Rina Chandran
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rinachandran.bsky.social
Rina Chandran
@rinachandran.bsky.social
840 followers 180 following 310 posts
Journalist - tech & society. Deputy editor, Rest of World. San Francisco.
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rinachandran.bsky.social
It used to be that if you didn’t know how to do something, you wouldn’t do it. Now AI will do it for you.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Tech should help us be creative. AI rips our creativity away | Dave Schilling
AI-generated songs are topping Spotify charts. This isn’t about the ‘democratization’ of art – it’s about scale
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 1:03 AM
rinachandran.bsky.social
ChatGPT is huge in India. Some startups are building AI tools for less common languages, hoping local relevance will help them compete, report Tauseef Ahmad and Sajid Raina @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/chatgpt...
ChatGPT is huge in India. These locally focused startups found a way to compete
Indian founders are building digital data sets for low-resource languages by involving the community, and count on local relevance to go against big tech platforms.
restofworld.org
November 18, 2025 at 2:02 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
Chinese EV giant BYD has sold millions of cars and conquered global markets, but it hasn’t supercharged China’s soft power. Can BYD do for China what Ford did for the U.S., Mercedes for Germany, and Ferrari for Italy? @ghoshworld.bsky.social
writes @restofworld.org  
restofworld.org/2025/byd-chi...
Why BYD can’t do for China what Ford did for America
The Chinese EV giant has conquered global markets by selling millions of cars, but it hasn’t supercharged China’s soft power.
restofworld.org
November 11, 2025 at 5:44 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
In her book, Every Screen on the Planet: The War Over TikTok, journalist @ebakerwhite.bsky.social charts the Chinese app’s meteoric rise. Read an excerpt on the company’s courtship of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with its U.S. future in jeopardy, in @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/tiktok-...
How TikTok cozied up to wealthy investors in Saudi Arabia and the UAE
In her new book, Every Screen on the Planet: The War Over TikTok, journalist Emily Baker-White charts the Chinese app’s rise to becoming a global juggernaut. Here is an excerpt on the company’s courts...
restofworld.org
November 6, 2025 at 2:23 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
Tech companies and governments describe data centers as engines of economic growth and employment. But most data center jobs disappear once construction ends with full time jobs mostly only in security and cleaning, Laura Salamanca reports for @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/data-ce...
Microsoft, Google say their data centers create thousands of jobs. Their permit filings say otherwise
Chile and tech giants promise economy-wide impact but permits show fewer onsite jobs after construction.
restofworld.org
November 5, 2025 at 8:33 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
Gaza Sky Geeks believed they could build the world's unlikeliest tech hub. The startup trained thousands of young people in coding, marketing, design & entrepreneurship. Then came Oct 7. Can the dream survive? New feature from @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/gaza-sky-geeks-bombing-rebuilding
The bombing of Gaza Sky Geeks
For over a decade, Gaza Sky Geeks built a tech future for the Gaza Strip. Then came war.
restofworld.org
November 4, 2025 at 2:37 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
Read this book! Hu Anyan, a former courier who wrote the best-selling book “I Deliver Parcels in Beijing” about his grueling job, talks to @violazhou.bsky.social about life, technology, and the future of work. The English translation is out now.
restofworld.org/2025/hu-anya...
“I Deliver Parcels in Beijing”: Chinese literary sensation reaches U.S.
Hu Anyan, a former courier who wrote a best-selling book about the grueling job of delivering packages, discusses life, technology, and the future of work.
restofworld.org
November 3, 2025 at 1:55 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
The U.S. and China reached an agreement on rare earths today, but the U.S. is still lining up other options. Does Brazil have what it takes to be an alternative to China in the supply of rare earths? Jorge Carrasco reports @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/china-r...
As China tightens its grip on rare earths, can Brazil be an alternative source?
China’s export curbs have forced the U.S. to find critical minerals elsewhere. Can Latin America keep up the supply?
restofworld.org
October 30, 2025 at 1:56 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
Virtual K-pop idols — operated by artists who wear motion sensor suits that translate their movements to their avatars — have built large fandoms in the metaverse and are crossing over into the mainstream in South Korea, reports Michelle Kim @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/metaver...
The metaverse is rewriting the rules of who can be a K-pop star
In an industry studded with megastars like BTS and Blackpink, virtual idols are building powerful new fandoms even while their true identities remain obscured.
restofworld.org
October 27, 2025 at 4:24 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
An AI tool in Malawi combines ChatGPT’s power with traditional know-how and local language to help crops — and families — flourish reports Stephanie Wangari for @restofworld.org .
restofworld.org/2025/malawi-...
Malawi’s new farmhand: AI that speaks the local language
Ulangizi AI combines ChatGPT’s power with traditional know-how and government data to help crops — and families — flourish.
restofworld.org
October 23, 2025 at 3:05 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
The EV boom brought investments, jobs and infrastructure to Latin America’s “lithium triangle.” As lithium prices fell and demand for EVs slowed, the once-thriving mining towns of Argentina, Chile and Bolivia are struggling, David Feliba reports @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/lithium...
A lithium bust leaves Latin American towns in the dust
With plummeting prices and slowing demand for EVs, the once-thriving mining towns of Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia are now struggling.
restofworld.org
October 22, 2025 at 2:24 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
Over half the world’s active space launch sites are in Russia, the U.S. or China. Oman could be an alternative for private space companies and smaller countries looking to decrease dependence on the world’s major powers: @laurajedeed.bsky.social @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/oman-sp...
The world needs more spaceports. Oman wants to help
Can a small country build a space industry from scratch?
restofworld.org
October 21, 2025 at 1:35 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
Filipino tele-operators remotely control Japan’s convenience store robots, benefiting from an uptick in automation-related jobs — but potentially training themselves out of future work, reports Michael Beltran for @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/philipp...
Japanese convenience stores are hiring robots run by workers in the Philippines
Filipino tele-operators remotely control Japan’s convenience store robots and train AI, benefiting from an uptick in automation-related jobs.
restofworld.org
October 20, 2025 at 1:22 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
In his new book @samanthsubramanian.bsky.social examines big tech’s role in subsea cables, the growing geopolitical tensions and Taiwan's 15 undersea cables that keep getting cut. Read an excerpt about the threats that Taiwan faces from China in @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/web-ben...
China, Taiwan, and the vulnerable web of undersea cables
In his new book, The Web Beneath the Waves, writer Samanth Subramanian examines big tech’s role in subsea cables and growing geopolitical tensions around them. This is an excerpt on the threats that T...
restofworld.org
October 16, 2025 at 1:41 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
Governments around the world are betting that AI will revolutionize education. A recent experiment in South Korea suggests that it might not be so easy, reports @junhyupkwon.bsky.social for @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/south-k...
AI-powered textbooks fail to make the grade in South Korea
South Korea’s AI learning program was rolled back after just four months following a backlash from teachers, students, and parents, underlining the challenges in embedding the technology in education.
restofworld.org
October 15, 2025 at 1:58 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
To win the AI race, the U.S. needs talent from China. But immigration restrictions can accelerate the flight of Chinese, threatening the strategy that it is better to have the brightest minds working for U.S. companies, writes Mehran Gul @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/chinese...
The AI dilemma: To compete with China, the U.S. needs Chinese talent
Immigration restrictions can accelerate the flight of top talent, threatening the strategy that it is better to have the brightest minds working for U.S. companies.
restofworld.org
October 13, 2025 at 3:23 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
While Hollywood worries about AI-fueled job loss, filmmakers in other countries are embracing it as a way to make more ambitious movies for less money, reports Linda Yulisman @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/indones...
Indonesia’s film industry embraces AI to make Hollywood-style movies for cheap
Generative AI video and text tools are transforming some of the labor-intensive parts of filmmaking, and are largely welcomed in Indonesia’s homegrown industry.
restofworld.org
October 10, 2025 at 12:50 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
Tens of thousands of Chinese workers travel to remote islands in Indonesia to process nickel - and put their lives at risk for the green energy transition. @wufeiyu.bsky.social reports for @grist.org republished @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/chinese-migrant-workers-indonesia-nickel-ev
The Chinese migrant workers powering the deadly EV nickel boom
30,000 Chinese workers travel thousands of miles to remote islands in Eastern Indonesia to process nickel — and put their lives at risk on the frontier of the green energy transition.
restofworld.org
October 8, 2025 at 1:14 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
Sora 2 is fun. But courts across the world are already struggling to address damage from deepfakes, which are increasingly used for financial scams, in political messaging, and to spread non-consensual sexual imagery, reports Juliana Bedoya for @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/latin-a...
Courts don’t know what to do about AI crimes
AI-generated images and videos are stumping prosecutors in Latin America, even as courts embrace AI to tackle case backlogs.
restofworld.org
October 7, 2025 at 1:57 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
Young people in China say that AI chatbots save them time and money, and are more discreet in a society where stigma around mental health persists. But there are risks to chatbots becoming therapists, writes @yilingliu95.bsky.social for @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/young-p...
Young people in China are embracing AI therapy
Cheap, accessible, and friendly AI tools can augment scarce professional help, but there are risks to overreliance on the technology.
restofworld.org
October 6, 2025 at 12:57 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
An abandoned luxury town that once symbolized China’s property bust now serves as a testing ground for autonomous vehicles @kinlinglo.bsky.social reports @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/china-o...
China’s most infamous ghost town is now training ground for driverless trucks
The empty boulevards that once symbolized the mainland’s property bust now serve as testing grounds for hundreds of autonomous vehicles.
restofworld.org
October 3, 2025 at 4:02 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
Like Indonesia, Iran may have to move its capital from Tehran because of the city’s over-expansion, the lack of adequate water supplies and the growing threat of subsidence.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
Iran must move its capital from Tehran, says president as water crisis worsens
Masoud Pezeshkian says subsidence is also ‘a disaster’ in city of 10 million, which consumes quarter of Iran’s water
www.theguardian.com
October 2, 2025 at 10:42 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
Livestream sellers have built booming careers. Now, bots are threatening to steal their spotlight and their customers, reports Linda Yulisman for @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/indones...
Livestream shopping stars face off against trolls, hagglers, and AI rivals
Livestream sellers have built booming careers. Now, bots are threatening to steal their spotlight and their customers.
restofworld.org
October 2, 2025 at 3:32 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
From toys to tutors, AI tools are flooding classrooms and households in China. They not only provide learning material but also companionship and emotional support, taking on a bigger role in the lives of kids, reports @violazhou.bsky.social @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/ai-chin...
AI is reshaping childhood in China
Government support and tech companies’ drive for profit fuel a rush to integrate AI tools, from robot tutors to chatbots, in education and caretaking.
restofworld.org
October 1, 2025 at 3:58 PM
rinachandran.bsky.social
The UAE is luring AI researchers with a custom-built AI university that offers what many scientists dream of: abundant funding, vast computing power, and the full backing of the state. Can it be the Stanford of the Gulf? Amar Diwaker reports @restofworld.org
restofworld.org/2025/uae-ai-...
The UAE’s University of AI is a pipeline for top tech talent
UAE has secured massive computing power. Its state-backed flagship university is now on the prowl for talent.
restofworld.org
September 29, 2025 at 5:10 PM