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Toku launches open-source conversational AI in Asia-Pacific
Toku, a Singapore-listed customer experience software firm, said it has launched Makimoto, an open-source conversational AI initiative for Asia-Pacific.
The first release, a transcription API, is due on July 1, 2026, and will be hosted in Singapore.
Makimoto Kawa will start with real-time and post-conversation transcription APIs.
Toku said a self-hosted, containerized version and country-specific releases will follow.
The company said the project is a response to data residency and privacy rules in markets including Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam that affect where customer audio and transcripts can be processed.
Toku said it is releasing Kawa’s orchestration layer under an MIT license and opening 10 Singapore-based graduate roles across engineering, developer relations, and community work.
🔗 Source: Toku Ltd.
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
Toku’s AI initiative targets a margin problem
- Toku’s gross profit margin fell from 27.4% to 24.3% in FY2025 1.
- A larger share of sales came from lower-margin “Usage” revenue, which reached 68.8% of total sales, while higher-margin services declined 1.
- Toku began charging for its AI capabilities in FY2025, though that revenue was still not material 1.
Toku’s open-source AI aims to turn Asia’s data residency rules into a competitive advantage
- Toku is using data residency rules as an edge over global AI providers that often process data outside the markets where customers operate.
- It is open-sourcing its orchestration layer, software that coordinates how AI components work together, while also offering local hosting. That gives other regional companies a way to build defensible positions around regulatory compliance.
- This model could split the AI market along geopolitical lines. It could also raise demand for locally compliant solutions in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Latin America, where Toku is expanding 2.
Recent Toku developments
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