PLUS: Cambodia arrests alleged scam camp boss; Baidu spins out chip biz; Panasonic’s noodle shop plan; And more!
ASIA IN BRIEF The governments of Malaysia and Indonesia have suspended access to social network X, on grounds that it allows users to produce sexual imagery without users’ consent.
Malaysia’s announcement of the suspension says that the nation’s Communications and Multimedia Commission demanded that X take measures to prevent users from generating material that contravenes Malaysian laws, but that the Elon-Musk-owned service’s response didn’t address the issue. Malaysia will therefore block X until the service implements safeguards the Commission deems appropriate.
On Sunday, Indonesia’s minister of communications and digital affairs Meutya Hafid also announced blocks on X. “The government views the practice of non-consensual sexual deepfakes as a serious violation of human rights, dignity and the security of citizens in the digital space,” the minister said.
India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has also reportedly warned X that it must do more to prevent sexual deepfakes.
Elon Musk has responded by arguing the true motivation for blocking X is suppressing free speech.
Indonesia, India, and Malaysia have often blocked online services that carry content the three nations find inappropriate.
X can ill afford to alienate the governments of India and Indonesia, the world’s most-populous and fourth-most-populous nations.
Cambodia arrests alleged cyber-scammers
Cambodia’s government last week announced the arrest of three Chinese nationals, and their extradition to the Middle Kingdom, to combat “transnational crime.”
Authorities in the USA and China allege one of the three men arrested, Chen Zhi, is responsible for the operation of forced-labor cyber-scam camps in Cambodia.
Camp operators lure workers with the promise of well-paid jobs, then force them to conduct scams that have earned billions and inflicted financial hardship, misery, and humiliation on victims.
Many of the camps are in Cambodia, whose government is thought to profit from their operations. US and Chinese authorities have both tried to shutter the camps and bring their operators to justice, without much help from Cambodia.
These arrests therefore mark a notable shift in efforts to stop the scams.
Baidu spins out chipmaking biz
Chinese web giant Baidu has announced a plan to float its chipmaking business unit Kunlunxin.
Baidu has designed its own AI acceleration silicon for training and inferencing workloads, and mostly used them to power its own services.
“The Proposed Spin-off aims to independently showcase Kunlunxin's value, attract investors focused on the AI chip sector, and leverage its standalone listing to enhance its market profile, broaden financing channels, and better align management accountability with performance,” states the company’s announcement of the proposed spin out and float. “This also supports the effort to unlock the value of Baidu's AI-powered businesses.”
Baidu has also developed its own large language models, under the “Ernie” brand, and is a major player in self-driving cars through its Apollo business unit.
Vietnam regulates video ads
Vietnam last week announced a law that requires publishers to ensure netizens can close video ads after five seconds.
Government Decree No. 342/2025/ND-CP, which comes into force on February 15th, requires publishers to offer instructions on how to stop video ads five seconds after they start playing. The law also includes measures to monitor for illegal or anonymous ads, and requirements for publishers to remove them.
Authorities can block access to publishers that don’t comply.
The measures are aimed at scam ads and promotion for illegal products.
Naver’s colossal Nvidia cluster
South Korean web giant Naver last week announced it has completed construction of an AI computing cluster powered by 4,000 Nvidia B200 GPUs.
The company said its existing A100-powered rigs require 18 months to develop a 72-billion-parameter AI model, a job its new cluster can deliver in around six weeks. Naver said its cluster would rank among the Top 500 list of Earth’s mightiest supercomputers.
Panasonic calls for rebirth as ‘noodle shop’
Panasonic Group CEO Yuki Kusumi last week described 2026 as a year of rebirth for the technology and engineering giant, and offered the example of a noodle shop as the company’s ideal state.
“We will sharpen every aspect of our operations, including leveraging data and AI, to enhance our efficiency and accelerate our speed,” the CEO said. “This means pursuing continuous reform to deliver the results we promised. We are currently advancing discussions on additional reforms to shape the Group’s future. We intend to fully refine our approach and share our plans at the appropriate time.”
Kusumi said he wants Panasonic to operate like a beloved neighborhood noodle shop, a business that company founder Kōnosuke Matsushita often praised.
“He urged employees to have the mindset of a noodle shop owner who works hard to sell noodles, asks customers each day for feedback about the taste, and makes improvements based on their feedback,” states Panasonic’s corporate philosophy. ®