Welcome to Tech in Asia’s Sunday newsletter, your weekend brief on the biggest moves in Asia’s tech and startup world. Not on the mailing list? Register here. Got a story tip? Send it to editors@techinasia.com.
In focus
- Melissa Goh on companies fueling the scourge of online gambling in the Philippines
- Why more Southeast Asian founders are seeking greener pastures in the US
- GPT-5 is here – it’s bigger, better, and faster
Hello reader,
There’s a lot that a company can get away with these days.
This week, BlueSG announced to users that it was abruptly halting its car-sharing service as it revamps the platform.
It later came to light that employees were also let go as part of the move – a fact that BlueSG omitted to mention earlier.
In the Philippines, prominent consumer platforms from Grab and Lazada to GCash and Maya continue to host gambling games and ads on their apps without consequence.
This week, journalist Elyssa Lopez writes about the country’s online gambling problem, partly fueled by the general ease of access and the pervasive ads on everyday apps.
Image credit: Timmy Loen
Meanwhile, other founders are looking to get away – literally.
In the pursuit of scale and greener pastures, a growing number of Southeast Asian founders are packing their bags for the US.
The trend, detailed by data journalist Duc Tran, isn’t for everyone. It comes with countless sacrifices – all in the belief of an unknown future payoff. But most founders are well-acquainted with this risk.
Over in Indonesia, the long arm of the law caught up with three eFishery executives: Ex-CEO Gibran Huzaifah and two others were detained by the local police last week.
It’s a rare instance where tech execs have been held accountable for their actions, assuming being taken in for questioning by the authorities even counts.
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