Economy
Hong Kong’s Mideast pivot and China’s AI persona woes
The inside story on the Asia tech trends that matter, from Nikkei Asia and the Financial Times Hello everyone, this is Cissy from Hong Kong, your #techAsia host this week. I was at LEAP East yesterday, as the Riyadh-based technology conference made its Asia debut in the city. More than 450 exhibitors, mostly from mainland China, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia, as well as some from Europe, took part in the event. The exhibition featured a relatively large number of companies in areas such as biotech, robotics and software. In several panel discussions I attended, there was a noticeable delay between the speakers' live audio and the video feed displayed on the big screen. In other words, the audience could hear the speakers' voices before seeing their lips move, which was quite distracting. I couldn't help thinking that for a tech event showcasing cutting-edge companies, it was surprising that no one had solved such a basic live-streaming problem. Like many tech expos I've attended, Chinese humanoid robots were everywhere, dancing and performing to draw crowds. One company even dressed its dancing robot in a shemagh -- the traditional Saudi headscarf -- to appeal to visitors from the Persian Gulf region.
