1. Didi Chuxing, the Uber of China, confirms $5.5B raise for global and AI push

The company didn’t close valuation but sources very close to the company confirm to us that it is over $50 billion, with new investors Silver Lake Kraftwerk joining previous investors.

Didi has also launched a lab in Silicon Valley.

As a global technology leader, DiDi is striving to advance the transformation of transportation and automotive industries through active internationalization plans.

What’s interesting also to contemplate is whether DiDi will finally be expanding its footprint outside of China. To date, the company has done so only in the form of partnerships, intended to make for a more seamless experience to travellers as they go outside their home market but want to continue to use the same app and payment system as before.

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2. Silicon Valley innovation builder Singularity U launches Singapore chapter

Technology and innovation builder Singularity University (SU) officially launched its Singapore chapter this week.

Silicon Valley-based SU is described as a community of thinkers and innovators that apply “exponential technologies to address humanity’s grand challenges.” It’s a lofty mission statement.

One of the areas of focus will be better ways to deliver healthcare tools and services to people in Asia, says Lee Chon Cheng, a member of the Singapore chapter’s leadership team. That’s why SU Singapore collaborated with global medical technology company BD for this challenge.

The global outlook is key to SU’s mission to solve world problems.

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As banks and financial technology startups collaborate more closely, banks are beginning to pull apart the image of their institutions as segmented bureaucratic machines that can’t innovate quickly.

With public confidence in them in the U.S. below 50 percent across the political spectrum, banks have a branding problem — one that gets even more problematic when they have to…