The AI boom is making the world’s cheapest smartphones disappear

5 October 2026 at 11:00

The world’s cheapest smartphones are disappearing because AI infrastructure is absorbing the components. Prices of existing smartphone models have risen by about 15% globally this year, while newly launched models...

Who gets to decide if AI is safe? Africa wants a say

Rest of World

By: Danai Nesta Kupemba

2 October 2026 at 11:00

African leaders called last week for a greater role in setting global standards for artificial intelligence. Their statements at the United Nations came amid warnings from Silicon Valley executives about...

Awkward: Saudi Arabia’s new EV brand takes on the U.S. rival it already controls

Rest of World

By: Indranil Ghosh

1 October 2026 at 11:00

Saudi Arabia’s first homegrown electric-vehicle maker is set to take on a U.S. rival the kingdom already controls. Ceer Motors, majority-owned by the sovereign Public Investment Fund, revealed two electric...

AI companies want to embed safety evaluators, but countries need their own

Rest of World

By: Rina Chandran

30 September 2026 at 11:00

The growing number of instances of artificial intelligence agents hacking the websites of governments and other institutions is a warning to countries using American models to do their own safety...

The open-source AI platforms vying to become China’s Hugging Face

Rest of World

By: Viola Zhou

29 September 2026 at 11:00

For Beijing, managing AI requires walking a razor’s edge: seal off domestic internet users from foreign influence, but keep China’s top developers linked to the global cutting edge. When Chinese...

South Korea’s AI chip giants are fighting for a bigger role in America’s AI boom

Rest of World

By: Ananya Bhattacharya

28 September 2026 at 11:00

Two South Korean companies control 83% of the global memory chip market. Now they are racing each other to grab the top spot by tightening their ties to U.S. firms....

China is excelling in health tech. That’s good news for the world

Rest of World

By: Viola Zhou

24 September 2026 at 11:00

If you want to see a doctor in China, you’d first go to a mobile app. You can book an appointment at a hospital using the messaging app WeChat or...

A visitor experiences an artificial intelligence health screening system at the 2026 Ningxia Elderly Care Service Expo on August 28, 2026 in Yinchuan, China.

Dario Amodei wants to slow AI. China isn’t taking orders

Rest of World

By: Kinling Lo

23 September 2026 at 11:00

China is pushing back on Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei’s attempt to rewrite the rules of artificial intelligence. Earlier this month, Amodei called for the global AI industry to slow the...

America is in the wrong AI race with China

Rest of World

By: Rumman Chowdhury and Konstantinos Komaitis

22 September 2026 at 11:00

In the U.S., the “AI race” is understood as a distinctly anti-China battle, framing model performance as the deciding factor. U.S. policymakers have, across multiple administrations, shaped the country’s entire...

Nvidia’s free AI model could push the UAE closer to the U.S.

Rest of World

By: Indranil Ghosh

21 September 2026 at 11:00

Nvidia’s chips are driving the United Arab Emirates’ rise as an artificial-intelligence power. Next on offer is free software, a model built to rival China’s best. Last month, Nvidia spent...

The case for a robot tax to redistribute wealth

Rest of World

By: Alessandro Crimi

18 September 2026 at 11:00

AI has the potential to revolutionize economies by opening up new avenues for innovation, production, education, and problem solving. It also has the potential to increase current disparities and inequalities,...

South Africa joins the global resistance against American data centers

Rest of World

By: Danai Nesta Kupemba

17 September 2026 at 11:00

Civil rights groups in South Africa are protesting the expansion of data centers by American companies, marking one of the first coordinated attempts on the continent to slow AI infrastructure...

Playing both sides of the U.S.-China AI “Cold War”

Rest of World

By: Kinling Lo

16 September 2026 at 11:00

Saudi Arabia celebrated the launch of what it calls the world’s most advanced Arabic-language AI model earlier this month. The technology behind it came from China even as the kingdom...

Where in the world is the iPhone cheapest?

Rest of World

By: Ananya Bhattacharya

15 September 2026 at 11:00

The buzz around Apple’s new phone launches is global, but the best deals haven’t made their way outside the U.S. The iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max will cost...

The real AI economy is being built by ordinary people

Rest of World

By: Rest of World Staff

14 September 2026 at 11:00

Rest of World visited workers across Asia and Africa who are using AI to solve daily problems, make a living, and create new possibilities in their everyday lives. These profiles...

The AI talent war is coming for Big Tech’s Asia executives

Rest of World

By: Ananya Bhattacharya

11 September 2026 at 11:00

Silicon Valley’s artificial intelligence talent wars are now playing out in Asia. OpenAI and Anthropic are poaching top talent from U.S. tech giants including Google, Microsoft, and Amazon to build...

Google Earth’s AI experiment lasted 24 hours. The damage to trust will linger

Rest of World

By: Mahsa Alimardani

10 September 2026 at 11:00

Since Israel and the U.S. launched strikes against Iran in February, plunging the Gulf region into conflict, the countries have also been waging an information war using tools powered by...

Now it’s China’s experts who are gig workers training AI

Rest of World

By: Viola Zhou

9 September 2026 at 11:00

As a Shenzhen-based architect in her 40s, Cuicui has vast experience designing public stadiums, schools, and hospitals at an architecture firm. But over the past five years, declining government infrastructure...

Think your EV holds its value? China has some bad news for you

Rest of World

By: Indranil Ghosh

8 September 2026 at 11:00

China’s used car dealers have set an expiry date for electric cars. About four out of five used car dealers in China refuse to accept a fully electric vehicle older...

Chinese businesses are giving away AI tokens with coffee, credit cards, and dumplings

Rest of World

By: Kinling Lo

4 September 2026 at 11:00

Artificial intelligence tokens — once a term familiar only to techies — are rapidly entering everyday life in China. Banks, cafes, and telcos, among other small and big businesses, are...

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