African fintech Flutterwave acquires Nigerian open banking startup Mono, sources say in an all-stock deal valued at $25M to $40M; Mono raised $17.5M since 2020 (Tage Kene-Okafor/TechCrunch)
TechCrunch
Flutterwave buys Nigeria's Mono in rare African fintech exit | TechCrunch
Africa’s largest fintech company, Flutterwave, has acquired Nigerian open banking startup Mono in an all-stock deal.
Techmeme
African fintech Flutterwave acquires Nigerian open banking startup Mono, sources say in an all-stock deal valued at $25M to $40M; Mono raised ~$17.5M since 2020
By Tage Kene-Okafor / TechCrunch. View the full context on Techmeme.
Sources: Alibaba's Amap will soon launch an AI tool to let restaurants render 3D images by just uploading videos or photos, in a bid to compete with Meituan (Debby Wu/Bloomberg)
Bloomberg.com
Alibaba Brings Visual AI Into Food Fight with China’s Meituan
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is launching a service to help restaurants use AI to showcase interiors, part of a broader effort to compete with Meitua...
Techmeme
Sources: Alibaba
By Debby Wu / Bloomberg. View the full context on Techmeme.
Taiwanese prosecutors file additional indictments against Tokyo Electron's Taiwan unit and three other defendants over the alleged theft of TSMC trade secrets (Wen-Yee Lee/Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwan-prosecutors-file-additional-charges-tsmc-trade-secrets-case-2026-01-05/
Techmeme
Taiwanese prosecutors file additional indictments against Tokyo Electron
By Wen-Yee Lee / Reuters. View the full context on Techmeme.
CES 2026: self-driving truck company Kodiak partners with Bosch to develop a hardware and software system to turn standard semi-trucks into autonomous vehicles (Kirsten Korosec/TechCrunch)
TechCrunch
Kodiak taps Bosch to scale its self-driving truck tech | TechCrunch
There is no timeline for when these systems will become available. But once they do, Kodiak could bring its tech to more trucks, faster.
Techmeme
CES 2026: self-driving truck company Kodiak partners with Bosch to develop a hardware and software system to turn standard semi-trucks into autonomous vehicles
By Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch. View the full context on Techmeme.
Sources: Shanghai-based AI startup MiniMax plans to price its Hong Kong IPO at ~$21, the top of its marketed range, and will stop taking orders a day early (Dave Sebastian/Bloomberg) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-05/minimax-is-said-to-plan-pricing-hong-kong-ipo-at-top-on-ai-fervor
Techmeme
Sources: Shanghai-based AI startup MiniMax plans to price its Hong Kong IPO at ~$21, the top of its range, and stop taking orders a day earlier than expected
By Dave Sebastian / Bloomberg. View the full context on Techmeme.
Foxconn reports Q4 revenue up 22% YoY to ~$82.7B, above ~$77B est., and record December revenue up 31.8% YoY to ~$27.5B, driven by AI and networking demand (Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/world/china/foxconns-q4-revenue-surges-2207-year-earlier-ai-demand-2026-01-05/
Techmeme
Foxconn reports Q4 revenue up 22% YoY to ~$82.7B, vs. ~$77B est., and record December revenue, up 32% YoY to ~$27.5B, driven by AI, cloud, and networking demand
From Reuters. View the full context on Techmeme.
Chinese automotive chipmaker Black Sesame says its Huashan A2000 chip passed the US Commerce and Defense Departments' "relevant reviews" for global sales (Coco Feng/South China Morning Post)
South China Morning Post
Chinese chipmaker Black Sesame’s Huashan A2000 clears US review hurdle
The chip has passed relevant reviews following nearly a year of technical clarifications and communications with US authorities.
Techmeme
Chinese automotive chipmaker Black Sesame says its Huashan A2000 passed the US Commerce and Defense Departments
By Coco Feng / South China Morning Post. View the full context on Techmeme.
A profile of Max Tegmark, the physicist pushing to halt AGI development, who was subpoenaed by OpenAI over the Future of Life Institute's past ties to Elon Musk (Wall Street Journal) https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/who-is-max-tegmark-future-of-life-institute-accffffc?st=oUEqHU&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
Techmeme
A profile of Max Tegmark, the physicist pushing to halt AGI development, who was subpoenaed by OpenAI over the Future of Life Institute
From Wall Street Journal. View the full context on Techmeme.
Samsung updates its TVs to add new AI features, including a Sound Controller feature to independently adjust the volume of dialogue, music, or sound effects (Chris Welch/Bloomberg) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-05/samsung-unveils-new-supersized-color-rich-tvs-with-more-ai
Techmeme
Samsung updates its TVs to add new AI features, including a Sound Controller feature that independently adjusts the volume of dialogue, music, or sound effects
By Chris Welch / Bloomberg. View the full context on Techmeme.
A Chinese hospital says Alibaba's PANDA AI tool has analyzed 180,000 CT scans and detected ~24 pancreatic cancer cases since its deployment in November 2024 (New York Times)
In China, A.I. Is Finding Deadly Tumors That Doctors Might Miss
A tool for spotting pancreatic cancer in routine CT scans has had promising results, one example of how China is racing to apply A.I. to medicineâ€...
Techmeme
A Chinese hospital says Alibaba
From New York Times. View the full context on Techmeme.