Sign up for our free weekly newsletter here!
Articles
By Jack Zhai & Shan Qi
Myanmar’s Digital Black Markets: The New Frontier of Global Finance
On the banks of the Moei River, dividing Thailand from Myanmar, stands a city that technically shouldn’t exist...
By Jack Zhai & Shan Qi
The Chinese Crypto Diaspora and the Rise of Shadow Capitalism
In 2017, Beijing thought it had killed the monster. With the "September 4th Ban," the Chinese government outlawed...
By Jack Zhai & Shan Qi
The Global South’s Playbook for Navigating a U.S.–China Rivalry
In the corridors of power in Washington and Beijing, the narrative is the same: the world is splitting into two camps, and everyone...
By Jack Zhai & Shan Qi
Three Models of Globalization: Silicon Valley, Shenzhen, and São Paulo
For the last decade, the tech world has been obsessed with a binary choice: are you building the next Google, or the next Alibaba?
By Jack Zhai & Shan Qi
When Startups Become Superpowers: The Hidden Politics of the App Economy
On August 1, 2016, the illusion of Silicon Valley’s inevitable global conquest ended in a boardroom in Beijing...
By Jack Zhai & Shan Qi
Why the AI Revolution Still Depends on the Global South
In a crowded internet café in Nairobi, or a cramped apartment in Caracas, a young worker stares at a screen. They aren't coding the next LLM....
By Jack Zhai & Shan Qi
The Moral Cost of Cheap Data: How Emerging Markets Power the AI Boom
In a cramped room in Caracas, the air conditioner hums against the humid heat. A young woman sits in front of a laptop...
