of content mimicking identifiable individuals. However, YouTube acknowledges that not all requests will be approved, especially for content classified as satire or parody. Despite the issues, YouTube’s self-regulatory move could be replicated by other social media platforms in the near term, given how rapidly genAI is developing. -- Deepti --------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW Also check out Tech in Asia’s coverage of the emerging tech scene [here](. 1️⃣ [Shakeup at OpenAI]( Sam Altman's swift firing and return as CEO and other recent leadership changes at OpenAI have sparked varied responses from AI founders in Southeast Asia and India. They voiced concerns about OpenAI's stability and accessibility, and urged transparency on the organization's future plans. 2️⃣ [Zespri's kiwi love]( New Zealand-based Zepri is using its US$2 million Zag fund to back global projects for better kiwifruit that focus on quality, sustainability, and industry support. This aligns with the kiwi marketer’s 100% eco-friendly packaging goal by 2025. 3️⃣ [Crypto safeguard]( The Monetary Authority of Singapore has unveiled new regulations for cryptocurrency and digital payment token service providers. The rules cover business conduct, consumer access, and technology and cyber risk management. 4️⃣ [Funding for startups in the Philippines plunges]( It dropped 40% this year amid adverse market conditions, with deal numbers and raised amounts falling by over 21% and 40%, respectively, according to a report from Gobi-Core Philippine Fund. The fund is backed by Gobi Partners, Core Capital, and Alibaba. 5️⃣ [Climate cash]( Singapore-based Climate Alpha has secured US$5 million in seed funding from a round led by Jungle Ventures. The startup aims to develop its AI-driven analytics for real estate, asset management, and insurance to adapt to climate change and foster sustainable investments. --------------------------------------------------------------- FYI 1️⃣ [Exclusive: Y Combinator leads $2.2m round in SG-based AI analytics firm]( Defog has raised US$2.2 million in a seed round led by Script Capital and Y Combinator. The funds will expedite the development of SQLCoder, its open-source language model designed for rapid data analysis. 2️⃣ [PropertyGuru’s financial health in 6 charts]( The Singapore-based proptech firm posted S$312,000 (US$233,000) in net income for the third quarter of 2023, reversing a four-quarter streak of net losses. 3️⃣ [Is Malaysia’s tech policy on autopilot?]( The country risks losing out as Prime Minister Anwar plays the populist fiddle. --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 © 2023 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 63 Robinson Road, Singapore 068894