2 h. ago Chinese EV maker Li Auto unveils industry’s cheapest AI glasses at US$282

Chinese electric vehicle maker Li Auto has launched its first wearable product, the Livis artificial intelligence glasses, marking a bold foray into the rapidly expanding market already crowded by tech giants like Alibaba Group Holding, Huawei Technologies and Xiaomi. The device is priced at 1,999 yuan (US$282), but buyers who place an order before December 31 qualify for a 15 per cent rebate via the government-backed subsidy programme, bringing down the price to 1,699 yuan. That effectively...

Politics

15 h. ago China’s Xiaomi says returns from AI investments ‘far exceed expectations’

Chinese tech firm Xiaomi reaped returns from its artificial intelligence spending in 2025 that “far exceeded expectations”, the company’s president Lu Weibing said in a recorded video posted on Chinese social media platform Douyin. Lu said the Beijing-based company was pivoting to embodied AI after heavy investment in general AI over the past few quarters. The Beijing-based company’s efforts to apply AI in electric vehicles (EVs) and robotics are similar to Elon Musk’s plan of using the advanced...

Politics

36 h. ago As Macron eyes China deals to revive industry, trade shows tables have turned

French President Emmanuel Macron has called on Chinese companies to invest in France and transfer know-how in emerging sectors like batteries, electric vehicles (EVs) and solar panels – highlighting growing concerns over the widening technological gap between the two countries. “We want to welcome more Chinese investment through projects and re-industrialisation strategies, and this is what will allow us to break the cycle we’re currently in,” he said on Thursday in Beijing, where he attended a...

Politics

4 d. ago Chinese schools offer ‘embodied intelligence’ courses to aid robotics industry

China is building a talent pipeline for the booming robotics industry, with the country’s top universities launching undergraduate courses in embodied intelligence to support Beijing’s ambitions to overtake the US. Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Zhejiang University were among a batch of seven prestigious universities that had recently applied to add “embodied intelligence” as a new course, China’s education ministry said in November. The new programme was driven by the demands of a national...

Events

4 d. ago Changan Auto becomes latest Chinese carmaker to join humanoid robot bandwagon

Chinese carmakers, which are increasingly deploying robots in factories, are now moving into humanoid robotics following US rival Tesla despite a warning from Beijing about a potential investment bubble. State-owned Changan Automobile has become the latest entrant into the sector. The Shenzhen-listed company planned to invest 225 million yuan (US$31.8 million) for a 50 per cent stake in Changan Tianshu Intelligent Robotics Technology, according to an exchange filing on Friday. The company...

Politics

5 d. ago Chinese Stocks Withstand Vanke Woes as Tech Becomes Key Driver

Chinese Stocks Withstand Vanke Woes as Tech Becomes Key Driver  Bloomberg.com

Politics

7 d. ago Toyota and Nissan Are Using Chinese Tech to Reclaim China’s Market

Toyota and Nissan Are Using Chinese Tech to Reclaim China’s Market  Autoblog

Politics

8 d. ago UBS remains bullish on Chinese tech but warns of big market swings in 2026

UBS has warned of greater market volatility next year, citing risks ranging from weaker-than-expected artificial intelligence revenue to geopolitical tensions, but the Swiss investment bank remains bullish about Chinese technology shares and gold. UBS identified five major market risks for next year: economic weakness, a resurgence of inflation, government debts, renewed US-China conflicts, and disappointing returns from AI after three years of heavy investment. “One point that we can be very...

Events

8 d. ago Xiaomi hires engineer from Tesla’s Optimus team to lead robotic hand development

Xiaomi has hired a former engineer from Tesla’s Optimus team, Zach Lu Zeyu, to join the Chinese tech giant’s robotics initiatives, as the talent grab in the industry intensifies. Lu, previously a senior robotics engineer focused on the Optimus humanoid robot, joined Xiaomi last month to lead the Beijing-based firm’s dexterous hand research and development operations, according to his LinkedIn page. During his two years at Tesla, Lu worked on the design for dexterous grasping and manipulation, as...

Politics

9 d. ago IDF swerves away from Chinese cars, driven by worries of spies lurking in everyday tech

IDF swerves away from Chinese cars, driven by worries of spies lurking in everyday tech  The Times of Israel

Transport

9 d. ago Alibaba to lead AI capital spending among Chinese firms amid strong demand

E-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding expects to stay ahead of its Chinese Big Tech peers in artificial intelligence-related capital expenditure, as the firm’s AI and cloud computing unit posted its fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth. Alibaba Cloud on Tuesday reported a 34 per cent year-on-year revenue growth to 39.8 billion yuan (US$5.6 billion) in the three months ended September 30, as the Hangzhou-based parent’s overall revenue in its financial second quarter reached...

Economics

1 week ago US, Chinese firms add AI shopping bells and whistles to dominate all

US and Chinese artificial intelligence players are ramping up integration of e-commerce solutions in their flagship consumer products in a race to become the “everything app” of the future. OpenAI on Monday unveiled a “shopping research” tool. The function, which can generate detailed shopping guides for ChatGPT users, comes just before the busy holiday shopping season and resembles popular AI shopping services on Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Tmall and Taobao of Alibaba Group Holding....

Economics

1 week ago Alibaba’s Qwen chatbot sets record by topping 10 million downloads in debut week

Alibaba Group Holding’s new multipurpose artificial intelligence app, Qwen, recorded more than 10 million downloads in the first week of its public beta launch, faster than OpenAI’s ChatGPT or DeepSeek, the company said on Monday. The strong debut of Qwen, launched last week, augured well for the Chinese tech conglomerate’s efforts to establish a major AI assistant that would rival the performance of Google’s Gemini chatbot and ChatGPT, both of which are not available on the mainland. The Hong...

Politics

1 week ago Wingtech says Nexperia’s headquarters remains silent on call for talks

Wingtech Technology, the Chinese owner of Nexperia, said it had received no meaningful reply after reaching out to the Dutch chipmaker’s headquarters for talks. “It is deeply regrettable and puzzling that, despite our utmost sincerity, the Dutch side of Nexperia has not made any substantive response to our proposal for communication,” Wingtech said on Sunday. The Shanghai-listed company did not disclose the details of its outreach efforts, but urged Nexperia’s headquarters to present “a...

Politics

2 w. ago Nexperia’s Chinese owner pledges to use ‘all legal means’ in fight for control

Wingtech Technology, the Chinese owner of Dutch chipmaker Nexperia, said it will use all possible legal means to take back control of the company, putting pressure on the Dutch government to do more to restore the rights of the Chinese shareholder. In a statement published a day after the Dutch government’s decision to suspend its intervention in Nexperia, Shanghai-listed Wingtech said the ruling made by the Dutch Enterprise Chamber on October 7, which deprived Wingtech of shareholder control...

Politics

2 w. ago Chinese tech giants from Kuaishou to Tencent reap early gains from big AI bets

Chinese technology powerhouses are beginning to reap early returns from their heavy investments in artificial intelligence, with quarterly results showing the impact across businesses from short video platforms like Kuaishou Technology to social media giants like Tencent Holdings. Kuaishou, China’s second-largest short video app and rival to TikTok’s Chinese sibling Douyin, was the latest to highlight gains from AI adoption. The company, in an earnings statement on Wednesday, attributed its...

Politics

2 w. ago Chinese crypto founders shelve US$500 million ether digital asset treasury plan

Some of China’s cryptocurrency heavyweights have called off a US$500 million ether digital asset treasury (DAT) project, as the broader crypto market remains in a slump, according to people familiar with the matter. The project was initiated earlier this year by Huobi founder Leon Li Lin, HashKey Group chairman and CEO Xiao Feng, Meitu co-founder Mike Cai Wensheng and Fenbushi Capital founder Bo Shen, who aimed to raise US$500 million to launch a DAT firm that would invest in the world’s...

Economics

2 w. ago Why US should adopt ‘Chinese approach’ in AI to avoid losing tech race: expert

Limiting AI use in military applications and ensuring global AI governance could ease collaboration and dialogue between China and the US as they vie for influence over the transformative technology, according to experts at a forum in Hong Kong on Monday. Their remarks came as artificial intelligence is being increasingly adopted in the defence sector, including for weapon-related functions. It raises serious ethical and accountability concerns, further elevates the US-China AI race to a...

Science

2 w. ago Europe refuses to be tech ‘vassal’ of China and US, France’s Macron says

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that Europe does not want to be a “vassal” that is dependent on US and Chinese tech companies, calling for a “European preference” in the sector. “Europe doesn’t want to be the client of the big entrepreneurs or the big solutions being provided either from the US or from China, we clearly want to design our own solutions,” Macron told a Berlin summit, adding that this stance represented “a refusal of being a vassal”. Macron was speaking at the...

Politics

2 w. ago Singapore says Chinese firm’s electric buses not equipped with remote tech

Singapore has 20 electric public buses by Chinese manufacturer Yutong Group, and none of these vehicles support any remote control functions, the Land Transport Authority said on Monday. LTA’s response came after Norway’s public transport operator Ruter found that Yutong had access to the buses’ control systems for software updates and diagnostics. This could allow the manufacturer to turn them off remotely. The discovery has also raised cybersecurity concerns, with Ruter saying earlier this...

Science