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A Filipina's AI reads crumpled payslips. It says lenders sent $130 million.

A Filipina founder's AI reads crumpled payslips for lenders and has handled $130 million in loans, AI card counters are eating into Asian casino margins, and a $7 phone clip from KAIST spots hidden cameras 94% of the time.

01Top Story

A Filipina's AI reads crumpled payslips

Carmel Limcaoco and Rhea Malhotra built Kita, an AI that reads more than 50 kinds of loan documents, from handwritten passbooks to photos of crumpled paper, in Tagalog, Taglish and Cebuano. Kita says it processed over $130 million in loans in its first five months, more than 60% of it Philippine.

why it matters
Kita raised $4.5 million in seed funding and says Limcaoco is the first Filipina founder admitted to Y Combinator in over five years.
Read at Rappler
02Casinos

AI card counters are hitting Asia's casinos

Differential Labs, a casino analytics consultancy, says players now use AI to watch several baccarat side bets at once and bet only when the odds turn, and names High Tie bets popular in Manila and Singapore among the easiest to beat. It estimates advantage play costs Asian casinos $500 million to $700 million a year.

why it matters
Watching every side bet instead of one lifts a player's chance of leaving a shoe in profit from roughly 8% to nearly one in three.
Read at Inside Asian Gaming
03Privacy

$7 of parts can find a hidden camera

KAIST in South Korea, with the National University of Singapore and Singapore Management University, built SweepLED, an LED case that clips onto a phone, sweeps light over an object and lets AI read how the reflections change. Across 30 objects it spotted hidden cameras about 94% of the time in under five seconds.

why it matters
The core parts of the clip cost under $7, and the team says it is aimed at hotels and short-term rentals where illegal filming is hardest to check.
Read at KAIST
04WhatsApp

WhatsApp is testing a scam warning

Meta has started rolling out Scam Alert to WhatsApp beta testers. A small AI model downloaded onto the phone checks messages from unknown numbers and unsaved contacts for scam patterns like fake urgency and money requests, then shows a warning banner the sender never sees.

why it matters
Meta says the checking happens entirely on the phone, so message content is never sent to its servers and encryption is untouched.
Read at YugaTech
05Security

Fake Claude apps are carrying malware

Kaspersky says the hacking group SilverFox is spreading fake Claude apps for Windows, Mac and Linux through copycat websites, phishing emails and chat apps, then planting spyware for long-term espionage. More than 90% of its attacks hit Greater China, with Singapore, Myanmar and Cambodia also targeted.

why it matters
Kaspersky also described JADEPUFFER, which it calls the first fully AI-driven ransomware, retooling after a failed attack in 31 seconds.
Read at Back End News

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