Yet this partnership between a US tech giant and an originally Chinese startup could be a preview of the border-crossing, talent-focused future of the global AI race. The third implication is that the global AI contest is more fluid and multi-dimensional than a simple “US versus China” frame suggests. DeepSeek’s R1 model forced ‌many investors to confront the reality that a Chinese model could match top US systems at a fraction of the cost. Manus is also a reminder that the global AI race is fundamentally a talent war. The company shows how Chinese-founded businesses and talent can plug into global capital and corporate structures despite elevated geopolitical noise.

(Jan 15): The UK is considering following Australia in imposing a social media ban for children under 16 years old, amid growing calls for restrictions to protect vulnerable younger users. “I’m certainly in favour of action in this area,” Streeting told Sky News, pointing to his own concerns about the impact of social media on the well-being and cognitive development of children. Any move on social media would be likely to garner support from other parties. The Liberal Democrats last year called for health warnings on social media for children, as well as time caps on so-called “doomscrolling”. Main opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch, meanwhile, said earlier this month she’d like to see age limits on social media because the internet is a “wild west”.

LANGKAWI: For the very rich, a dream car like a Ferrari, Lamborghini or Porsche used to cost RM2.5mil in this duty-free island. “About 90% of Ferrari cars and several other luxury brands in Malaysia were registered in Langkawi because of its tax-free status,” he said. If luxury vehicles could no longer be sold, he said, the government would lose corporate tax and customs-related revenue. Ong also said the existing mechanism had been effective in regulating the movement of tax-free vehicles. Without tax exemptions, buyers are now expected to pay about 100% more.

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi says that he respects the decision of Umno Youth chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh to step down from his position as a Melaka exco member. ALSO READ: Akmal resigns as Melaka Umno exco member effective next week"There are 191 Youth divisions nationwide. When pressed on whether it would pressure the Melaka state government, the Umno president said the Melaka Chief Minister was aware of Akmal's decision. "I don't think it is a form of pressure as the Melaka Chief Minister will know what to do next," said Ahmad Zahid. The Merlimau assemblyman said he was stepping aside from his post as Melaka Exco to “fight DAP to the end”.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 15): Consumer stocks have the largest sector representation on Bursa Malaysia’s newly launched financial performance-based indices, highlighting companies with strong financial fundamentals across profitability, capital structure, and earnings quality. The Bursa Malaysia Quality 50 Index (BMQ) and its Islamic counterpart, the Bursa Malaysia Quality 50 Shariah Index (BMQ-S), feature 50 Malaysian-listed companies spanning multiple sectors and market capitalisations. Leading constituents by weightage include Westports Holdings Bhd (KL:WPRTS), United Plantations Bhd (KL:UTDPLT), and Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd (KL:F&N). The indices also highlight under RM1 billion market capitalisation companies like Infomina Bhd (KL:INFOM), AutoCount Dotcom Bhd (KL:ADB) and Cloudpoint Technology Bhd (KL:CLOUDPT) to attract investor attention. Other requirements include a minimum market capitalisation of RM300 million and a trade velocity (liquidity metric) of at least 10% over the past 12 months.

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno Youth chief Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh has resigned from his post a Melaka executive council member. When speaking at the Umno Youth assembly, Dr Akmal said that his resignation would take effect next week. The Merlimau assemblyman said he was stepping aside from his post as Melaka exco to “fight DAP to the end”. Dr Akmal also shared that he had discussed his resignation with Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusof, and Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. Akmal had also previously hinted at stepping down from his post as Umno Youth chief after his same comments drew a negative reaction from the Umno president.

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin is expected to attend the opening of the Youth wing in conjunction with the Umno General Assembly at Dewan Merdeka on Thursday (Jan 15). The matter was confirmed by Umno Youth Chief Datuk Dr Muhammad Akmal Saleh after attending the simultaneous opening of the three wings here at World Trade Centre (WTC) late Wednesday night (Jan 14). Akmal said the youth wing had invited former youth leaders, including Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki and Khairy. Last night, Umno Deputy President Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the Umno Youth wing must continue speaking for what is right and play the role of a “constructive opposition” from within the government. The Umno deputy president also dismissed criticism that the youth wing, led by Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh, was rude in its approach.

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Media Council (MMC) has condemned the doxxing, harassment and intimidation of journalists following an online backlash against a Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reporter after a public lecture earlier this week. "MMC strongly condemns all forms of doxxing, harassment, intimidation, and threats against journalists. Separately, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) said it viewed the incident “with alarm”, citing the doxxing and harassment directed at the FMT journalist following the event. “We are particularly concerned with this issue of doxxing where many social media users have taken it upon themselves to reveal personal information about the journalist. "Many netizens have also used inflammatory, racist, and dehumanising speech against the journalist, these actions have amounted to viable threats against this journalist," she said.

GEORGE TOWN (Jan 15): Chongqing Airlines will operate direct flights from Chongqing to Penang beginning April 8, significantly strengthening air connectivity between Penang and Western China, said Penang state executive councillor Wong Hon Wai. Wong said Penang Global Tourism and Chongqing Airlines signed a memorandum of cooperation in Chongqing Wednesday to formalise their strategic partnership in the aviation and tourism sectors. He noted that the scheduled direct flights were a result of his leading a state government delegation to Chongqing on a tourism promotion programme in September 2024. "At that time, charter flights operated by Firefly between Chongqing and Penang were also introduced,” said Wong, who is in charge of tourism and creative economy. He said that as a key aviation hub in Western China, Chongqing has a large population base of 31.9 million and a mature outbound travel market.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 15): Malaysia’s anti-graft agency will propose charging at least three senior officers of the armed forces over corruption in military procurement. Investigation on a former army chief is expected to be completed and sent to the prosecutors on Monday, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said during a press briefing on Thursday. Probes on other senior officers are expected by the end of next week, he said. Both are related to procurement by the armed forces and the misappropriation of public funds, he noted. The remarks follows last week’s remand of former Malaysian Army chief Tan Sri Muhammad Hafizuddeain Jantan and his two wives over alleged irregularities in military procurement tenders.

KUCHING (Jan 15): AirBorneo has completed its Departure Control System (DCS) cutover and now operates under its own flight code, MY, marking a critical milestone in the airline’s transition to full operational independence. The first flight operating under the MY code was from Miri to Labuan at 6.15am on Wednesday (Jan 14). According to the statement, the cutover represents one of the most significant operational achievements since AirBorneo began operations on Jan 2, 2026. It said the successful DCS migration enables AirBorneo to operate with full technical autonomy from MASwings’ systems. “The simultaneous deployment across 21 airports — serving rural communities including Twin Otter operations to remote airstrips — demonstrates AirBorneo’s operational readiness and technical capability,” it added.

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno’s Youth wing must continue speaking for what is right and play the role of a “constructive opposition” from within the government, says Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan. The Umno deputy president also brushed aside criticism that the youth wing, led by Datuk Dr Muhamad Akmal Saleh, was rude in his approach. To Dr Akmal, continue making your voice heard. The Umno deputy president also called for the Youth Wing to wrest the narrative of being the Rakyat’s heroes from the Opposition. “Prove that Permuda is the one who works hardest for the Malays and not those who only excel at playing up sentiments,” Tok Mat said.

FRANKFURT (Jan 15): Amazon's AWS launched a new cloud service located entirely in Europe on Thursday, addressing user concerns about the data security delivered by mainly US-based providers by offering the continent's own independent alternative. The AWS European Sovereign Cloud's data centres are physically and legally separate from the US-based company's other servers, the world's largest cloud provider said. The Cloud Act requires US-based providers to grant authorities access to data even if it is stored abroad. The other two major US cloud providers, Microsoft and Alphabet's Google, are also vying for customers with heightened data security requirements. Microsoft, upon request, stores the data of European customers exclusively in data centres located within Europe, while Google announced investments of 5.5 billion euros (US$6.41 billion) in German data centres last year.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 15): A regulatory sandbox is being conducted to test regulatory mechanisms for social media platforms, including age limits, before any full implementation is introduced. He said several social media platforms have proactively engaged with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) on the regulatory sandbox, particularly on age-limit measures. “The regulatory sandbox process and a series of discussions with social media platforms are ongoing. Fahmi said findings from CERT’s research, involving diverse community groups and stakeholders, including research bodies from Southeast Asia, will be presented to the Cabinet. Fahmi noted that the economic impact of newer technologies, including social media, has been “very debilitating” for legacy media organisations, with reporters losing their jobs and once-dominant companies facing serious financial pressure.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 15): Malaysia has lowered its February crude palm oil reference price, a change that cuts the export duty to 9%, a circular on the Malaysian Palm Oil Board website showed on Thursday. The world's second largest palm oil exporter set a reference price of RM3,846.84 per metric tonne for February. The January reference price was RM3,946.17 a tonne, and incurred a duty of 9.5%. The export tax structure starts at 3% when crude palm oil prices are within the RM2,250 to RM2,400-per-tonne range. The maximum tax rate is set at 10%, when prices exceed RM4,050 a tonne.