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Hello there,
In 2000, I faced a major decision: to continue my career in journalism or go to law school. I opted for law school, graduated three years later, and then ran right back to a newsroom.
People have asked me over the years if I’ve regretted my choice. My answer: only on paydays. I love being a journalist, and over the past year, my knowledge of law has been extremely helpful as I’ve written about the trials of various crypto bros.
That includes the case of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX. His trial, which surrounds the implosion of the crypto exchange last November, starts this week, and we’re already neck-deep into witness testimony.
But before we get into that drama, we have this week’s Big Stories, both from my colleague Deepti Sri.
In our first Big Story we take a look at Southeast Asia’s artificial intelligence startup landscape. It’s no secret AI has boomed since the launch of ChatGPT. The number of businesses adopting AI in Asia Pacific jumped 76% in 2022.
In the second Big Story, we have a look at Nansen, often called the Bloomberg of crypto analytics. Its data has been used as the basis for stories from Tech in Asia to the New York Times. CEO Alex Svanevik talks to us about why the company ended up in the red in 2022 despite revenue jumping by almost 500%.
Finally, in Token Issue, we’ll go back to the FTX founder’s trial and take a look at what we can expect over the next month.
— Scott
THE BIG STORIES
1️⃣ Mapping AI startups pushing SEA into the spotlight
Image credit: Made by Tech in Asia using Midjourney
In 2022, a record-breaking 32 AI startups secured funding in Southeast Asia, a large portion of which followed the release of ChatGPT. Now, the region is on track for a 3.5x uptick in AI spending.
2️⃣ Nansen’s 2022 revenue rises by 5x, swings to US$15.9 million loss
TOKEN ISSUE
FYI
NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW
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