Huggy robots? Seriously

In picking this week’s top reads, we look at robots - lots of robots - and the impact of the corruption trials against tech execs in Indonesia.

Read from your browser Sunday Newsletter Welcome to Tech in Asia's Sunday newsletter, your weekend brief on the biggest moves in Asia's tech and startup world. Subscribe to this newsletter or send story tips to editors@techinasia.com. Ensure our articles appear in your Google searches: IN FOCUS Scott Shuey goes robot hunting and finds traces of how our generations affect today's machines. We chat with Eric Guo of AI² Robotics about jobs, space, and US competition. And for a break from robots, we unpack what Nadiem Makarim's trial could mean for Indonesia's tech scene. Hello Betamax, This might sound weird, but I think our generational views are determining how we build robots today. I noticed this as I was walking through the Beyond Expo in Macao last week. The theme of this year's show was embodied AI, and I went there looking to see how robots were being developed. The Boomer's thought of robots as domestic helpers, ala Rosie the Robot from the Jetsons. That's probably why many robotics companies are trying to find ways to make robots that can clean your house, wash your clothes, and bring you your medicine. The training grounds for these robots: retirement homes. Millennials, meanwhile, seemed more interested in anthropomorphizing them and asking whether robots "have feelings and rights." It didn't take long for me to find an AI-enabled robot that could hug you and give you emotional support. In all fairness to this robot, Moya, it is designed to support mental health, which is a noble ambition. And Moya's booth was always crowded with people wanting to hold it, so the designer, Jian Liu, clearly hit upon something. But the Gen X in me, who grew up thinking of robots as amoral killers, kept thinking: DON'T LET IT TOUCH ME. Sorry, but emotions and robotics didn't blend well together in the '90s (looking at you Star Trek). I'd generalize about Gen Z, but that would be pointless. Unlike previous generations, their opinions about robots are not theoretical. Gen Z grew up with Roombas, Alexa, and those robots at the restaurant that deliver your food to the table. And many of the products I saw from younger developers seemed to mirror these experiences: massagers, music bots that could interface with stream apps, and a tennis ball serving bot that can not only fire tennis balls at your head but even play against you. Scott Shuey, senior editor EDITOR'S PICKS 1️⃣ The Nadiem effect on investors, talent, and Indonesia Are the high-profile court cases against Indonesia's tech executives a sign that the country is finally fighting its long history of corruption or just a pointless witch hunt that will trash Indonesia's business reputation? The answer could be "both." While the number of investigations into tech companies could have a chilling impact on investment, some argue that this is the perfect time for tech insiders to engage in some much needed self-reflection. 2️⃣ Meet the unicorn building robots for nobody's dream job Demand for his robots has never been higher, says AI² Robotics founder Eric Guo. The Shenzhen-based robotics and AI company has even managed to convince Western companies to use its robots over those of its rivals in the US. One of the company's chief selling points: making robots that will do the job no one else likes. 3️⃣ The startup putting robo-eyes on wind turbines and retail shelves Speaking of jobs that nobody wants, how does climbing a 35-story wind turbine with only a rope and a harness sound? Clobotics, a firm headquartered in Singapore but with operations in China and the US, says it can save companies time and money by using a combination of robotics, drone technology, computer vision, and AI. The firm is now inspecting 60,000 to 70,000 wind turbines each year - that's about 12% of all wind turbines globally. SHORT CUTS 1️⃣ AWS offers agents to sell more stuff on - drumroll - Amazon Amazon Web Services is rolling out a toolkit for retailers to build AI shopping assistants for Amazon's Alexa for Shopping. This seems like an obvious feature for AWS, and it's likely just the latest push for agentic shopping by cloud providers. 2️⃣ High AI costs? Just go IPO Anthropic co-founder and president, Daniela Amodei, said the rising cost of developing AI models is pushing companies - including Anthropic - to seek funding from public markets. This comes from a company that just raised US$30 billion in February at a US$380 billion post-money valuation and which reported a US$14 billion revenue run rate. That, apparently, just wasn't enough. 3️⃣ Help? But not from Nvidia Cerebras Systems said it wants to work with most suppliers of AI data center components, but not Nvidia. If you're wondering what the backlash against Nvidia looks like - this is it. Chipmakers around the world have also been talking about breaking Nvidia's market dominance. WEEKEND DEEP DIVE The small-business owners managing whole armies of AI employees Agents and SMEs. That combination may sound like a dream come true or an accident waiting to happen. This piece from The New York Times digs into both the success stories and some of the problems that can occur when small businesses decide to use agents to automate their work flows. It's not all bad news, but if you're concerned about the challenges of implementing agents at work, this is a story you need to read. JOIN THE DRIVERS OF ENTERPRISE AI Be part of the network building Asia's tech future For over a decade, Tech in Asia Conference has been the arena where the region's most influential CTOs, VCs, and founders gather to solve the problems that truly matter. 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