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Policy

Chinese cash says that a South American tech boom is incoming

Investors from China are pumping money into Latin America at an astonishing rate.

By the numbers: Bloomberg reports that Chinese venture capitalists pushed $1 billion into South American projects during 2017. That’s up from just $30 million in 2015.

Signs of success: Mexico’s most successful news app, Noticias Aguila, was entirely designed and developed by a team based in Shenzhen, China.

Why it matters: In the past, China borrowed ideas from Europe and the US. Now it’s pushing its own tech on up-and-coming nations faster than the West can.

But: China’s entrepreneurs must tread carefully. Bloomberg notes that, as with Chinese car imports and investment in infrastructure, locals often push back against external investment.

Deep Dive

Policy

Three things to know about the White House’s executive order on AI

Experts say its emphasis on content labeling, watermarking, and transparency represents important steps forward.

A high school’s deepfake porn scandal is pushing US lawmakers into action

Legislators are responding quickly after teens used AI to create nonconsensual sexually explicit images.

Meta is giving researchers more access to Facebook and Instagram data

There’s still so much we don’t know about social media’s impact. But Meta president of global affairs Nick Clegg tells MIT Technology Review that he hopes new tools the company just released will start to change that.

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Illustration by Rose Wong

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