4 d. ago Chinese delivery giant Meituan releases AI model to take on Alibaba, DeepSeek

On-demand local services giant Meituan has become the latest Chinese Big Tech company to release an open-source large language model (LLM) to market, more than two years after it acquired mainland AI start-up Light Year for US$281 million. Beijing-based Meituan, the long-standing leader of China’s food delivery market, on Monday released and open-sourced its own LLM, called LongCat-Flash-Chat, via artificial intelligence developer platforms Hugging Face and GitHub, as well as the model’s...

Politics

6 d. ago Why South Korea and Japan are turning against foreign homebuyers

Government measures to deter foreign buyers from purchasing residential properties are by no means the preserve of Asian economies. In February 2024, Canada extended a nationwide ban on most foreign buyers until 2027 in an effort to curb speculation and improve affordability. In the US, a growing number of states, including Texas and Florida, have passed laws barring nationals from several countries, notably China and Russia, from acquiring land and property. Yet in the most liveable cities in...

Economics

9 d. ago China’s ‘little Nvidia’ warns investors of risks after stock gains 533% in year

Beijing-based AI chipmaker Cambricon Technologies, widely seen as a potential alternative to Nvidia in the Chinese market, has issued a rare warning about supply chain risks and excessive speculation in its shares, which have gained 533 per cent in the past 12 months. The company’s Shanghai-listed stock nearly doubled in the last month on a wider rally fuelled by China’s favourable policy support of local artificial intelligence chips and a new AI model from DeepSeek tailored for upcoming...

Events

1 week ago Why have stablecoins triggered caution from former China central bank governor?

Former Chinese central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan has urged a more measured tone amid a global surge of interest in stablecoins, calling for a “multidimensional assessment” of their genuine utility and the systemic risks they may pose. The United States and Hong Kong are rolling out regulatory frameworks for the asset, and speculation has been growing about the likelihood of Beijing following suit by introducing yuan-backed stablecoins in a bid to further internationalise its currency. “We...

Politics

1 week ago Tech sector hails Beijing’s AI blueprint as local chip, server firms set to gain

China’s tech industry has hailed Beijing’s latest strategy to widely apply artificial intelligence to economic and social enterprises amid hopes the move could boost market prospects for local suppliers of chips, servers and AI solutions. Beijing’s decision to implement AI in research, industry and consumption has further boosted confidence in the sector, particularly in computing power and domestic AI chips, amplifying the momentum triggered by DeepSeek’s V3.1 AI model. China’s AI ecosystem,...

Economics

1 week ago DeepSeek’s V3.1 model emerges as ‘key pillar’ for China’s chip self

DeepSeek’s recently released V3.1 AI model has unleashed fresh optimism about the prospects of mainland China developing advanced artificial intelligence semiconductors, according to analysts. The Hangzhou-based start-up’s updated model, which supports the innovative data format called UE8M0 FP8, was “ushering in a booming domestic computing power chain”, Huatai Securities analysts said in a research note on Tuesday. That architecture showed that the synergy between mainland-designed software...

Politics

2 w. ago DeepSeek’s ‘UE8M0 FP8’ innovation seen as boost for China’s AI self

A technical change in the latest model from Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek could be a big step towards achieving China’s goal of AI self-sufficiency, as it shows a new level of coordination between local model developers and hardware makers, according to analysts and industry insiders. This week, the Hangzhou-based AI lab said its new V3.1 model was trained using a UE8M0 FP8 scale data format, which was suitable for the “home-grown chips soon to be released”. While DeepSeek...

Politics

2 w. ago DeepSeek hints latest model will be supported by China’s ‘next generation’ homegrown AI chips

DeepSeek hints latest model will be supported by China’s ‘next generation’ homegrown AI chips  CNBC

Politics

2 w. ago DeepSeek hints latest model will be compatible with China’s ‘next generation’ homegrown AI chips

DeepSeek hints latest model will be compatible with China’s ‘next generation’ homegrown AI chips  CNBC

Politics

2 w. ago Tech war: DeepSeek hints China close to unveiling ‘next generation’ AI chips

Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek said that China will soon have home-grown “next generation” chips for AI stacking, fanning speculation over breakthroughs China may have achieved. In a one-line note on its official WeChat account explaining the “UE8M0 FP8 scale” of its newly released model V3.1, the Hangzhou-based firm said that the model was particularly designed “for the home-grown chips to be released soon”. It did not specify the vendor of these chips or whether their use...

Events

2 w. ago DeepSeek’s upgraded AI model absorbs reasoning feature in agentic shift

Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek said on Thursday that its newly released V3.1 model supported both “think” and “non-think” modes, marking the firm’s “first step towards the agent era” – a shift that suggests a change in its research focus and and the possibility it would forgo the highly anticipated R2 reasoning model. The “think” mode on DeepSeek’s namesake chatbot was previously powered by its R1 reasoning model that garnered global attention after its release in January,...

Politics

2 w. ago Chinese AI startup DeepSeek releases upgraded model with domestic chip support

Chinese AI startup DeepSeek releases upgraded model with domestic chip support  Reuters

Politics

2 w. ago DeepSeek’s V3.1 update sparks speculation over fate of next AI model

Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek has updated its foundational V3 model and removed references to its reasoning model R1 from its chatbot, prompting speculation about a shift in the company’s research focus. DeepSeek announced on Tuesday the release of the V3.1 model in a brief message to one of its WeChat user groups. The update expands the context window to 128k, allowing the model to hold more information – equivalent to a roughly 300-page book – during user interactions. The...

Politics

2 w. ago China’s DeepSeek Releases V3.1, Boosting AI Model’s Capabilities

China’s DeepSeek Releases V3.1, Boosting AI Model’s Capabilities  Bloomberg.com

Politics

3 w. ago Speculation grows on DeepSeek’s next AI model after OpenAI’s GPT

China’s leading artificial intelligence start-up, DeepSeek, finds itself at the centre of speculation about the release of its next-generation R2 reasoning model, following OpenAI’s launch of its GPT-5 model last week. DeepSeek – which made waves in the industry with its V3 model in December and the R1 model in January – has not introduced major updates to its products in the past months, aside from two minor revisions. While the market had expected DeepSeek to introduce a new foundation model...

Politics