Keris & Silicon

A special collaboration between Subtext and Keris & Silicon.How much AI should a child be allowed to use, and how early? Hold it back, and we may be preparing the next generation for a world that's already gone. Hand it over too soon, and they may never build what only the long way round can teach.In this audio essay, Shahril Hamdan asks what is lost when answers become instant, why AI is different from the tools that came before it, and what it means for how we learn.

China makes most of the world's solar panels, installs most of its industrial robots and refines most of its rare earths, and still governs like a country that doesn't have enough. Damien Ma, Director of Carnegie China, has spent twenty years reading Beijing's five-year plans. His argument: look at what China thinks it's short of, not what it's ambitious for. Why Chinese labs aren't chasing AGI. Why the theft accusation is mostly cope. And what you do when China matches the frontier and stays 30% cheaper. — This episode is supported by moomoo Malaysia, Malaysia's No.1* trading app, with over 2 million downloads and access to local and global markets. MooFest Malaysia returns for a third year under the theme The Age of Smarter Investing. Three days of expert-led talks, live demos and hands-on sessions on financial education, plus a first look at Moomoo AI. 📆 9 to 11 October 2026 📍 Level 2, Pavilion Bukit Jalil 🎟️ Register: https://start.moomoo.com/0IRGTR

"Southeast Asia runs a risk of becoming just a spectator as opposed to a stakeholder." Gita Wirjawan on what it would take to shape the AI era rather than watch it. Shahril Hamdan sits down with the entrepreneur, former Indonesian Minister of Trade and author of Southeast Asia: What It Takes, on why the region is under-narrated, why energy is the hard ceiling on any AI ambition, how China is repositioning itself for the Global South, and whether this region ends up a player or a prize. Interested in partnering with Keris & Silicon? Get in touch at +6011-1919 1783 or commercial@ksmedia.my

In Episode 3 of Keris & Silicon, Shahril is joined by Elina Noor, one of Southeast Asia’s most experienced voices at the intersection of technology, security and geopolitics.Elina argues that AI is not a revolution but an evolution, built on colonial foundations we’ve never properly examined, and that Southeast Asia keeps volunteering for the same position in it: the labour layer.The conversation also takes in the hidden labour behind AI, whether Malaysia’s enthusiasm for data centres is economically rational, what “local” really means when a local model inherits foreign architectures and colonial classifications, and why the politics of surveillance — from Gaza to our own borders — cannot be separated from the technology itself.Recorded at AICB Centre of Excellence, Kuala Lumpur, a world-class venue at the heart of Malaysia’s financial district and the perfect setting for conversations that matter.A special thank you to AICB Centre of Excellence for hosting us. Planning your next event? Be sure to check…

In Episode 2 of Keris & Silicon, Shahril is joined by Balaji Srinivasan, technologist, investor, author of The Network State, and founder of Network School. Balaji makes his case that the West is in decline while the East rises, and that the internet is the successor to American empire. Shahril pushes back, interrogating whether the network state thesis prematurely strips sovereignty away from nations and if Balaji speaks to and for a minority. They touch other thornier topics including what to make of the tech class's turn toward politics, his own past remarks that have caused controversy, and ultimately why he chose Malaysia as the first site for the Network School. Recorded at AICB Centre of Excellence, Kuala Lumpur, a world-class venue at the heart of Malaysia’s financial district and the perfect setting for conversations that matter. A special thank you to AICB Centre of Excellence for hosting us. Planning your next event? Be sure to check them out at https://www.a-c-e.my The views and opinions…

In this debut episode of Keris & Silicon, Khailee Ng of 500 Global joins Shahril Hamdan to unpack why AI adoption in this region is slower than it should be, what separates users from builders, and why the real threat isn’t AI taking your job. It’s being too comfortable to care. From Afghan refugees building gold trading bots to soup kitchen founders automating grant applications, this conversation is a wake-up call for anyone who thinks Southeast Asia can afford to sit this one out. Recorded at AICB Centre of Excellence, Kuala Lumpur, a world-class venue at the heart of Malaysia’s financial district and the perfect setting for conversations that matter. A special thank you to AICB Centre of Excellence for hosting us. Planning your next event? Be sure to check them out at https://www.a-c-e.my