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Stay up to date with the latest reporting, analysis and commentary shaping Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific..

Hidden Champions of Asia explores the companies quietly powering the global technology economy. From semiconductor materials to precision automation, these firms rarely appear in headlines but play a decisive role in the supply chains that enable modern industry and digital innovation.

A wordless four-panel sequence traces a young woman’s struggle to maintain composure as a minor disruption spirals into awkward escalation and release. The silent joke reveals how posture, restraint and social awareness can communicate humor across cultures without relying on language.

As artificial intelligence reshapes global outsourcing, the Philippines faces a defining test: can the world’s call-centre capital reinvent itself as an AI-driven tech hub while navigating US–China rivalry, energy constraints and the urgent need to reskill millions of workers?

Artificial intelligence is moving beyond compute and into perception. From lidar and AR interfaces to robotic vision and sensorized cities, photonics is becoming the infrastructure that allows machines to see — and in doing so, reshapes mobility, industry and geopolitical power.

China’s rapid push into photonic technologies signals a shift from the semiconductor race to a deeper infrastructure contest. As AI strains the limits of electricity, light-based computing, optical networks and quantum communication emerge as the foundations of future technological power.

About us

Altair Media Asia explores the forces shaping Asia’s economic, geopolitical and societal transformations. Through independent analysis and commentary, we examine how markets, technologies, institutions and cultures shape the region’s evolving role in the global order.
📍 Based in The Netherlands – with contributors across Asia.
✉️ Contact: info@altairmedia.eu