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Hello there,
I’ve never ridden in an electric vehicle.
I’m not sure why, but it probably has something to do with growing up in the US in the era of SUVs and V8s. I’ll admit I’ve always been a bit suspicious of anything that didn’t produce a putrid cloud of exhaust.
I’m not saying this is how it should be. Climate change is making it clear that EVs are necessary to help cut down on everyone’s carbon footprint.
But that was for personal vehicles. I didn’t think it was possible to produce enough energy to power a large cargo carrying truck. I was happy to find out I was wrong about that too.
That’s what makes our first Big Story this week so important. Written by my colleague Elyssa, it focuses on how logistics firms across Southeast Asia are purchasing EVs. The motivations are simple: Their clients are demanding it. It doesn’t hurt that it also lowers operating costs.
Not everyone has jumped on the bandwagon yet, but Elyssa has found a couple of companies who bought into EVs early.
Speaking about early strategies, my colleague Collin in our second Big Story analyzes whether the turnaround strategies used by new investors looking to acquire startups could gain traction in Southeast Asia. These firms are looking to take advantage of the declining valuations and shrinking runway of startups, but several challenges persist.
Finally, we’ll take a look at Llama 3, the large language model released by Meta on Friday. In an effort to save my weekend, I immediately tried to get Meta AI to write this intro. No luck.
P.S. The team behind this newsletter will be taking a short break next week. But fear not, we’ll be back in your inbox on May 7, 2024.
— Scott
THE BIG STORIES
1️⃣ Are SEA’s deliveries about to get greener? These logistics startups think so
Image credit: Made by Tech in Asia using Midjourney
AI ODYSSEY
NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW
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