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Digital black markets
Myanmar’s Digital Black Markets: The New Frontier of Global Finance
By Jack Zhai & Shan Qi
On the banks of the Moei River, dividing Thailand from Myanmar, stands a city that technically shouldn’t exist. Shwe Kokko is a $15 billion sprawl of neon-lit casinos, luxury villas, and dormitory blocks rising out of the jungle. It has its own power grid...
Tech & Geopolitics
The Chinese Crypto Diaspora and the Rise of Shadow Capitalism
By Jack Zhai & Shan Qi
In 2017, Beijing thought it had killed the monster...
GLOBAL SOUTH
The Global South’s Playbook for Navigating a U.S.–China Rivalry
By Jack Zhai & Shan Qi
In the corridors of power in Washington...
Data colonialism
The Moral Cost of Cheap Data: How Emerging Markets Power the AI Boom
By Jack Zhai & Shan Qi
In a cramped room in Caracas, the air conditioner...
About The Authors
Jack Zhai
Jack Zhai is a technology founder and author based in Los Angeles. He was an early member of Uber’s global expansion team and has authored a book about Uber’s journey in Asia. Jack has led multiple tech ventures, including his own, into Latin America. He holds a B.S. in Economics and International Relations from Tufts University.
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Shan Qi
Shan Qi is a technology entrepreneur and executive based in Silicon Valley. He has held leadership roles at several global high-tech companies, including Google and Uber, and oversaw Didi’s expansion into Latin America. He co-founded Liquido, a fintech firm focused on Latin America that was acquired by Shift4 (NYSE: FOUR). Shan holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
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Why write this book
The Great Game
A smart, on-the-ground analysis of how Chinese and American tech firms battle for influence across the Global South — through rideshare wars, crypto diasporas, AI labor markets, Belt & Road networks, and more.
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By Jack Zhai & Shan Qi
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By Jack Zhai & Shan Qi
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Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s...
By Jack Zhai & Shan Qi
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Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s...
By Jack Zhai & Shan Qi
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Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s...
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Recent Articles
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....
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