The Wrap | 30 Aug – 5 Sept 2025
The weekly digest from Asia Tech Lens: news, context, and signals shaping the future - tracking the innovations, policies, and market shifts across Asia
Editor’s Note: Welcome to the very first edition of The Wrap by Asia Tech Lens, our new weekly digest.
Each Friday, we’ll bring you a lowdown on the week’s most important and exciting developments and announcements across Asia. Our goal is to connect the dots, add context, and make sense of the announcements and events shaping the region’s tech future.
We’re looking forward to making this a standing date with you every Friday. Take a look at our first edition below and do give us your feedback to help us make our content more suited to what you, our readers, want to read!
China | Defense Tech
China Rolls Out High-tech Weapons at ‘Victory Day’ Parade
China’s ‘Victory Day’ parade, marking the 80th anniversary of China’s victory over Japan in World War II, was more than a display of its military might, it was showcase of Beijing’s technological prowess. Alongside marching troops and missile launchers, the spotlight fell on AI-powered unmanned vehicles, robotic quadrupeds, laser weapons, underwater combat units, cyber and electronic forces and hypersonic weapons - transforming a commemoration of history into a glimpse of what the future of warfare could look like.
The futuristic arsenal got as much attention as the parade itself, with state media highlighting swarms of drones and robotic ‘wolf’ units that looked like they had stepped out of science fiction.
Bottom Line: China is using public spectacle to underscore that it wants to be seen not only as a military power, but as a tech superpower in defense.
China | Regulations
China Enforces Rules on Labeling AI-generated Content
On 1st September, China became the first major jurisdiction to enforce a sweeping law requiring the mandatory labeling of all AI-generated content across online platforms. The regulation covers text, images, audio, video, and other virtual formats, mandating both visible on-screen labels and invisible digital watermarks embedded in metadata. Authorities say the goal is to improve digital transparency and curb risks of misinformation, copyright infringement and deepfake fraud.
The rules were first issued in March 2025 and entities including Tencent’s WeChat, ByteDance’s Douyin, Weibo, and Xiaohongshu have since rolled out compliance features.
Bottom Line: By moving early, Beijing has set a pace ahead of other major jurisdictions, like the U.S and the EU. The European Union’s AI Act also requires content labeling but that will come into force only in August 2026.
China | AI
DeepSeek to Launch an AI Agent by Year-end
According to Bloomberg, DeepSeek is working on an AI model with more advanced AI agent features to take on American rival, OpenAI. The report which quotes “people familiar with the matter” says that the startup is building a model designed to carry out multi-step actions on a person’s behalf with minimal direction from the user. The system is also meant to learn and improve based on its prior action.
The Chinese startup, which stunned the world in January, officially launched its updated DeepSeek-V3.1 AI model last month, which surpasses its R1 model on key benchmarks.
Bottom Line: AI agents are fast becoming the next frontier in artificial intelligence. As the China-US rivalry intensifies, DeepSeek’s push into this space show how quickly the competition is shifting from chatbots to autonomous agents.
China | Robotics
China’s Top Robotics Startup to File for IPO This Year
Hangzhou-based Unitree Robotics, best known for its agile robot dogs and humanoid models, has announced plans to file IPO documents with a mainland Chinese stock exchange between October and December 2025. The company is backed by major investors including Alibaba, Tencent, Ant Group, and China Mobile. While it did not disclose financial details, Unitree said 65% of its revenue in 2024 came from quadruped robots and another 30% from humanoid models, used primarily in research, education, and consumer fields.
Last month, we published translated highlights from Chinese media interviews with founder Wang Xingxing, including features in 36Kr and People’s Daily. Those pieces shed light on how he sees the sector evolving, the challenges ahead, and Wang’s prediction of a “ChatGPT moment” for robotics within the next five years.
Bottom Line: The IPO comes at a pivotal moment for China’s robotics industry. Once confined to factory floors, robots are now making headlines, dancing on national television, running marathons, and competing in humanoid games.
China | Consumer Tech
The Race for Folding Phones Intensifies: Huawei Launches its 2nd-Gen Trifold Device
While everyone was busy waiting for Apple’s iPhone 17, Huawei, launched its second generation trifold device, the Mate XTs this week. This is a bold follow-up to last year’s Mate XT, which was the world’s first trifold phone. That first model debuted in China before reaching select overseas markets earlier this year, and helped Huawei regain momentum in its home smartphone market.
The Huawei Mate XTs is powered by the in-house Kirin 9020 chipset compared to the Kirin 9010 in the Mate XT. When folded, the screen size reduces to 7.9 inches for two sides and 6.4 inches when folded completely and now works with a stylus.
Bottom Line: Huawei has now launched two trifolds even before Apple has yet to even show a foldable. Samsung is catching up to its Chinese rival though. The Korean phone maker is rumored to reveal the Galaxy TriFold in the second half of this year.
India | Semiconductors
India Accelerates Semiconductor Ambitions at SEMICON 2025
At SEMICON India 2025 in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted global chip CEOs including leaders from ASML, Lam Research, Tokyo Electron, Micron, and Applied Materials, underscoring India’s push to become a trusted node in global supply chains.
The event’s highlight was the presentation of the Vikram-32, India’s first fully indigenous 32-bit processor, to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Developed at the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) Semiconductor Laboratory, the chip is engineered to survive the extreme conditions of space and was successfully flight-tested on the PSLV-C60 mission. It’s built on a 180-nanometer CMOS process, and can execute complex instructions and manage substantial memory, making it suitable not only for satellites and launch vehicles but also for potential use in defense, aerospace, automotive, and energy systems.
This week also saw the first official visit by Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to New Delhi since taking office. In a joint address, the two leaders unveiled an “ambitious and detailed” framework for deeper cooperation, putting semiconductors and AI front and center, alongside advanced manufacturing, civil aviation, and green shipping.
Bottom Line: With its first indigenous chip and global partnerships, India is sending a strong message to the world, that it’s ready to stake its claim in the semiconductor supply chain.
Singapore | Scams
Singapore Joins Global Anti-scam Network
Singapore’s GovTech has become the first government agency worldwide to join the Global Signal Exchange (GSE), a cross-border platform launched by Oxford Information Labs, Google, and the Global Anti-Scam Alliance.
Announced at the Global Anti-Scam Summit Asia 2025, authorities say the move gives Singapore early intelligence on scam tactics and flagged websites, allowing authorities to block or take them down quickly. Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Tan Kiat How called scams a global issue of grave concern, and said they were being accelerated by technology.
Scams are escalating both in scale and sophistication. The Global Anti-Scam Alliance estimates US$1.03 trillion was lost worldwide to scams in the past year, while Singapore alone saw nearly S$456 million vanish in just the first half of 2025. These losses are not only financial but also erode public trust in digital systems. The rise of AI tools has given scamsters new capabilities. Take for example a voice-matching software that can mimic individuals that are known to you, or deepfake videos that can fool even the biggest skeptics amongst us.
Bottom Line: Scammers are upgrading with AI and Singapore wants to stay one step ahead by going global with its defenses.
Signals to Watch
China’s push to frame AI and robotics as national strengths - military, consumer, and industrial.
AI regulation divergence: Beijing acts now, EU in 2026, US still fragmented.
India moving from chip strategy to chip products, real test however is scaling manufacturing.
Scams are no longer just a nuisance, they are systemic risks to trust in digital economies.
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