By Arun Srivastava Rahul Gandhi’s strategy to mobilize people against Modi–Shah leadership and build a sustainable national alternative, remains a subject of intense debate among political analysts and observers. The realisation that saffron ecosystem is determined not to allow him the parliamentary system and space to articulate his views, he has noticeably shifted toward aggressive […]
A software failure at Britain’s air traffic control provider NATS inflicted an estimated £33 million in losses on UK organisations, with airlines bearing most of the cost, a new assessment has found. The Cyber Monitoring Centre (CMC) said on Wednesday that the disruption on 8 September affected more than 70 UK organisations and generated losses ranging from £24 million to £42 million under its modelling. The estimate […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Dubai developer Meraas is presenting its plans to expand residential living at Dubai Design District through an interactive installation at Dubai Design Week, bringing five proposed neighbourhood areas into focus alongside a programme involving international architecture firms. The Meraas Creative Living Space, open from 4 to 8 November, interprets the district’s expanded masterplan through design displays, discussions, workshops and music. Developed with Duette […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai The Emirates Group posted AED 4.1 billion ($1.1 billion) in pre-tax profit for the six months ended September, as the Gulf conflict and higher fuel costs sharply reduced earnings from a year earlier. The Dubai aviation group said on Thursday that profit before tax fell from AED 12.2 billion in the corresponding period of 2025-26. Profit after tax declined by 66 per cent […]
Cyberport Community Cumulative Funding Surpasses HK$74.5 Billion, Welcoming 19 Listed Companies and 2 Unicorns over the Past Year
Cyberport Investors Network (CIN) Celebrates 9th Anniversary, Facilitating Over HK$6 Billion in Cumulative Funding
Cyberport Signs MoUs with Gobi Partners and Thailand’s National Innovation Agency to Unlock Global Growth Corridors
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 4 November 2026 – The annual flagship event Cyberport Venture & Capital Forum 2026 (CVCF) officially opened today at Hong Kong Cyberport. The two-day forum, themed “Scaling in a Changing World: Winning the Next Competitive Cycle”, brings together over 80 influential global venture capitalists, entrepreneurs and industry leaders to explore new frontiers in global venture trends, capital rerouting, Enterprise and Agentic AI, One-Person Companies (OPCs), digital assets, frontier technologies, and tokenisation economy, aiming to spotlight Hong Kong’s unique position as a strategic gateway connecting the Chinese Mainland, ASEAN, the Middle East, Central Asia and global innovation and funding networks. The forum also showcases the latest fundraising achievements of Cyberport start-ups.
The forum was inaugurated by Lillian Cheong, Acting Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry and Simon Chan, Chairman of Cyberport, and other distinguished guests at the opening ceremony, marking the official start of this global forum.
Lillian Cheong, Acting Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, said “Turning AI potential into sustainable growth requires more than technology. It also requires investment, business expertise and access to markets. This is where today’s forum can make a difference – bringing innovators and investors together to explore emerging technologies, support promising ventures and open doors to new opportunities. The HKSAR Government will continue to strengthen the support that helps promising ventures grow as well its investment to mobilise more private capital, consolidating Hong Kong’s position as an international innovation and technology centre, and as a premier hub for AI.”
Simon Chan, Chairman of Cyberport, said: “In a shifting global capital landscape, Hong Kong’s role as a ‘super-connector’ and ‘super value-adder’ between the Chinese Mainland and the world is more valuable than ever. The cross-border dialogue and partnerships forged here will create fresh opportunities for innovation, investment and collaboration.”
Cyberport Start-ups Show Robust Fundraising as AI and the Agentic Economy Take Centre Stage
Cyberport’s start-ups have demonstrated robust fundraising performance over the past year. Cyberport gathers over 2,400 companies, Cyberport start-ups have raised over HK$74.5 billion in funding. During the year, Cyberport proudly welcomed 19 listed companies and 2 unicorns to its community. Recent high-value fundraising rounds include Finloop, Qupital and Premialab, leverage AI, blockchain and digital assets — reflecting sustained market confidence in these emerging technologies and underscoring Cyberport’s success in fostering their development.
CIN Celebrates 9th Anniversary, Connecting Global Capital with High-Potential Start-ups
As Hong Kong’s digital tech hub, AI accelerator and key incubator, Cyberport actively connects global investors with start-ups through diverse funding channels.
The CIN 9th Anniversary Celebration commemorated a successful nine-year milestone while ushering in a new chapter of leadership, as the chairmanship passed from Hendrick Sin to John Ng. To honour this pivotal handover, Hendrick Sin, Hon. Duncan Chiu, and Cindy Chow were officially designated as Honorary Chairs of CIN in recognition of their distinguished contributions to the ecosystem.
Hendrick Sin, Honorary Chair of CIN; Co-Founder of CMGE Technology Group Limited; Chairman of China Prosperity Capital, stated in his video speech, “CIN has facilitated over HK$6 billion in investments across more than 130 projects since its inception, reflecting strong investor confidence in Cyberport companies. Looking ahead, we will strengthen the quality and depth of our deal flow, enhance structured capital partnerships to broaden access to funding at different growth stages, and deepen our relationships with CVCs, PE firms, family offices and LPs, further diversifying CIN’s investor network. Through these efforts, CIN will continue to connect promising companies with the right capital, expertise and networks needed to scale and succeed.
John Ng, Chairman of CIN, added in his speech, “I’m honoured to be appointed Chairman of CIN. The network has grown to nearly 250 investment firms, an achievement that reflects the tremendous efforts of Hendrick and the CIN team over the past years. Drawing on my background in corporate venture capital and family offices, one of my priorities will be to expand CIN’s network within these communities and take CIN into its next chapter.”
Another key financing channel, CMF, has invested in 30 start-up projects as of September 2026, with total investment including co-investments exceeding HK$2.7 billion and a co-investment ratio of over 1:9.3. Further augmenting ecosystem liquidity, Cyberport, BOCHK Asset Management and BOC Group Investment formed a strategic partnership in May 2026, as well as with Taiping Financial Holdings in Aug 2026 on venture capital funds to back promising Hong Kong I&T start-ups.
Strategic Partnerships to Unlock Global Growth Corridors
At the Forum, Cyberport signed two Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs), with Gobi Partners and with Thailand’s National Innovation Agency (NIA), to solidify global corridors for cross-border expansion.
Cyberport and Gobi Partners signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to deepen collaboration in nurturing innovation and technology enterprises, facilitating market expansion and investment opportunities, and strengthening the innovation ecosystems of Hong Kong, Asia and the Middle East.
Building on a longstanding partnership, Gobi has invested in more than 24 Cyberport companies, including CMF co-investments. Witnessed by Lillian Cheong, Acting Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Simon Chan, Chairman of Cyberport, and Chibo Tang, Managing Partner, GBA Team of Gobi Partners, the MoU was signed by Dr Rocky Cheng, CEO of Cyberport, and Fred Li, Managing Director, GBA Team of Gobi Partners.
Meanwhile, Cyberport and Thailand’s National Innovation Agency (NIA) signed an MoU to promote cross-border innovation collaboration, startup development and knowledge exchange in AI, smart city and other digital technologies. It will cover soft-landing and market expansion, business matching, innovation programmes and community engagement, joint events, and proof-of-concept and pilot opportunities. The MoU was witnessed by Lillian Cheong, Acting Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Simon Chan, Chairman of Cyberport, and Preechaya Panyakrua, Innovation Counsellor of NIA, and signed by Dr Rocky Cheng, CEO of Cyberport, and Dr Krithpaka Boonfueng, Executive Director of NIA.
Decoding the New Playbook for Scaling in the Age of AI
This year’s CVCF programme is organised around three umbrella themes: Mega Trends & AI Frontiers, Regional Market Focus & Global Corridors, and Market Focus & Strategic Capital Dynamics.
Opening the main stage, Mahesh Krishnaswamy, Founder and CEO of Taara, delivered the keynote “The Innovation Playbook: Capitalizing on Moonshots and Faster Cycles in the Age of AI”, sharing how Taara evolved from a radical moonshot into a real-world high-speed optical communications solution — a timely lens on compressed innovation cycles and how breakthrough technology scales.
The forum also brought together venture capital leaders from Gobi Partners, Alumni Ventures, Rasmal Ventures, Primavera Capital, Draper Dragon, Pegasus Tech Ventures, Plug & Play and more to examine AI-driven capital shifts, high-growth corridors across the Middle East, ASEAN and the Greater Bay Area, and how public-private and corporate strategic capital can accelerate tech scale-ups.
Beyond the thought leadership sessions, the event further reinforced Cyberport’s role in connecting capital, innovation and global market opportunities. It also provided a dynamic platform for business matching and startup empowerment. This year’s Founder Pitch attracted strong interest from local and international venture capital firms, enabling startups from early-stage innovators to high-growth scale-ups to present their cutting-edge solutions to investors and ecosystem partners.
Throughout the first day, the event floor featured tailored Investor Matching sessions, dynamic Innovator Showcases featuring elite, high-potential startups across key tech sectors from local and global partner networks, and dedicated Startup Clinics offering practical strategic guidance. Coupled with engaging networking exchanges, Day one concluded on a positive note, reinforcing Cyberport’s ongoing role in connecting capital, innovation, and global market opportunities.
Day two will feature the CVCF’s spotlight event “Agentic Economy Summit”, themed “Intelligent Frontiers, Tokenised Horizons”, featuring a keynote address by Joseph Chan, Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, and will explore how agentic AI is reshaping business and how digital assets are redefining the way value moves. The summit will examine digital identity, institutional tokenisation, HKD stablecoins, programmable payments and machine-to-machine commerce, alongside the rise of OPCs. Day two also features hands-on startup workshops designed to equip founders with practical playbooks for pitch mastery and market scaling.
For more information on Cyberport Venture & Capital Forum 2026 and the speaker line-up, please visit http://cvcf.cyberport.hk/.
Hashtag: #Cyberport
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About Hong Kong Cyberport
Wholly owned by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government, Cyberport is Hong Kong’s digital tech hub and AI accelerator, with a vision to empower industry digitalisation and intelligent transformation, to promote digital economy and AI development, and to foster Hong Kong to be an international AI, innovation and technology (I&T) hub. Cyberport gathers over 2,400 companies, including 30 listed companies and 10 unicorns. 40% of onsite companies’ founders come from 28 countries and regions, while Cyberport companies have expanded to over 36 global markets.
Cyberport, with Hong Kong’s largest AI Supercomputing Centre and AI Lab as the engine, has been building the AI ecosystem with industry-leading AI companies and over 500 AI and data science start-ups. Through development of tech clusters, namely AI, data science, blockchain and cybersecurity, Cyberport empowers industries across smart city and government, banking and finance, digital entertainment, culture and tourism, healthcare, education and training, property management, construction, transportation and logistics, green environment and more, while hosting Hong Kong’s largest FinTech community. Commissioned by the HKSAR Government, Cyberport has implemented proof-of-concept and sandbox schemes, subsidisation for digital tech adoption, industry tech training and start-up incubation, to drive technology R&D, translation and commercialisation, thus propelling digital transformation and intelligent upgrade across industry and society.
Also as “State-level Scientific and Technological Enterprise Incubator” and Hong Kong’s key incubator, Cyberport supports entrepreneurs with funding and office space, extensive networks of enterprises, investors, technology corporations and professional services for business growth and expansion to Chinese Mainland and overseas markets, all-round facilitation for landing in Hong Kong, talent attraction and cultivation, ready as a launchpad to take start-ups in any stages of development to the next level.
Dubai, [November 4]: xCube has announced that Entrust Capital Limited (“Entrust”), a firm authorised and regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (“DFSA”), will participate on xCube Access. Through the platform, eligible investors will be able to have their portfolios managed by investment professional advisors from Entrust and access Entrust’s managed portfolios through a streamlined digital experience. Established in 2018, Entrust is a boutique asset management and […]
Mr Drew Chen’s appointment as Co-CEO strengthens BDC’s leadership team as the Company surpasses one gigawatt of capacity in 2026 and accelerates its growth across Asia Pacific.
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 3 November 2026 – Bridge Data Centres (BDC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Drew Chen as Co-Chief Executive Officer (Co-CEO), effective 1 November 2026. He will work alongside Mr Eric Fan, BDC’s Co-CEO, as a key member of the leadership team to accelerate the Company’s growth across Asia Pacific and beyond.
Mr Drew Chen, Co CEO of Bridge Data Centres
Mr Chen brings over 20 years of private equity experience, with a focus on the telecommunications, media, technology, and business services sectors. He previously served as a Senior Partner at Bain Capital and was a founding member of the firm’s Asia Pacific private equity team. Prior to Bain Capital, Mr Chen worked at Bain & Company. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Mr Eric Fan, Co-CEO of Bridge Data Centres, said, “On behalf of Bridge Data Centres, we would like to welcome Drew. His appointment strengthens our leadership team at an important point in BDC’s growth, as we surpass one gigawatt of capacity in 2026. Drew’s experience and deep domain knowledge of the data centre sector will support our strategy as we scale BDC into a multi-gigawatt digital infrastructure platform in the coming years.”
Mr Drew Chen, Co-CEO of Bridge Data Centres, said, “The Asia Pacific data centre sector is at inflection point for growth, fuelled by surging cloud adoption and the rapid expansion of AI workloads. BDC is well positioned to capture this opportunity, backed by our world class engineering and design team, longstanding partnerships with global clients, and a decade of experience developing and operating next-generation digital infrastructure. I am excited to partner with Eric and the leadership team to scale BDC’s footprint across Asia Pacific and support our customers’ ambitious growth plans.”
Mr Jonathan Zhu, Partner and Chair of China at Bain Capital, said, “Drew possesses deep expertise in the digital infrastructure space and an intimate knowledge of BDC’s business, having played a pivotal role in the buildout of BDC and its sister company ChinData. We are delighted that, as the Co-CEO, Drew will continue to bring strategic foresight and robust business building capabilities to BDC. Together, he and Eric are well positioned to lead BDC through its next chapter of growth.”
Headquartered in Singapore, BDC is one of Asia Pacific’s top three next-generation digital infrastructure platforms by live capacity, with a presence across Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and India.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About Bridge Data Centres
Bridge Data Centres (BDC) is a Singapore headquartered digital infrastructure platform delivering next-generation data centres across Asia Pacific and beyond.
Backed by Bain Capital, BDC operates in Malaysia, Thailand, India, and other high-growth markets, with an ambition to scale into a multi-gigawatt digital infrastructure platform in the near future.
Artificial intelligence developer Anthropic plans to offer shares worth up to 552.9 billion yen ($3.5 billion) to investors in Japan as part of its proposed US stock market debut, according to a regulatory filing released on Monday. The planned allocation represents a significant international component of the company’s initial public offering, potentially giving institutional and other eligible investors in Japan direct access to one of the largest […]
Two-day exhibition on 14 and 15 November at St. Regis Singapore presents six Laguna Phuket developments, as more buyers make Phuket home
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 2 November 2026 – Banyan Group Residences returns with a two-day sales exhibition on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 November 2026, presenting six signature developments from its Phuket collection in the Diplomat Room, St. Regis Singapore, from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm.
Singapore buyers are already familiar with Phuket, and demand is shifting from holiday ownership towards long-term residency. This collection is designed for that shift: full-time homes within an established resort community, not just investment property.
The exhibition follows record first-half sales for Banyan Group Residences, up 38% year on year.
“Singapore has long been one of our most important buyer markets, and what we are seeing now is a shift in how buyers think about Phuket – not only as a holiday destination, but as a place to live,” said Stuart Reading, Managing Director of Banyan Group Residences. “More people are choosing to make Phuket home, and that is what makes it a sound long-term investment.”
Laguna Phuket is home to more than 70 nationalities, and across Phuket foreign buyers now account for over 60% of condominium purchases, many choosing to live in their properties rather than simply invest.
Banyan Group Residences expects to launch up to USD 1 billion in new luxury projects in Phuket over the next two to three years.
Ranked first in Asia and fifth globally for branded residences (Savills, 2025-26), Banyan Group Residences will showcase six developments at the exhibition, including some of the most exclusive it has ever released:
Banyan Tree Beach Residences Nerea
Just six three-bedroom duplex residences between Laguna Phuket’s lagoons and Bang Tao Beach, with yacht-inspired design, private pools and a home gym in each.
Banyan Tree Beach Residences Oceanus
Sixteen absolute beachfront residences on Bang Tao Beach, each with a private pool and up to 768 square metres of space – among the most luxurious condominiums ever released in Phuket.
Banyan Tree Beach Residences Varuna
Eight four-bedroom beachfront townhomes on Bang Tao Beach, each with a private lift, garden terrace and rooftop infinity pool facing the Andaman Sea sunset.
Angsana Golf Residences Topaz
Two- and three-bedroom residences and penthouses in three low-rise buildings overlooking Laguna Golf Phuket, with private rooftop pools.
Bellaguna Golf Residences
Low-rise buildings amid tropical gardens overlooking Laguna Golf Phuket, with one- to three-bedroom condominiums and two- to three-bedroom penthouses with private pools.
Bellaguna Lake Residences
One- to three-bedroom condominiums and two- to three-bedroom penthouses on the Laguna Phuket lagoon, with private rooftop pools on selected units.
Owners receive Sanctuary Club membership, with privileges at Banyan Group hotels, RAVA Beach Club and Laguna Golf access, plus a year of complimentary property management.
Banyan Living
Owners can also opt into Banyan Living, the Group’s hospitality-led rental and management platform.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About Banyan Group
Banyan Group (“Banyan Tree Holdings Limited” or the “Group” – SGX: B58) is an independent, global hospitality company with purpose. The Group prides itself on its pioneering spirit, design-led experiences and commitment to responsible stewardship. Its extensive portfolio spans nearly 130 hotels, resorts and reserves, over 30 branded residences and more than 140 spas and galleries in 28 countries. Comprising 14 hospitality and residential brands, including the flagship brand Banyan Tree, each distinct yet united under the experiential membership programme with Banyan. The founding ethos of “Embracing the Environment, Empowering People” is embodied through the Banyan Global Foundation and Banyan Management Academy. Banyan Group is committed to remaining the leading advocate of sustainable travel, with a focus on regenerative tourism and innovative programmes that elevate the guest experience.
About Laguna Phuket
Laguna Phuket is Asia’s premier integrated resort destination, set against the stunning backdrop of the Andaman Sea. Spanning over 1,000 acres, the resort features six luxury hotels, an award-winning 18-hole golf course, fine dining, luxury spas, and branded residences. Guests benefit from complimentary shuttle services, a cashless payment system, and access to world-class recreational and wellness facilities.
About Banyan Group Residences
Banyan Group Residences is the property development arm of leading hospitality pioneer Banyan Group, listed on the stock exchange of Singapore. With over 35 years of development experience and an impressive portfolio of residential brands to suit different lifestyles and budgets, it is Thailand’s leading lifestyle property developer with a strong and increasingly international pipeline of projects. The Group’s main residential brands include the flagship luxury Banyan Tree Residences, Angsana Residences, Dhawa Residences, Garrya Residences, Laguna Residences, Cassia Residences, Skypark, Laguna Lakelands, and Bellaguna.
Britain has defended public backing for Rolls-Royce’s return to the narrowbody aircraft engine market, arguing that international competition and the need to protect aerospace employment justify government involvement despite the manufacturer’s strong profits. Industry Minister Blair McDougall said on Friday that governments had traditionally shared the risks associated with developing aircraft engines. His comments followed an agreement between Rolls-Royce and the government on a proposed £2.5 billion […]
Astronomers have identified a possible new dwarf planet beyond Pluto using observations from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, revealing one of the largest objects in the distant outer solar system. The object, provisionally designated 2026 ED138, was announced by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center on 27 October. Researchers estimate its diameter at between 600 and 1,500 kilometres, although its precise size and classification […]
India Blockchain Week 2026 will bring cryptocurrency executives, financial regulators and technology developers to Mumbai on November 1 and 2, with institutional adoption of blockchain and digital assets occupying a prominent place on the conference agenda. The fourth edition, organised by Web3 investment firm Hashed Emergent, will take place at Fairmont Mumbai. It marks the event’s first move to the financial centre after three editions in Bengaluru, […]
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 30 October 2026 – Crown Worldwide Group is proud to announce that Crown Workspace Hong Kong has been awarded the Gold Award for Best Workplace Consultancy at the prestigious HR Vendors of the Year Awards Hong Kong 2026, organised by Human Resources Online. In addition, Crown Workspace received the special “Trinity Champion of Achievement” recognition, honouring its consistent and outstanding achievements in elevating the HR solutions ecosystem across 2024-2026. Together, these accolades recognise Crown Workspace’s continued excellence in workplace transformation, relocation management, sustainability consulting, and innovative solutions that help organisations create future-ready workplaces.
The HR Vendors of the Year Awards is widely regarded as one of Asia’s most respected platforms for recognising excellence among HR and workplace solution providers. Entries are evaluated by an independent judging panel of HR leaders and experts, assessing nominees on criteria including people, products and services, innovation, leadership, and industry contribution. The awards recognise organisations that demonstrate exceptional expertise, business impact, and commitment to helping clients address evolving workplace challenges. The Trinity Champion of Achievement holds particular significance as it recognises Crown Workspace’s sustained achievements over three consecutive years, from 2024 to 2026. This special recognition further reinforces Crown Workspace’s consistent contribution to the HR and workplace solutions ecosystem in Hong Kong.
What distinguishes Crown Workspace is its ability to combine workplace consultancy, relocation expertise, sustainability leadership, and project execution into a single integrated offering. In a market where many Hong Kong organisations are rightsizing their offices, adopting hybrid working models, and seeking cost-effective ways to optimise their workplaces, Crown Workspace helps clients transform their offices while achieving ESG objectives through services such as furniture resale, storage solutions, and recycling programmes.
Complementing these sustainability-focused initiatives is Crown Workspace’s proven capability to deliver complex, business-critical projects, including high-security relocations, IT and infrastructure moves, and large-scale workplace transformations. Backed by strong customer satisfaction and industry-leading operational standards, Crown Workspace provides organisations with a trusted partner to navigate workplace change while creating more efficient, sustainable, and future-ready work environments.
“We are honoured to receive both the Gold Award and this special recognition at the HR Vendors of the Year Awards,” said Jeffrey Chong, General Manager, Hong Kong, at Crown Worldwide Group. “The Trinity Champion of Achievement is particularly meaningful as it reflects the consistency of our work and the dedication of our team over the past three years. Hong Kong organisations are rethinking the role of the workplace. Increasingly, our clients are asking how they can create more flexible, sustainable and employee-centric environments while maintaining business continuity. These recognitions reflect our commitment to helping businesses navigate that transformation successfully. We remain focused on delivering secure and sustainable solutions that support our clients’ business goals.”
Building on these latest recognitions, Crown Workspace will continue investing in people, technology, and innovative workplace solutions, helping businesses create workplaces that are resilient, efficient, sustainable, and ready for the future.
For more information, please visit Crown Workspace’s website at crownworkspace.com.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About Crown Workspace
Crown Workspace helps organisations manage workplace change through commercial and specialist relocations, move management, storage, furniture solutions, IT relocation services, and workplace consultancy. Supported by the global capabilities of Crown Worldwide Group, Crown Workspace delivers tailored solutions that minimise disruption, maximise value, and create positive outcomes for businesses, employees, and the environment.
Ridger Delivers MUX Private AI Deployment to Shum Wong & Co., Solicitors in Hong Kong
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 30 October 2026 – Ridger, an AI infrastructure company, today announced the official delivery of its MUX private AI solution to Shum Wong & Co., Solicitors in Hong Kong. The solution features MIMO, the world’s first AI-native storage system, making Shum Wong & Co., Solicitors the first law firm in Hong Kong Northern Metropolis to deploy it.
Representatives from Ridger, Shum Wong & Co., Solicitors, xFusion, and Richee at the delivery ceremony for the first MUX private AI deployment in Hong Kong Northern Metropolis.
Representatives from Ridger, Shum Wong & Co., Solicitors, xFusion, and Fadada’s RicheeAI team attended the delivery ceremony. During the event, Ridger presented the firm with the “Global AI Pioneer Law Firm” certificate in recognition of its forward-looking investment in private AI infrastructure.
The solution brings together AI-native storage and compute infrastructure, a dedicated large language model (LLM) environment, and AI applications tailored to legal workflows. Operating entirely within the firm’s own security perimeter, it marks a significant step toward enabling Hong Kong’s legal profession to harness the productivity of generative AI while safeguarding client data and meeting compliance requirements.
About the Deployment
In space-constrained Hong Kong, Ms. Careen H.Y. Wong, Founding Partner of Shum Wong & Co., Solicitors and Vice President of The Law Society of Hong Kong, set aside room in the Firm’s latest office in the Northern Metropolis for a standard equipment rack, ready for on-premise AI. It is more than a space decision: it reflects her view of the future of legal services—that while harnessing AI to improve efficiency, a firm must retain control of its data and technology boundaries, so that sensitive materials are always properly protected.
Under the engagement, Ridger built a privately owned, independently operable AI foundation for Shum Wong & Co., Solicitors, comprising high-performance storage and data infrastructure optimized for AI workloads, together with a dedicated LLM platform over which the client retains full control of model weights and the inference environment. The platform supports use cases including contract review and risk flagging, legal research and case-law retrieval, large-scale document review in due diligence, drafting and multilingual translation of legal documents, and internal Knowledge Base question answering. It also provides role-based access control, tiered permissions, comprehensive audit trails and content provenance to meet enterprise-grade governance requirements.
Called MUX, the private solution lets the firm begin with no barrier and without capital-intensive build-out or a dedicated server room, scaling on demand; it natively supports Hong Kong’s common law system and integrates seamlessly with existing systems such as email, document management and calendar, embedding AI into lawyers’ daily work. MUX can be ordered directly through Ridger’s website (https://ridger.tech), out of the box.
The delivery reflects the collaboration of legal expertise, AI infrastructure, compute platforms and industry applications: Shum Wong & Co., Solicitors defined the requirements for data confidentiality and on-premise deployment from its actual practice; Ridger provided the end-to-end MUX solution and led its design and integration; xFusion supplied the FusionXpark local AI compute platform and technical support; and Fadada provided the Richee Legal AI Agent Platform, leveraging specialized AI agents and skills to support lawyers in their daily work and improve workflow efficiency. Ridger notes that while an AI model determines capability for a moment, AI infrastructure determines long-term competitiveness.
Why Private AI Matters for the Legal Sector
1. Safeguarding client confidentiality and legal professional privilege
Client materials, transaction documents and dispute information handled by law firms are protected by legal professional privilege (LPP) and strict professional duties of confidentiality. Disclosure to third parties—including public cloud services—may be treated as a waiver of privilege, causing it to be lost and the materials to become disclosable in subsequent proceedings. Private deployment keeps storage, processing and inference entirely within the firm’s own environment, with no disclosure to external providers, preserving privilege and confidentiality at source.
2. Embedding data sovereignty and regulatory compliance
The solution aligns with Hong Kong’s Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) and is designed with reference to the Privacy Commissioner’s “Checklist on Guidelines for the Use of Generative AI by Employees” and the “Model Framework on AI: Personal Data Protection,” as well as The Law Society of Hong Kong’s 2024 position paper on the impact of AI on the legal profession and the Manifesto on “Legal Ethical Code of Conduct Regarding the Deployment of AI.” It embeds the principles of lawfulness, transparency, traceability, interpretability, security and appropriate human oversight into a unified AI governance framework.
For a firm handling cross-border work, the same private environment also addresses the requirements of the major jurisdictions: for Mainland China, it aligns with the Personal Information Protection Law, the Data Security Law and data-export mechanisms such as security assessments and standard contracts; for Europe, it maps to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and standard contractual clauses; for the United States, it meets the confidentiality and competence duties under the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and Formal Opinion 512 on generative AI. Because data always remains within the firm’s own perimeter, the firm can confidently meet local data-confidentiality and regulatory expectations wherever its clients are based.
3. Eliminating the hidden risk of “shadow AI”
Where a firm offers no convenient, approved AI tool, individual lawyers may turn to consumer-grade public chatbots for work, creating “shadow AI” that sits outside IT and compliance visibility—unapproved, unlogged and unaudited, with unknown data flows and no clear accountability. MUX channels that demand into a single, visible, auditable controlled environment, giving lawyers the efficiency they want while bringing every use under the institution’s governance and oversight.
4. Keeping institutional knowledge within the firm
The case law, templates and practical know-how accumulated by a firm are core competitive assets. A private platform continuously refined on the firm’s own corpus keeps these assets within the institution and compounds their value over time, rather than depositing them with an external vendor.
5. Ensuring control and business continuity
Private deployment insulates the firm from external API changes, model versioning, service outages or shifts in vendor strategy, giving it full control over capabilities, upgrade timing, cost and availability — a foundation for durable, long-term AI adoption.
Executive Quotes
“For industries built on trust and confidentiality, such as the law, the value of AI should never come at the price of data sovereignty,” said Ray Hu, General Manager Asia-Pacific Region of Ridger. “Private deployment lets a firm turn generative AI into auditable, governable and sustainable productivity without crossing confidentiality lines. We are proud to set this benchmark with Shum Wong & Co., Solicitors”
Ray Hu, General Manager Asia-Pacific Region, Ridger
“In Hong Kong, office space is scarce and precious, but data sovereignty is worth setting aside a place for. Building our own AI infrastructure lets us embrace AI while always safeguarding our clients’ trust and the boundaries of our profession.”
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Ridger Company Limited
Ridger is a technology company focused on data and storage infrastructure for the AI era. The company provides private, high-performance AI infrastructure and solutions that enable enterprises to deploy and run large models and AI applications within their own security perimeter. Through its proprietary storage and data management technologies, Ridger helps clients safeguard data sovereignty, security and compliance while fully realizing the business value of artificial intelligence.
Apple has unveiled its first touchscreen MacBook Pro laptops, reversing a longstanding design position associated with co-founder Steve Jobs and bringing direct finger controls to its premium notebook range. The 14-inch and 16-inch models, announced on Wednesday, 28 October, combine touch-enabled OLED displays with M5 Pro and M5 Max processors. Pre-orders opened immediately, with availability scheduled for 6 November. The 14-inch touchscreen model starts at $2,899 in […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai The United Arab Emirates and Canada have signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement to lower trade barriers and encourage bilateral investment. The agreement was signed in Ottawa on 27 October by UAE Minister of Foreign Trade Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi and Canada’s Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and […]
Swedish technology startup Strawberry has released version 1.0 of its artificial intelligence browser, moving beyond beta testing with a product designed to help employees automate work without writing code. The Stockholm company announced the launch on 26 October, positioning its browser as an alternative to established American AI platforms, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini. Its software places AI assistants directly alongside websites and business […]
Opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday accused the Kerala government of pursuing a sustained campaign against the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), alleging that Chief Minister V D Satheesan was disregarding its contribution to infrastructure development. Addressing a press conference in Th…
By K Raveendran The greatest mistake Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party can make is to mistake the silence of the streets for the consent of the people. The government may have succeeded in shrinking the space for organised resistance, intimidating critics and making dissent increasingly costly. But political resentment does not disappear simply […]
By Dr. Gyan Pathak Once upon a time people in India exercised their “right to protest” in front of the ruling establishment in New Delhi free of cost, though they still needed government permissions for assembly of people for protest. However, under PM Narendra Modi, it has been abolished altogether with denotification of designated protest […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Emirates has fitted 65 aircraft with Starlink satellite internet and plans installations on another 10 to 12 jets each month, alongside new aircraft deliveries and cabin refurbishment work. Adnan Kazim, the Dubai airline’s deputy president and chief commercial officer, disclosed the installation figures while outlining its fleet plans. The programme is proceeding as Emirates prepares to receive Boeing aircraft from summer 2027 and […]
Arabian Post Staff -Dubai Saudi Arabia and Türkiye have signed a memorandum of understanding to expand educational cooperation, covering student exchanges, teacher development, academic research and educational technology, following talks between their education ministers in Ankara. Saudi Minister of Education Yousef bin Abdullah Al-Benyan and Turkish Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin signed the agreement on October 26 during Al-Benyan’s official two-day visit to Türkiye, which concluded […]
Dubai’s flexible office market has substantial capacity for expansion, but a shortage of suitable buildings is preventing operators from fully meeting growing demand for furnished workplaces and shorter lease commitments. Flexible offices represent only 2.6 per cent of Dubai’s total office stock, according to Cushman & Wakefield Core’s UAE Trends in Flexible Office 2026 study, published on 22 October. The proportion is considerably lower than in several […]
OpenAI has patched a vulnerability in its application programming interface that allowed security researchers to extract protected reasoning traces from an advanced artificial intelligence model, following a disclosure by cybersecurity firm Xint. The researchers said OpenAI fixed the weakness on 23 October and awarded their team a $6,000 bug bounty. Xint published its findings on 26 October, describing a technique called compaction smuggling that circumvented safeguards intended […]