Latest news with #Hua
The Star
08-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
YTL Power invests RM10bil in AI, encourages local companies to leverage AI infrastructure
An illustration of the YTL Green Data Center Park, a 500MW data centre campus in Johor KUALA LUMPUR: YTL Power International Bhd has invested about RM10 billion in artificial intelligence (AI) and AI infrastructure to date and encourages Malaysian companies to invest in AI and leverage the infrastructure. YTL Power is a subsidiary of YTL Corporation Bhd . YTL Power vice president for commercial, Dominic Hua, said the company has invested in data centres, which he described as one of the world's largest data centre parks, as well as in graphics processing units (GPUs) and a large language model. "We have 200 megawatts operational, and we can go up to 600 megawatts. We have the world's largest hyperscalers with us at our campus and a partnership with NVIDIA, which encompasses GPU chips. "We also have the world's fastest chips, the GP200 blackboard chips, in Malaysia, in our data centres right now, and they will be operational very soon,' he told reporters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the conclusion of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's official visits to Italy, France and Brazil. Hua said Anwar understands the impact of AI and AI technology for the country, and has said that he wants the company to explore further investments in the area. "We will invest, and we are very grateful for the support of the government, and also to be part of this trip and this delegation, where we see a lot of global interest in our expertise and technology. "Being with this trip also allowed us to meet with our counterparts in Paris, Rome and Rio de Janeiro, and really share insights. Hopefully, we can export this knowledge, expertise and technology globally.' Hua also said YTL Power is set to debut Malaysia's very own large language model (LLM), ILMU 1.0 as well as Ryt Bank, Malaysia's first AI-powered digital bank. YTL Power International Bhd was part of the Malaysian delegation on the official visits, which began on July 1 and aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and boosting trade and economic cooperation. Other Malaysian participants included Petroliam Nasional Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd , Malayan Banking Bhd , FGV Holdings Bhd and Khazanah Nasional Bhd. -- BERNAMA TAGS: YTL Power, Data centre, AI, Dominic Hua
Forbes
06-06-2025
- Health
- Forbes
Smart Healthcare: The AI Revolution Empowering The Frontline
The use and integration of AI in medicine is driving a quiet revolution in healthcare Speaking at the recent SXSW London festival, former British Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair said the UK should embrace a future of AI doctors and nurses, or risk being left behind in the biggest upheaval since the Industrial Revolution. He went on to say that fears about artificial intelligence should be outweighed by the 'absolutely transformative' impact it could have on public services like healthcare and education by saving time and money - 'When I stand back and look at what AI is doing, I think we're in the foothills of the most transformative revolution since the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century'. This bold claim by the former Prime Minister follows hot on the heels of news coming out of Saudi Arabia, regarding the world's first AI-powered doctor's clinic, where Shanghai-based Synyi AI's "Dr. Hua" is already diagnosing and prescribing treatment for respiratory ailments. It paints a vivid picture of a future where artificial intelligence autonomously cares for our health in a way that was considered science fiction only a few years ago. But while such developments are thought provoking, I firmly believe that the true, impactful role of AI in the short to medium term is not to replace human clinicians, but to powerfully augment them. There are compelling reasons for this perspective, extending beyond the obvious concern of potential error and the severe consequences should one occur in a medical context. Equally important is the intricate ecosystem of healthcare itself. Clinicians are not merely service providers; they are key stakeholders deeply invested in their roles, particularly in the most critical and decision-intensive aspects of patient care. They will legitimately cite safety concerns when contemplating the ceding of such control, but it would be naïve to ignore the financial incentives and professional autonomy that also shape their approach. Therefore, the integration of AI in healthcare has, quite rightly, begun in auxiliary roles. We've already seen AI excel in tasks such as note-keeping, drafting letters and managing paperwork – administrative burdens that often detract from direct patient interaction. This evolution will steadily progress to passive monitoring, for instance, checking prescription drug dosages, identifying potential interactions and flagging contraindications. From there, AI will transition into more active advisory capacities, suggesting diagnoses, recommending follow-up investigations, and outlining possible treatment options. Crucially, however, the final, nuanced decision will remain firmly in the hands of a highly trained human expert. This measured arc of AI integration presents a profound "win-win-win" scenario. For physicians, it offers a pathway to significantly increased job satisfaction and reduced burnout. I am yet to meet a physician who genuinely enjoys the endless paperwork; many would willingly forgo a portion of their salary to alleviate this burden. By offloading these tasks to AI, doctors can reclaim precious time, focusing their energy on what truly matters: direct patient engagement and complex problem-solving. Patients too stand to benefit immensely. Imagine a consultation where your doctor makes genuine eye contact, actively listens and engages in a conversation, rather than constantly typing or staring at their screen. This enhanced human connection, facilitated by AI managing the background administrative load, promises a more empathetic and effective healthcare experience. For healthcare systems, the advantages are equally compelling. Reimbursement often hinges on the quality and accuracy of medical notes, an area where AI can deliver substantial improvements. By enhancing the precision and completeness of documentation, AI can streamline processes and bolster financial stability. Slowly but surely, however, the conversation will shift from augmentation to replacement. This transition is likely to occur first in less critical areas, such as routine follow-up visits or standard checks. More significantly, it may take hold in resource-constrained environments where the alternative to AI is not a highly skilled human professional, but rather, nothing at all. Some industry observers are worried that this could lead to a two-tiered healthcare system, where human physicians attend to the affluent, while the less privileged are left with an inferior, AI-driven substitute for the care they truly need. This, they argue, will exacerbate existing health inequalities. Personally, I believe they are right to worry about AI exacerbating existing health inequalities, but I think they might have the story backwards. As AI continues its relentless improvement, it is plausible that at some point, perhaps sooner than many anticipate – it will surpass human physicians across all dimensions, including the delicate art of bedside manner and empathy. When this happens, perhaps the opposite scenario will unfold: the affluent world will be treated by the superior Dr. AI, while the less privileged may find themselves priced out of access to these expensive, patent-protected AI systems, and instead have to contend with the comparatively inferior human alternative. It's a provocative thought, but one we must seriously consider as we navigate the extraordinary potential and profound ethical implications of AI in healthcare. Professor Nicos Savva is a Professor of Management Science at London Business School and an expert in data science, using it to solve operational problems and help large organisations develop data-science capabilities. His research at LBS focuses on healthcare management, including hospital operations, regional organization of care, assessing performance, measuring health inequity, and innovation. Professor Savva's work has appeared in leading journals such as Management Science, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management and Nature Biotechnology.
Focus Malaysia
06-06-2025
- Business
- Focus Malaysia
China fried chicken, burger franchise AllAce going places in Malaysia – 65 outlets and counting
THE rise and rise of Chinese fast-food brands and cafes which are seemingly sprouting up overnight like wild mushrooms has certainly caught the eye of many. The latest to make inroads into Malaysia is AllAce Burger & Chicken (formerly Wallace). In just a short space of time, the franchise has opened 65 outlets across Malaysia. Allace (dulu Wallace) ni aku panggil Mixue version ayam goreng haha. Murah. Business model yg brilliant. Execution pun laju. Dalam 18 bulan, AllAce ni dah bukak 65 outlets kat Malaysia 🤯 Ini cerita AllAce: — Umar (@umarmaggi) June 4, 2025 The chain's rapid expansion grabbed the attention of digital creator Umar (@umarmaggi) who exclaimed on X that it had a brilliant business model. The co-founder of Mokky's Pizza further exclaimed that the affordability of its items has fuelled its fast growth. The poster started by giving a brief over view of the company by highlighting that the business which was founded by the Hua siblings in 2000 has over 20,000 outlets in China. Towards end-2023, the company– then known as Wallace – established its first outlet outside China in Bandar Sungai Long, Selangor. This was quickly followed with another outlet in Setapak, Kuala Lumpur. In just 18 months, the chain now operates 65 outlets with a re-branding exercise to better chime with the local market. Already, 15 outlets have been certified halal with the rest underway. Displaying solid operational backend, the brand opened 25 more outlets in April of this year alone. This is when the poster went on to highlight the business model which was different from other brands. Key to the model's success was giving staff a share in the business which ensures better employee performance. Such business model which departed from the norm of relying on bank borrowings has enabled AllAce to scale faster than its competitors though the poster is unsure if the same model is applied in Malaysia. The super lowball pricing was also highlighted as a reason for its success – RM19 for a whole fried chicken was astounding value. Though the price is now RM25, it is very affordable, according to Umar. This allowed the brand to position itself as a 'budget-friendly sharing meal brand'. Assuming each outlet brought in RM90,000 in profits a month, this works out to be close to RM6 mil/month from all its outlets! Undeniably, the key to AllAce successfully penetrating the Malaysian market was obtaining halal certification which will allow it to market to a much larger demographic. Fast, focused, frugal and scalable – those were the main factors behind their rapid expansion. Of course, there were plenty of comments on the taste of AllAce products but suffice to say, most were down to individual preferences. It does not detract from the fact the brand has managed to conquer a large slice of the fast food landscape in just a short space of time. Perhaps local franchises such as DarSa Fried Chicken can learn a thing or two from it. Not with regard to taste but to business models and operational know-how. If local companies don't buck up, they are liable to be swallowed up wholesale by these fast-growing brands. Time to toughen up and face the competition. – June 6, 2025
San Francisco Chronicle
05-06-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
How a San Francisco nonprofit scandal hurts quirky neighborhood park projects
After years spent transforming a San Francisco hillside once littered with trash into a lush community garden, a group of Portola neighbors hired a contractor this spring to turn the drab concrete steps cutting through the landscape into a colorful tiled stairway. The Steps to Wisdom project reimagined the public path leading up Goettingen Street as one reminiscent of the beloved Moraga Steps, a tourist destination on the other side of town. The vibrant steps now greet visitors with inspirational quotes. 'Leave the world more beautiful than you found it,' one reads. But as the contractor completed the $91,000 installation this week, a grim reality set in. The San Francisco Parks Alliance, the nonprofit that the neighbors had trusted to safekeep their community funds, had fallen into a deepening financial pit that ultimately forced its collapse Tuesday. Now the neighbors don't know how they will pay their debts. 'It's quite distressing,' said Phillip Hua, an artist and member of the Goettingen Street Neighbors, who is owed $15,000 for designing the stairs. Hua and his neighbors are far from alone. More than 80 community groups that used the Parks Alliance like a bank to channel and safeguard their money learned this week that the nonprofit would wind down its operations and liquidate its remaining assets through a process akin to bankruptcy. The Parks Alliance and its predecessor entities were close allies of the city for decades, helping funnel private donations to public causes and advocate for bond measures to improve parks and open spaces. In recent years, the alliance was involved in an array of projects, from renovating playgrounds to opening up schoolyards to children on the weekends to hosting outdoor movie screenings and other free events. The nonprofit also acted as a fiscal sponsor for dozens of small community partners like the Goettingen neighbors, charging them a small fee to manage their books and collect donations on their behalf so that the often volunteer-led groups didn't need to hire financial staff or become nonprofits on their own. Now that the Parks Alliance has folded, it's not clear how the city and the community groups that worked with the nonprofit will fill the void created by its departure. The scandal comes at a difficult time for San Francisco's finances, as Mayor Daniel Lurie and city supervisors work to close a massive budget deficit. At the parks department, officials are looking to charge residents to reserve tennis courts and park their cars in Golden Gate Park. Since at least last summer, the Parks Alliance had confided in a select few about its cash-flow problems, asking major donors for last-minute cash injections to help it survive. Word of its potential demise reached as high up as the city's top parks official, Phil Ginsburg. But what many say they did not realize — until after a change of leadership several months ago — was that the Parks Alliance had misspent millions while trying to stay alive. In late April, the Chronicle revealed through a leaked email from Parks Alliance leadership that the nonprofit had misused at least $3.8 million earmarked for specific projects to pay for its operating expenses as its revenues from city grants and other sources declined. The new Parks Alliance CEO, Robert Ogilvie, tried to save the nonprofit through a final burst of fundraising in recent weeks, but the organization ran out of money to continue operating. The nonprofit laid off the last of its employees and its board members resigned. All across San Francisco, people who volunteer their time and labor to make the city more beautiful are now left waiting to see whether the Parks Alliance will return the money the community groups had saved up at the nonprofit over the years. The collapse has delayed at least one long-awaited project, stalled ongoing maintenance on public spaces and jeopardized payments to community members and contractors who footed bills or completed work. It also resulted in layoffs for one paid group that maintains the urban forest on Mount Sutro. 'All these groups were working to improve our city, most of them are unpaid volunteers,' said Jennifer Serwer, a Potrero Hill resident whose plans to build a new public stairway were postponed by the crisis. 'For [the Parks Alliance] to just mismanage itself, it's very painful.' As of last month, the Parks Alliance had an estimated $4.6 million in outstanding obligations, including $1.7 million it owed to its community partners and their service providers, according to an email from its board chair, Louise Mozingo, to a donor. At the same time, the nonprofit had just $1.6 million in remaining assets, including $620,000 to use on its operations. It's possible that the community partners who used the Parks Alliance as a fiscal sponsor could receive just pennies on the dollar through the liquidation process. 'The likelihood is that there is no money left to be shared,' said Rasheq Zarif, whose neighborhood group had saved up $100,000 in an account at the Parks Alliance to use toward maintenance and repairs at Buena Vista Park. Also left in the lurch is the city of San Francisco. The Parks Alliance owes the Recreation and Park Department between $1.1 million and $1.7 million across various partnerships, according to estimates from the city and the nonprofit. Those obligations include private funds the Parks Alliance collected on behalf of the city as part of the development of the India Basin Waterfront Park project on the southeast shoreline. The Parks Alliance also signed a contract promising to pass on $3.25 million to the Port of San Francisco for improvements at another major project, Crane Cove Park. However, the nonprofit only paid the city an initial $975,000 before deciding to shut down. The unpaid amount does not appear to be included in the Parks Alliance's $4.6 million figure. City supervisors Shamann Walton and Jackie Fielder were expected to seek answers Thursday from the city parks department and the port at a hearing about the crisis. But the hearing was delayed, because Walton is seeking to subpoena several former Parks Alliance leaders to testify at the hearing at a later date. Meanwhile, at the Goettingen Street tile stairway, neighbors are preparing to hold a celebratory ribbon-cutting for their project on Saturday — even as they contend with lingering questions about its financing. The origins of the project trace back more than a decade. Frustrated with what had become a dumping ground for condoms, needles and other trash, neighbors in the Portola landscaped the hill near Goettingen and Dwight streets. Then, in 2021, the city awarded the neighbors a grant worth up to $157,000 through the Parks Alliance to tile the stairs. Community members hoped that adding an artistic element to the graffiti-covered stairs would make the area more of an attraction and deter blight. Supporters also raised more than $70,000 in donations. They allowed donors to choose inspirational quotes on tiles and asked for contributions during Zoom yoga classes. The Parks Alliance held all of those donations for the group as its fiscal sponsor. Neighbors hoped to use the funds to pay for the tile installation and maintain the steps and surrounding hillside for years to come, said Hua, the artist who designed the project. 'Now all of that is in jeopardy,' Hua said. 'We don't know what is going to happen with the funds that we have worked so hard to fundraise for.' Ruth Wallace, the project manager for the Goettingen steps initiative, said she asked the Parks Alliance to pay the $91,000 owed to the tile contractor just before Memorial Day. A Parks Alliance staff member told her the nonprofit had received the request and would try to do something about it, Wallace said. Then the organization stopped communicating with her. In a frustrated email to the Parks Alliance and Lurie on Monday, Wallace recounted her desperate efforts to get clarity from the nonprofit. 'I have been calling your offices last week and this week to find out how and when you expect to pay our very deserving vendors,' Wallace told the Parks Alliance. 'I have left voicemail after voicemail as more and more extensions have been disconnected.' The city had not yet released $116,000 to the Parks Alliance for the tile project from the grant. It's unclear how the Goettingen neighbors will be able to receive those funds, since Lurie paused the flow of city funding to the nonprofit and the organization later closed. 'It would be a shame to let this hillside now go to the wayside and have time and weathering just take it over and slowly degrade this thing we worked so hard to create,' Hua said. Jen Kwart, a spokesperson for City Attorney David Chiu, said in a statement that the city is 'working with granting departments to analyze any current grants with remaining balances and will develop a path forward.' Across town from the Goettingen steps, at a small commercial strip along Ocean Avenue, Kath Tsakalakis and her neighbors relied on the Parks Alliance to turn an underused parking lot into a plaza five years ago. Today, residents often use the space to sip coffee at tables that sit atop pavement painted with a giant red octopus. The plaza has hosted events such as a recent 'spring hop' that featured rabbits and a candy hunt to entertain children on Easter weekend. But Tsakalakis's group of volunteers has suspended its events, which drew customers to nearby businesses in the Lakeside Village corridor. Street lighting maintenance, power washing, trash pickup and graffiti cleaning have been halted as well. Tsakalakis said the Parks Alliance owed about $12,000 to small businesses in the area and another $12,000 to her because she has been paying for many of the plaza-related expenses herself and seeking reimbursement later. 'We can't keep the street clean. We can't keep, literally, the lights on,' Tsakalakis said. 'Because I can't keep asking small businesses to do more repairs or work when I have no way to pay them, and they're owed a lot of money. So I think there's a lot at risk.' Even after accounting for the outstanding expenses the Parks Alliance never covered, Tsakalakis said her group should have had another $16,000 in its account with the nonprofit. The number would have been higher if not for the Parks Alliance's well-publicized problems, she said. 'I had applied for grants, but who's going to give money?' Tsakalakis said. 'People who were going to give us money are not giving us money because of the Parks Alliance.' Serwer, of the Friends of Potrero Hill Recreation Center, feels like one of the lucky ones, even though her group had about $18,000 saved up at the Parks Alliance it may never get back. She had just completed a fundraising campaign to build a new public stairway near 22nd Street that would help connect Potrero Hill to the Dogpatch. But after the financial crisis burst into public view, the Parks Alliance agreed to return $55,000 in donations that two donors had just contributed for the project. Serwer has since found a new fiscal sponsor to shepherd the project through. While she hopes to begin construction this fall, she said the project could be delayed until early next year. At least the new fiscal sponsor will charge less to manage her books. 'We're extremely lucky,' she said. 'We're landing in a better place.'
NBC News
17-05-2025
- Business
- NBC News
'Confident' China touts poverty alleviation efforts amid trade war with the U.S.
MALIPO, China — The rural villages of Malipo are a world away from gleaming Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai, reached by narrow roads that sometimes skirt dangerously close to deep ravines. Schoolchildren eat simple breakfasts while squatting on sidewalks, and even a local official complained that the remote mountain villages lacked access to the latest 5G internet connection. But Chinese officials point to overall progress in this thickly forested, highly mountainous border region in southwest China as a reason for their 'confidence' in the country's development model, and in its ability to weather any trade war with the United States. 'We have full confidence and the capability to overcome all difficulties,' Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying said last week during a government-sponsored trip to the rural county of Malipo in Yunnan province, on the border with Vietnam. 'As for what the United States is doing, we really don't want any kind of war, but if we have to face up to reality, then we have no fear at all,' she told reporters at a middle school. 'The ordinary people already feel the suffering from the tariff war, so I really hope the [U.S.] administration will come back to normal.' Hua was speaking before the U.S. and China agreed to slash tariffs on each other's imports in what Beijing said showed the effectiveness of its resistance against President Donald Trump's tariff 'bullying.' She and other officials said Malipo, where 233,000 people are spread among several towns and hundreds of 'village groups,' is a model for China's poverty alleviation efforts in recent decades. Per capita disposable income in Malipo was $2,300 a year last year, compared with about $69 a year in 1992. But Beijing's professed confidence belies real concern about the work that remains to be done as well as the potential impact of U.S. tariffs as China struggles with structural imbalances and slowing economic growth. The situation spans China's urban-rural divide and is obvious even to residents of Malipo. 'The economy is not that good,' said Liu Huixin, a vendor selling processed fruits and other products from Vietnam and Thailand at a market. 'Look at many shops around, people are not buying,' he said. Ending 'absolute poverty' — a goal that Chinese President Xi Jinping said was officially achieved at the end of 2020 — is considered essential for reducing income inequality in the world's second-biggest economy as it strives to catch up with the United States. More than 450 million of China's 1.4 billion people live in rural areas, and getting them to spend more on consumer products is crucial as China tries to reduce its economic dependence on exports threatened by tariffs. China has also touted its 'poverty alleviation' program as a model for developing countries in the Global South that face similar challenges. 'The experience of Malipo in poverty alleviation has global significance,' said Liu Guiqing, 40, a senior Chinese diplomat who is also county vice mayor of Malipo under a program that partners central government ministries and wealthy provinces and institutions with impoverished areas. Hua said the strength of China's system is its ability to 'concentrate resources' on people's urgent needs. Beijing is thought to have spent hundreds of billions of dollars on poverty alleviation since 2015. China's approach to reducing inequality combines 'coercive top-down control' with high social spending in an effort to 'highlight the perceived failures of liberal free-market capitalism,' Rana Mitter, a historian and political scientist at the Harvard Kennedy School, wrote in a new Foreign Affairs article. Programs such as the one in Malipo are 'an increasingly important part of China's messaging, that it has development solutions for rural as well as urban areas,' Mitter told NBC News. 'This is likely to be particularly attractive in the many Global South countries that still have large agricultural sectors and may look to Chinese examples to find ways to modernize their own rural area,' he said. Companies investing in Malipo are still motivated by the 'invisible hand of the market forces,' said Jason Choi, director of the Sunwah Group, a Hong Kong-based conglomerate. He said the improved infrastructure and government support were important factors in the decision by his family's company to invest about $7 million in a modern tea factory in Malipo, as well as the branding potential associated with Malipo's ancient tea trees. 'We have created employment directly for more than a hundred people, and for some 10,000 people downstream and upstream,' said Choi, 25. In nearby Jinping, another county targeted for poverty alleviation, Colorful Group, a company based in the Chinese technology hub of Shenzhen that specializes in graphics cards used in video games, has invested some $15 million in a smart agriculture company and other ventures, creating production jobs for more than 200 people, and for many more engaged in contract farming. Its corn products are sold in China at Walmart's Sam's Club, 7-Eleven shops and on the e-commerce platform in addition to being exported to Southeast Asia and elsewhere. Asked about the impact of the U.S.-China trade war, Malipo Mayor Xiao Changju pointed to the rapid development prospects of border trade with Vietnam and other Southeast Asian nations.
