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In focus
- Green Link Digital Bank is going profits first, digital later
- Why GPT-5 is more of a small step rather than a leap
- Another twist in the online gambling fracas in the Philippines
Hello reader,
Green Link Digital Bank (GLDB) probably has the lowest profile among the five digital banks in Singapore.
Its relative lack of big-name backers – at least to most Singaporeans – could be seen as a disadvantage. But it hasn’t stopped GLDB from making big strides toward net profits, which it expects to hit for the full year in 2025.
Today’s top story is a rare interview with the bank’s CEO Melvin Teo, who took the helm in 2022. This isn’t Teo’s first stab at scaling bank operations in a new market, as you’ll find out in our deep dive into GLDB’s surprising human-led approach.
On the other end, you’ve got firms that thrive on being in the limelight.
After launching to much pomp and circumstance, OpenAI’s GPT-5 underwhelmed super users and software developers, my colleague Scott Shuey opines in today’s second featured story.
The model may have better creative writing and image creation skills, but it still falls short in its ability to carry out tasks autonomously. GPT-5 also stumbles on math questions.
For OpenAI, pleasing 700 million ChatGPT users is an impossible task. Can it topple Anthropic, whose models remain a default in popular AI coding tools? Not impossible, but GPT-5 alone may not move the needle.
Melissa Goh, senior editor
Top Stories
1️⃣ Humans beat bots at Green Link Digital Bank as it nears profit
Image credit: Timmy Loen
GLDB isn’t the most well-known digital bank in Singapore, but it’s quietly and steadily built its business towards profit.
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