Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that an Artificial Intelligence (AI) model developed by Alibaba took the Stanford University reading and comprehension test. The machine obtained an 82.44 score, beating the best score of 82.30 set by a human for the same test previously. Alibaba claims that this is the first time a machine has edged past humans in such a test. Alibaba’s achievement in this test indicates two things.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. sold 7 billion dollar bonds Wednesday in a deal that investors clamoured for, ordering more than six times as many securities as were for sale.The deal eclipsed China Evergrande Group’s 6.6 billion dollar offering in June to become the biggest sale in Asia from a non-bank issuer, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Eager investors were already flipping the bonds in the after market late Wednesday in New York.

Malaysia and Singapore have rightly embraced digitalisation as the way forward for their respective nations.At a recent event, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister, Zahid Hamidi said that the country’s digital economy is projected to contribute almost 20 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), up 18 percent from 2016.

It’s no secret that Southeast Asia has become a hotbed for tech startups. Since 2012, there have been a number of tech companies that have become household names and changed the lives of people in Southeast Asia.

As Amazon.com pushes into Southeast Asia with a new venture into Singapore, the online retailer is facing some tough hurdles. Shopping in air-conditioned malls is practically a national sport, and e-commerce rivals moved in long ago.Delivery delays also marred Amazon’s debut in July, when on-the-ground operations began with Prime Now two-hour deliveries.

Big-name investors including Expedia and Alibaba are pumping billions of dollars into Indonesian tech start-ups in a bid to capitalise on the country’s burgeoning digital economy and potential as Southeast Asia’s largest online market.Indonesia has seen a surge of cash into its technology sector over the past two years, helping support dozens of homegrown start-ups ranging from ride hailing apps to e-commerce firms.And with a population of more than 250 million, a swelling middle class and gr

Fifty years since its formation, all 10 of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member states have seen rapid urbanisation. While the total population within Southeast Asia has reached over 640 million people in 2017, the internet penetration rate across has only reached 53 percent, which translates to 339.2 million internet users, as stated in the Digital in 2017: Southeast Asia report released by Hootsuite and We Are Social.

We often hear that "cash is king". While it is undeniable that cash has been the preferred mode of payment in the past, the 21st century has introduced an array of cashless payment methods – also known as e-payment – to consumers all over the world. All across the globe, people are divided into those who prefer the more conventional mode of payment as others take a more progressive approach by supporting cashless transactions.

Magic Leap, a Florida-based startup that’s raised more than 1.3 billion dollars to build a wearable computing device, is trying to raise even more cash as it readies a long-awaited debut product.

Indonesia’s e-commerce market is targeted to grow from 19 billion dollars in 2016 to 130 billion dollars in 2020, according to data obtained from Indonesia’s ICT (Information and Communications Technology) Ministry. This puts Indonesia ahead in terms of digital economy growth against its other ASEAN counterparts – with a year-on-year growth of 51 percent. Indonesia’s growing digital economy is riding on its fast-growing usage of smartphones – which amounted to 71 million users in 2016.