https://www.scmp.com/rss/323760/feed Based in Beijing, Jing covers the China tech scene for the Post. She writes a lot about artificial intelligence, robots and machines, but she cares more about people. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com In 2017, China told the world it planned to become a world leader in artificial intelligence (AI). Two years later, that promise came to dominate the Chinese, if not the global, conversation about technology. At a conference this past May, John Kerry, the former US secretary of state, said Chinese President Xi Jinping’s announcement was not the “wisest” move. “It would have probably been smart to go try to do it and not announce [the plan], because the announcement was heard in Washington and... https://www.scmp.com/tech/2019-was-year-chinese-artificial-intelligence-clashed-us/article/3043619?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/2019-was-year-chinese-artificial-intelligence-clashed-us/article/3043619?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Dec 2019 10:30:25 +0000 When Beijing declared plans to become the world leader in artificial intelligence (AI) in 2017, it alarmed the US and the rest of the world, according to former US secretary of state John Kerry. In a conference in May, Kerry said Chinese President Xi Jinping’s announcement was not the “wisest” move: “It would have probably been smart to go try to do it and not announce it, because the announcement was heard in Washington and elsewhere.” His words foreboded a storm approaching Chinese AI firms.... https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3043422/2019-was-year-ai-became-political-human-rights-and-trade-issue-where?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3043422/2019-was-year-ai-became-political-human-rights-and-trade-issue-where?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Dec 2019 23:00:06 +0000 The lack of high-quality data and shortage of hi-tech talent are preventing wider adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in China, which has become the world’s second largest market for the technology amid a tech and trade war with the US. China, which has laid out plans to become the global AI leader by 2030, is projected to have an AI market worth US$11.9 billion by 2023, up from an estimated US$4.5 billion this year, despite those issues, according to the 2019 China AI Development white... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3041254/lack-quality-data-tech-talent-hinder-wider-ai-adoption-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3041254/lack-quality-data-tech-talent-hinder-wider-ai-adoption-china?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Dec 2019 10:00:08 +0000 When China laid out plans to become the global leader in artificial intelligence (AI) by 2030, the world took notice. While Beijing itself has never given a clear figure on the scope of its total AI investment, many assumed that the world’s second-largest economy would back its national AI plan with the necessary resources. In 2017, the year China published its “Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan”, the country accounted for 48 per cent of total equity funding for AI... https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3040390/china-may-be-spending-far-less-ai-research-previously-thought-us-think?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3040390/china-may-be-spending-far-less-ai-research-previously-thought-us-think?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Dec 2019 23:45:13 +0000 Chinese tech giants are shaping United Nations’ standards for facial recognition as well as video monitoring, according to a Financial Times report based on leaked documents. China’s telecommunications equipment maker ZTE, security camera maker Dahua Technology and the state-owned Chinese telecommunication company China Telecom are among those proposing new international standards in the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for facial recognition, video monitoring, city and vehicle... https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3040164/chinese-tech-companies-are-shaping-un-facial-recognition-standards?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3040164/chinese-tech-companies-are-shaping-un-facial-recognition-standards?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Dec 2019 04:11:47 +0000 China has released new rules banning online video and audio providers from using deep learning to produce fake news, as countries around the world continue to battle online disinformation and so-called deepfake technology. The new regulation published on Friday said that both providers and users of online video news and audio services are not allowed to use new technologies such as deep learning and virtual reality to create, distribute and broadcast fake news. The regulation comes about... https://www.scmp.com/tech/apps-social/article/3039978/china-issues-new-rules-clamp-down-deepfake-technologies-used?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/apps-social/article/3039978/china-issues-new-rules-clamp-down-deepfake-technologies-used?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Nov 2019 14:30:05 +0000 Earlier waves of automation may have already taken the most repetitive jobs from the hands of factory workers, but the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution is likely to most affect better-educated and better-paid white-collar workers, many of them men, according to a study released on Wednesday. Brookings Institution researchers overlaid keywords in AI-related patents with job descriptions listed in the US government’s official occupational database to measure each job’s varying levels of... https://www.scmp.com/tech/science-research/article/3038773/men-and-better-paid-white-collar-workers-jobs-more-likely-be?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/science-research/article/3038773/men-and-better-paid-white-collar-workers-jobs-more-likely-be?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Nov 2019 23:00:09 +0000 Back in March 2016, an artificial intelligence (AI) programme developed by Google made headlines when it bested world Go champ Lee Se-dol in what has been called humanity’s most complex game. What few know is that to achieve the decisive victory, the AlphaGo programme had to be powered by nearly 2,000 central processing units (CPUs) and 300 graphics processing units (GPUs). The electricity bills were as high as US$3,000 a game at the time, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor... https://www.scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/3038734/brothers-behind-cambricon-chip-start-powering-chinas-ai-ambitions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/3038734/brothers-behind-cambricon-chip-start-powering-chinas-ai-ambitions?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Nov 2019 22:30:16 +0000 Mainland Chinese scientists have vaulted to No 2 position in an annual list which determines the “who’s who” of influential researchers across the world. According to the Web of Science Group’s list of Highly Cited Researchers released on Tuesday, 636 scientists from mainland China were “Highly Cited” compared to 482 last year. The list, which covers 21 fields including computing, agricultural and social science, includes those who produced multiple papers that ranked in the top 1 per cent in... https://www.scmp.com/tech/science-research/article/3038536/china-overtakes-britain-number-highly-cited-researchers-still?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/science-research/article/3038536/china-overtakes-britain-number-highly-cited-researchers-still?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Nov 2019 04:55:38 +0000 The US retained its top position as the country with the fastest supercomputers in the world but China extended its dominance in overall system numbers, according to the latest ranking of the Top500 fastest supercomputers published Monday. Summit and Sierra, two IBM-built supercomputers, maintained their top positions for the US, closely followed by China's Sunway TaihuLight supercomputer and Tianhe-2A, said the semi-annual list, which saw the top 10 systems unchanged from the previous ranking... https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3038344/china-expands-its-share-fastest-supercomputers-although-us-remains-no-1?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3038344/china-expands-its-share-fastest-supercomputers-although-us-remains-no-1?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Nov 2019 03:38:23 +0000 “You set up the business, I shoulder the risks.” It sounds too good to be true? It is no scam, but a real programme rolled out in China to encourage entrepreneurship. This start-up insurance scheme launched in Hangzhou offers up to 10 million yuan (US$1.4 million) to cover research and development costs in failed projects, as well as provide an allowance of up to 30,000 yuan each on living expenses for distressed entrepreneurs, according to a report by Chinese news agency Xinhua on Monday. The... https://www.scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/3037352/chinese-taxpayers-are-helping-underwrite-tech-start-risks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/3037352/chinese-taxpayers-are-helping-underwrite-tech-start-risks?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 12 Nov 2019 23:00:09 +0000 When Trump administration officials announced on October 7 that they were banning some of China’s most feted artificial intelligence and surveillance companies from buying US technology, the move caught Chinese policymakers off guard. Back in May, the US Commerce Department cited national security concerns when it barred Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from buying US technology. In its latest move, the Trump administration banned eight companies, including China’s AI national champions... https://www.scmp.com/tech/us-china-tech-war-ai-and-human-rights-embroiled-rivalry/article/3036713?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/us-china-tech-war-ai-and-human-rights-embroiled-rivalry/article/3036713?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Nov 2019 12:17:53 +0000 Baidu chief executive Robin Li expressed “more confidence” in the company’s 2020 outlook after the Chinese search giant reported better-than-expected results in the quarter ended September. “What’s especially noteworthy is that we achieved these positive results despite various economic uncertainties. This indicates the changes we initiated this year are paying off,” Li said in a letter circulated among employees on Thursday. “We have realised a balance between innovation, speed and efficiency,... https://www.scmp.com/tech/enterprises/article/3036671/baidu-ceo-robin-li-has-more-confidence-next-year-after-company?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/enterprises/article/3036671/baidu-ceo-robin-li-has-more-confidence-next-year-after-company?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Nov 2019 03:59:22 +0000 When Trump administration officials announced on October 7 that they were banning some of China’s most feted artificial intelligence and surveillance companies from buying US technology, the move caught Chinese policymakers off guard. Back in May, the Commerce Department cited national security concerns when it barred Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from buying US technology. In its latest move, the Trump administration banned eight companies, including China’s AI national champions... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3036593/how-ai-and-human-rights-have-been-dragged-us-china-tech-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3036593/how-ai-and-human-rights-have-been-dragged-us-china-tech-war?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Nov 2019 14:30:09 +0000 San Francisco-based GitLab, an open platform for developing and collaborating on coding, is looking at suspending new hiring for sensitive positions in China and Russia because of customer feedback in the “current geopolitical climate”. In a post published on GitLab’s website, one of the company’s executives said the venture wanted to enable a “job family country block” for team members who have access to customer data and singled out two countries involved in the decision – China and Russia.... https://www.scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/3036259/open-software-development-platform-gitlab-looks-suspending-new-hires?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/3036259/open-software-development-platform-gitlab-looks-suspending-new-hires?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Nov 2019 10:22:35 +0000 Zhou Xiaochuan, the former governor of China’s central bank, has warned that the development of artificial intelligence (AI) will have a huge impact on jobs, further increasing income inequality between skilled and unskilled workers. Zhou, who retired last year from the top job at the People’s Bank of China, said he expected that more and more people will “be moved out” from the industrial and manufacturing sectors because of changes brought by new technologies such as AI. “High quality talent... https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3036181/former-central-bank-chief-zhou-warns-ai-will-likely-increase-income?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3036181/former-central-bank-chief-zhou-warns-ai-will-likely-increase-income?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Nov 2019 03:55:13 +0000 TikTok has taken the world by storm mostly because it is fun, lighthearted and young. The viral short video app, wildly popular among teenagers, has finally received some serious attention from adults though - of the unwanted kind. In a letter addressed to the US national security director on Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, are calling on intelligence officials to assess the potential risks posed by TikTok, an app owned by China’s... https://www.scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/3034618/if-tiktok-new-us-bogeyman-what-does-mean-bytedances-overseas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/3034618/if-tiktok-new-us-bogeyman-what-does-mean-bytedances-overseas?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Oct 2019 20:00:11 +0000 The China operation of British chip software firm ARM said on Wednesday it would continue to supply Chinese partners, a move that takes some of the pressure off a growing number of companies including Huawei Technologies, which are restricted from purchasing vital US semiconductor technology. Allen Wu, chief executive of ARM China, said the company would keep licensing its technologies and providing service support to Chinese customers after an assessment by its legal department concluded that... https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3034246/uk-chip-software-company-arm-says-it-will-continue-work-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3034246/uk-chip-software-company-arm-says-it-will-continue-work-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Oct 2019 22:30:12 +0000 US efforts to sanction some of China’s biggest and most successful companies in telecommunication and artificial intelligence (AI) will not hurt “the fundamentals” of the country’s science and technology development, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said. MIIT spokesman Huang Libin said on Tuesday that while some industries and exports have seen an impact from a decision by Washington to ban the sale of US technology to some companies, these short-term fluctuations won’t... https://www.scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/3034056/us-blockades-wont-hurt-fundamentals-chinas-science-and-technology?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/start-ups/article/3034056/us-blockades-wont-hurt-fundamentals-chinas-science-and-technology?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Oct 2019 09:29:22 +0000 China is expected to be a front-runner in the roll-out of commercial 5G services with an estimated 600 million 5G subscribers by 2025, according to a trade body, as Beijing presses ahead with its plans to lead the next-generation wireless technology. The 600 million users by 2025 would give China an estimated 40 per cent share of the total number of global subscribers, according to a forecast by GSMA, a London-based trade body that represents the interests of mobile network operators... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3033973/china-expected-have-600-million-5g-users-2025-or-40-pc-world-total?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3033973/china-expected-have-600-million-5g-users-2025-or-40-pc-world-total?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Oct 2019 04:07:45 +0000 Technology companies have long been among the most generous with employee perks, dangling carrots ranging from unlimited leave to free meals. The reasoning was that hiring the best talent was hard, keeping them was even harder in an ultra-competitive industry and required more than just a relaxed dress code and stock options. In China, tech companies have been known to send employees to Europe for team building exercises. Others hand out the latest iPhones to employees as a reward. The flip side... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3033160/baidu-urges-staff-be-frugal-criticises-first-class-travel-five-star?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3033160/baidu-urges-staff-be-frugal-criticises-first-class-travel-five-star?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Oct 2019 11:00:08 +0000 China’s telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies made headlines last week when its founder and chief executive, Ren Zhengfei, offered to help the United States build a competing 5G company – exclusively licensing its entire portfolio of 5G wireless technology, hardware and source code alike – that could develop its own large-scale market. However, analysts said, Ren apparently overlooked one problem: the lack of US interest. Huawei offers 5G tech to create ‘strong competitor’ in US “It is an... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3031335/huawei-has-plan-create-telecoms-rival-us-washington-wont-be-buying-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3031335/huawei-has-plan-create-telecoms-rival-us-washington-wont-be-buying-it?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Oct 2019 13:30:06 +0000 Today’s iPhone has 100,000 times the processing power of the Apollo computer that landed humankind on the moon 50 years ago, while costing a tiny fraction of the Nasa machine. This is down to Moore’s Law, the observation by one of the founders of Intel, a chip maker, that computing power doubles every two years. That this correlation has held for five decades helps to explain China’s position on the proverbial hamster wheel – never quite catching up in semiconductor technology. As a relative... https://www.scmp.com/tech/china-sees-chance-overtake-us-ai-chips/article/3030130?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/china-sees-chance-overtake-us-ai-chips/article/3030130?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Sep 2019 10:24:59 +0000 The US government may need to adopt Beijing’s policy of supporting corporate champions, and work with allies, in order to create alternatives to Chinese 5G wireless technology, a ranking senator said on Monday. Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat representing Virginia and vice-chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said that the US should consider taking a “dramatic, different approach”, including an interventionist industrial policy, to create American companies able to compete... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3030050/senator-mark-warner-says-us-government-should-consider-chinas-approach?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3030050/senator-mark-warner-says-us-government-should-consider-chinas-approach?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Sep 2019 22:36:50 +0000 Brian Shan says the way he views the world has been reshaped since he arrived in the United States to study seven years ago. The 30-year-old Beijing native, working on a PhD in materials engineering at an Ivy League university, has come to accept that same-sex marriage is no different from men marrying women. He gets news from both CNN and China’s state-backed People’s Daily and uses social media platforms both within and beyond China’s Great Firewall. His broad exposure to US culture has... https://www.scmp.com/politics/why-chinese-students-us-dont-support-hong-kong-protesters/article/3029640?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/politics/why-chinese-students-us-dont-support-hong-kong-protesters/article/3029640?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Sep 2019 09:31:52 +0000 Brian Shan says the way he views the world has been reshaped since he arrived in the United States to study seven years ago. The 30-year-old Beijing native, working on a PhD in materials engineering at an Ivy League university, has come to understand that walking naked in Times Square could be a freedom-of-expression gesture. He accepts that same-sex marriage is no different from men marrying women. He gets news from both CNN and China’s state-backed People’s Daily and navigates on social media... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3028213/when-prosperity-trumps-demands-democracy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3028213/when-prosperity-trumps-demands-democracy?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Sep 2019 21:58:52 +0000 Today’s iPhone has 100,000 times the processing power of the Apollo computer that landed humankind on the moon 50 years ago while costing a tiny fraction of the Nasa machine. This is down to Moore’s Law, the observation by one of the founders of Intel, a chip maker, that computing power doubles every two years. That this correlation has held for five decades helps to explain China’s position on the proverbial hamster wheel – never quite catching up in semiconductor technology. As a relative... https://www.scmp.com/tech/enterprises/article/3027775/lagging-semiconductors-china-sees-chance-overtake-us-ai-chips-5g?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/enterprises/article/3027775/lagging-semiconductors-china-sees-chance-overtake-us-ai-chips-5g?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Sep 2019 14:00:11 +0000 US President Donald Trump’s head of technology policy on Tuesday called for “collective power” from both the US government and America’s private sector to keep the United States ahead of China in the tightening race for global artificial intelligence dominance. US Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios said at a Washington think tank event that although the US is currently the leader in the worldwide AI competition, China is narrowing the gap quickly. “Our goal is very clear, the unique... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3026621/us-tech-chief-china-threatening-americas-lead-global-artificial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3026621/us-tech-chief-china-threatening-americas-lead-global-artificial?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Sep 2019 22:06:45 +0000 This story was produced jointly by the South China Morning Post and the Miami Herald, with reporting from China and the US. When Zhang Yujing, protagonist of the “Mar-a-Lago intruder” case, listed Prison Break among her favourite TV shows on a long-inactive social media account, the prospect that she herself could one day face years behind bars in the US must have seemed unlikely, if not unthinkable. Back in 2008, fresh out of university, she would take to the Chinese social network Renren to... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3025956/naive-tourist-bumbling-spy-months-after-her-arrest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3025956/naive-tourist-bumbling-spy-months-after-her-arrest?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Sep 2019 13:00:07 +0000 Zen Soo,Meng Jing Zen Soo,Meng Jing For the anti-government protesters in Hong Kong, privacy is a priority. The cautious steps they have taken to protect their identities include wearing masks on the streets, paying for single-trip MTR fares with cash and using encrypted messaging apps. Telegram, the most widely used app for the city’s protesters to organise and disseminate information, is moving to provide additional layers of anonymity to its users – from a new security setting that would effectively conceal their mobile phone... https://www.scmp.com/tech/apps-social/article/3025546/heres-what-telegram-and-its-own-cryptocurrency-mean-protest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/apps-social/article/3025546/heres-what-telegram-and-its-own-cryptocurrency-mean-protest?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Sep 2019 23:00:14 +0000 US-China trade friction is dampening the outlook for American companies operating in China, hurting their ability to compete in one of the world’s top markets, according to the results of the annual US-China Business Council member survey, released on Thursday. Twenty-six per cent of respondents said they expected revenue from China to decline in the current year, a record high for this question in the 19-year history of the survey. More than 80 per cent of the surveyed companies – 8 per cent... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3024984/us-companies-china-optimism-dips-trade-tension-more-expecting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3024984/us-companies-china-optimism-dips-trade-tension-more-expecting?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Aug 2019 17:33:50 +0000 China has long been aware of the need to develop a strong semiconductor industry of its own. The recent trade war with the US, which threatens to cut off critical access to US components for national tech champions, has added extra urgency. What many people might not be aware of is that China was close to the US in the 1960s when it came to early semiconductor technology – so close that it had a fighting chance of leading the industry. However, a combination of political upheaval and misguided... https://www.scmp.com/tech/how-china-squandered-chances-build-its-own-chip-industry/article/3024874?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/how-china-squandered-chances-build-its-own-chip-industry/article/3024874?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Aug 2019 10:03:23 +0000 China is self-sufficient in nuclear power generation, it has put a man in space and it is leading in many areas of artificial intelligence. But when it comes to semiconductor production, it remains woefully behind, spending more on imports of the chips that power the electronic gadgets, PCs and military equipment around us today than it does on oil. Semiconductor design and production is a notoriously complex business, involving decades of expertise and extreme precision – get it slightly wrong... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3024687/how-china-still-paying-price-squandering-its-chance-build-home-grown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3024687/how-china-still-paying-price-squandering-its-chance-build-home-grown?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Aug 2019 13:00:06 +0000 Business trips to the US by mainland Chinese appear on track to decline in 2019 after years of growth, as escalating trade tensions bite deeper into China’s economy and worsen business ties between the world’s top two economies. The arrivals by mainland Chinese business travellers dropped 1.9 per cent year on year in the first six months of 2019, the first such downturn since 2011, according to US Commerce Department data. The decline comes amid a trade war that started in July 2018 and sharply... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3024627/another-trade-war-toll-number-mainland-chinese-business?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3024627/another-trade-war-toll-number-mainland-chinese-business?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Aug 2019 22:33:58 +0000 China’s heavy dependence on foreign chips has worried Beijing for decades. Just like Washington thinks including Chinese vendors in its telecoms network could pose a national security threat, Beijing also believes that a reliance on Western chips is a sword hanging over the head of its booming digital economy. The desire to cut reliance on foreign chips and become a global leader in the semiconductor industry has never been stronger in Beijing than it is now. The urgency around the issue has... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-leaders-and-founders/article/3024040/are-chinas-investments-semiconductors-all-naught-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-leaders-and-founders/article/3024040/are-chinas-investments-semiconductors-all-naught-us?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Aug 2019 22:00:11 +0000 China on Saturday said it would continue fighting the trade war with the US “until the end” after the two sides slapped further tariffs on each other’s goods. The commerce ministry issued a statement calling on Washington not to “misjudge the situation and underestimate the determination of Chinese people” after US President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on Chinese imports. “The US should immediately stop its wrong action, or it will have to bear all consequences,” the statement said. A... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3024186/trump-raises-tariffs-us250-billion-chinese-imports-30-cent-25?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3024186/trump-raises-tariffs-us250-billion-chinese-imports-30-cent-25?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Aug 2019 21:26:59 +0000 Huawei Technologies has unveiled a new high-end artificial intelligence (AI) chip for servers, bidding to grow its share of the booming cloud services market even as the world’s largest network equipment vendor battles a US trade ban. Ascend 910, an AI processor first mentioned by Huawei in Shanghai last year, is the “world’s most powerful AI processor” targeted at AI model training, the company said in a press release on Friday. Huawei added that it sees AI as a “general purpose technology”... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3024064/huawei-unveils-new-ai-chip-aimed-growing-its-share-booming-cloud?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3024064/huawei-unveils-new-ai-chip-aimed-growing-its-share-booming-cloud?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Aug 2019 07:05:57 +0000 Cici Zuo is working seven days a week to raise the necessary funding to expand and diversify her start-up software firm and its Asian-focused customer base in the US. But she has been running into walls, primarily because her team is too Chinese, which in the current environment is increasingly interpreted as a national security threat. With more American investors staying away from projects with China ties and Chinese investors becoming reluctant to jump through hoops to invest in the US, Zuo... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3023981/start-ups-are-caught-middle-us-china-tech-cold-war-investors-pull-back?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3023981/start-ups-are-caught-middle-us-china-tech-cold-war-investors-pull-back?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Aug 2019 14:45:17 +0000 The US government on Monday gave China’s Huawei Technologies a 90-day extension to the reprieve that lets the company continue to do business with American counterparts, a move that US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said he made to prevent disruption at some rural US telecom networks. That reprieve was to have expired on Monday, but is now extended until November 19. In making the announcement, the US Commerce Department also said that more Huawei affiliates would be subject to the underlying... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3023470/huawei-wins-90-day-reprieve-us-supply-ban?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3023470/huawei-wins-90-day-reprieve-us-supply-ban?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Aug 2019 13:10:03 +0000 The US Treasury took in US$6 billion in revenue from tariffs in June, new government data shows. But that cost has been passed on to American businesses and consumers, according to a group critical of the duties US President Donald Trump has imposed as part of the trade war with China. A report released on Wednesday by Tariffs Hurt the Heartland, a coalition of businesses and trade organisations opposed to the tariffs, said its analysis showed a 74 per cent increase in June tariffs year-on-year.... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3021890/donald-trumps-china-tariffs-cost-american-businesses-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3021890/donald-trumps-china-tariffs-cost-american-businesses-and?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Aug 2019 23:09:15 +0000 US technology giant Apple saw an improvement in its China business in the past quarter even though global iPhone sales fell to less than 50 per cent of total revenue for the first time in seven years. The Cupertino, California-based company on Tuesday reported revenue of US$53.8 billion for the April-June period, up 1 per cent from the same period a year ago and beating Wall Street estimates. CEO Tim Cook shrugged off news that iPhone sales fell to 48.3 per cent of overall revenue, saying it... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3020757/apples-sales-performance-china-recovers-ceo-tim-cook-says-mac?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3020757/apples-sales-performance-china-recovers-ceo-tim-cook-says-mac?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 31 Jul 2019 04:27:13 +0000 A US education official on Tuesday accused China’s state-controlled media of painting an “inaccurate picture” of the hardships Chinese students are said to face living and studying in the US, stressing that Chinese students are welcome in America. “The United States continues to admit qualified Chinese students for study at US colleges and universities,” Marie Royce, the assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs, told the annual EducationUSA Forum in Washington. “Contrary... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3020728/chinese-students-are-welcome-america-us-education-official?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3020728/chinese-students-are-welcome-america-us-education-official?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Jul 2019 23:30:58 +0000 Just who is leading the race to win the emerging telecommunications revolution, otherwise known as 5G? That all depends on whom you ask. Larry Kudlow, US President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser, insists that the United States is ahead of China. That conclusion, however, is either too simplistic, misleading, or flat-out wrong, depending on the analyst. Even the US government’s own Defence Innovation Board, which provides independent advice to the Secretary of Defence, has said... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3020139/top-trump-adviser-says-us-leads-5g-race-others?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3020139/top-trump-adviser-says-us-leads-5g-race-others?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Jul 2019 22:04:23 +0000 To get where she is today, Sun Ling has beaten long odds. Born in a rural hamlet in central China’s Hunan province, Sun shot to Chinese social media stardom for her rags-to-relative-comfort career trajectory. Her story begins in a household of such modest means that her mother had to sell blood to make ends meet and a primary school education interrupted by the need for her hands in the family’s fields. She has no fancy college degree, having gone to work on the assembly line at a Shenzhen... https://www.scmp.com/society/farming-coding-google-sun-lings-story-lights-chinas-internet/article/3019269?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/farming-coding-google-sun-lings-story-lights-chinas-internet/article/3019269?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Jul 2019 10:20:22 +0000 To get where she is today, Sun Ling has beaten very long odds. Born in a rural hamlet in central China’s Hunan province, Sun shot to Chinese social media stardom for her rags-to-relative-comfort career trajectory. Her story begins in a household of such modest means that her mother had to sell blood to make ends meet and a primary school education interrupted by the need for her hands in the family’s fields. She has no fancy college degree, having gone to work on the assembly line at a Shenzhen... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3019180/google-software-engineer-sun-ling-shares-her-story-upward?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3019180/google-software-engineer-sun-ling-shares-her-story-upward?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Jul 2019 15:00:15 +0000 Ruan Long works as an internet professional in Beijing but even he was surprised at some of the unexpected uses of the smart speaker he recently brought home. Ruan’s second child, an 18-month-old toddler, has already been interacting with the gadget, though he is unable to recite the full names of songs, like his grandparents can. “At first, the smart speaker ignored him most of the time, as he would mumble the wake-up word ‘Xiaodu’ as ‘Aodu’,” he said. When it comes to Ruan’s elder daughter, a... https://www.scmp.com/tech/enterprises/article/3018987/chinas-internet-giants-fight-dominance-smart-speakers-they-target?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/enterprises/article/3018987/chinas-internet-giants-fight-dominance-smart-speakers-they-target?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Jul 2019 00:00:10 +0000 In this dawning age of artificial intelligence (AI), data is the new oil and China is the new Opec. But a new report released on Tuesday suggests that the staggering amount of data generated by China’s 1.4 billion population may not be as big an advantage in the global AI competition as it was thought to be. The report by MacroPolo, the in-house think tank at the Paulson Institute in Chicago, argues that data is not a single-dimensional resource for AI and despite China’s formidable data... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3019067/think-chinas-data-unbeatable-ai-advantage-new-report-thinks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3019067/think-chinas-data-unbeatable-ai-advantage-new-report-thinks?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Jul 2019 21:04:18 +0000 US President Donald Trump has once again put Google in his crosshairs, saying on Tuesday that his administration would look into what he claimed were “seemingly treasonous” ties between the tech giant and China. The statement, tweeted by Trump on Tuesday morning, came after Silicon Valley investor Peter Thiel said on Sunday that Alphabet’s Google unit was working with the Chinese government instead of the US military and called for the FBI and CIA to investigate the company. Thiel, who is a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3018898/donald-trump-promises-pursue-peter-thiels-claim-google-has?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3018898/donald-trump-promises-pursue-peter-thiels-claim-google-has?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Jul 2019 20:50:01 +0000 China’s DJI Technologies, the world’s largest manufacturer of drones, announced on Tuesday that high-security drone technology on two new models had won clearance from US regulators. DJI, based in Shenzhen, said that its high-security drones, intended for government use and known as Government Edition, had received clearance from the US Department of the Interior, which is responsible for evaluating and approving drone technology for use across a wide range of applications. “The Department... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3017951/chinese-maker-drones-wins-us-clearance-new-high-security-models?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3017951/chinese-maker-drones-wins-us-clearance-new-high-security-models?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Jul 2019 23:13:31 +0000 Almost a year after a fake Twitter account was established in his name, the Chinese ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, has officially joined the American social media site. In a tweet posted just after 6am Washington time on Monday, Cui – using the handle @AmbCuiTiankai – wrote that he has turned to Twitter, which is blocked in his home country, as a way of “engaging with more American people”. I'm pleased to join Twitter and look forward to engaging with more American people. Feel... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3017790/time-it-looks-authentic-chinese-ambassador-us-cui-tiankai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3017790/time-it-looks-authentic-chinese-ambassador-us-cui-tiankai?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Jul 2019 23:22:20 +0000