In brief: Google could be building censored search engine for China; Tencent’s $143b rout

Google’s global headquarters in Mountain View, California. Photo credit: bennymarty / 123RF

Google reportedly plans to launch a censored search engine (China). The new search engine is said to be Google’s second attempt at creating a local search product in China. This new project will blacklist search terms deemed sensitive by Chinese officials, according to internal Google documents provided to The Intercept. Pending approval from the Chinese government, the product could launch within six to nine months. (The Intercept)

Worst ever stock slump now goes to Tencent (China). Tencent saw its stock price fall 25 percent from its January peak, wiping out US$143 billion in shareholder value. This eclipsed Facebook’s recent US$136 billion tumble. Tencent’s drop is caused by concern about slowing growth in its mobile gaming unit. (Bloomberg)

Other news

Grab “poised to announce” US$2 billion fundraise (Singapore). Rumored for months, the round is thought to include the US$1 billion Grab banked as part of a strategic investment from Japanese carmaker Toyota reported in June. The ride-hailing firm is expected to hit a post-money valuation of around US$11 billion. (The Wall Street Journal)

Google injects an extra US$350 million into server and storage ops (Singapore). The US tech giant is planning to build a third data center in the Southeast Asian city-state to meet growing demand for its cloud computing services in the region. (Channel NewsAsia)

See: Previous Asia tech news