https://www.scmp.com/rss/508727/feed en https://assets-v2.i-scmp.com/production/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Minxiao Chang Minxiao Chang Chinese artificial intelligence models led by Moonshot AI’s Kimi family accounted for nearly nine-tenths of estimated global enterprise spending on open-source systems, according to a new study, even though proprietary US rivals continue to capture the vast majority of overall revenue. The report, released this week by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Menlo Ventures, said Chinese AI systems accounted for 89 per cent of global enterprise spending on open-source models. Kimi led with a 61 per... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3373550/chinas-ai-models-led-kimi-dominate-open-source-enterprise-spending https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3373550/chinas-ai-models-led-kimi-dominate-open-source-enterprise-spending Fri, 06 Nov 2026 13:30:09 +0000 Chong Ming Lee,Mia Nurmamat Chong Ming Lee,Mia Nurmamat Elon Musk bet nearly half a billion dollars that political spending could keep Washington friendly to his sprawling business empire. On Tuesday, that bet came up short. As Democrats recaptured control of the US Congress in the midterm elections, the world’s richest man found himself facing an abruptly altered political landscape. After pouring a record-breaking US$474 million into political groups – overwhelmingly backing Republicans – Musk now faces a divided Washington keen to examine his... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3373422/after-us474m-gamble-flops-what-happens-now-elon-musks-tesla-spacex-and-china-ties https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3373422/after-us474m-gamble-flops-what-happens-now-elon-musks-tesla-spacex-and-china-ties Thu, 05 Nov 2026 15:00:08 +0000 Ann Cao Ann Cao China’s second-largest contract chipmaker, Hua Hong Grace Semiconductor, is aggressively expanding into silicon photonics, as the company looks to capture the next wave of the global artificial intelligence infrastructure boom. Speaking on an earnings call with analysts on Thursday, Hua Hong chairman and president Bai Peng said the company planned to significantly expand its footprint in silicon photonics – a critical technology used in AI optical modules – during its next major capacity... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3373445/chinese-chipmaker-hua-hong-bets-big-silicon-photonics-amid-ai-boom https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3373445/chinese-chipmaker-hua-hong-bets-big-silicon-photonics-amid-ai-boom Thu, 05 Nov 2026 13:27:39 +0000 Iris Deng Iris Deng Huawei Technologies has launched its first desktop computer powered by its proprietary operating system, HarmonyOS, touting the device as “100 per cent domestically made” in its latest push for technological self-reliance. The Shenzhen-based company on Thursday unveiled its Qinyun HM650 series desktop computers for enterprise and government users, powered by the self-developed Kirin X90 processor, which debuted in Huawei’s consumer laptops and tablets last year. The tech giant said the new... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3373435/no-intel-no-qualcomm-huawei-unveils-desktop-built-entirely-china-made-components https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3373435/no-intel-no-qualcomm-huawei-unveils-desktop-built-entirely-china-made-components Thu, 05 Nov 2026 13:15:05 +0000 Ann Cao,Sylvia Ma Ann Cao,Sylvia Ma Robots developed by Chinese humanoid maker Unitree Robotics can now paint pictures and play chess without any prior training, relying on frontier AI models to navigate complex physical tasks, according to founder and CEO Wang Xingxing. Speaking on Thursday at the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, Wang said Unitree’s machines, powered by OpenAI’s GPT-6, were capable of executing intricate robotic sequences, such as dynamically replacing brush water and blending pigments, guided... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3373423/powered-gpt-6-unitree-humanoid-robots-master-painting-chess-without-training-says-ceo https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3373423/powered-gpt-6-unitree-humanoid-robots-master-painting-chess-without-training-says-ceo Thu, 05 Nov 2026 11:00:23 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow The Democratic Party’s sweeping midterm election victory and takeover of both houses of Congress could slow down the pace of artificial intelligence development in the US, with implications for both the global AI trade and the technology rivalry between Washington and Beijing, analysts said. The assessment comes as concerns about AI and the data centres that power it proved to be a contributing factor in the backlash against the Republican Party and US President Donald Trump, a vocal supporter... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3373295/how-democratic-sweep-could-slow-ai-growth-us-and-help-chinas-ambitions https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3373295/how-democratic-sweep-could-slow-ai-growth-us-and-help-chinas-ambitions Wed, 04 Nov 2026 15:00:08 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow DeepSeek is committed to open-source artificial intelligence to accelerate the arrival of artificial general intelligence (AGI), even if it heightens safety risks, a company engineer says, defying growing safety concerns from the US and scrutiny in China over whether the strategy poses national security risks. Speaking on Tuesday on an AI panel at the World Internet Conference (WIC) in Wuzhen, DeepSeek engineer Gao Xi said open-source development promoted shared innovations and technical... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3373262/deepseek-engineer-defends-push-open-source-ai-smarter-humans-despite-higher-risks https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3373262/deepseek-engineer-defends-push-open-source-ai-smarter-humans-despite-higher-risks Wed, 04 Nov 2026 12:00:10 +0000 Iris Deng Iris Deng Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings has rolled out its latest flagship artificial intelligence model, Hy4, seeking to challenge top open-weight rivals with enhanced agentic capabilities built to power its enterprise software ecosystem. Released on Wednesday, the large language model (LLM) introduced visual understanding for the first time. Hy4 could process images, analyse complex charts and conduct visual mathematical reasoning, according to the Shenzhen-based company. Tencent said the release... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3373227/tencent-unveils-hy4-open-weight-ai-race-deepseek-zai-alibaba-heats https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3373227/tencent-unveils-hy4-open-weight-ai-race-deepseek-zai-alibaba-heats Wed, 04 Nov 2026 07:01:09 +0000 Minxiao Chang Minxiao Chang For autonomous vehicles, the hardest lessons to learn are the ones that can test the skills of even the most experienced human drivers: an errant cyclist darting through a red light, or an animal bolting into oncoming traffic from behind a corner. The Chinese tech giant Baidu has developed a new AI-driven simulator to prepare its Apollo robotaxis for just such rare but high-stakes road hazards, as the firm looks to gain an edge in the fast-growing self-driving taxi market. The system, Apollo... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3373173/baidus-new-ai-simulator-gives-robotaxis-crash-course-rare-road-hazards https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3373173/baidus-new-ai-simulator-gives-robotaxis-crash-course-rare-road-hazards Wed, 04 Nov 2026 01:30:05 +0000 Ann Cao Ann Cao Open source is the only viable path to creating a sustainable artificial intelligence industry, Alibaba Group Holding chairman Joe Tsai said on Tuesday, as the Chinese technology giant doubles down on its open-source AI strategy. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the annual World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, Tsai pointed to a growing convergence around open ecosystems among domestic tech companies, as surging AI demand rubs up against persistent... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3373155/alibabas-joe-tsai-champions-open-source-ai-wuzhen-summit-amid-us-pushback https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3373155/alibabas-joe-tsai-champions-open-source-ai-wuzhen-summit-amid-us-pushback Tue, 03 Nov 2026 12:00:17 +0000 SCMP Plus SCMP Plus Alan Macfarlane, a British anthropologist, historian and Emeritus Professor at the University of Cambridge, known as “Grandpa Cute” in China, answered questions at an SCMP Plus exclusive in-person event in Hong Kong on October 26. https://www.scmp.com/plus/tech/tech-trends/article/3373080/scmp-plus-fireside-chat-about-ai-professor-alan-macfarlane https://www.scmp.com/plus/tech/tech-trends/article/3373080/scmp-plus-fireside-chat-about-ai-professor-alan-macfarlane Tue, 03 Nov 2026 06:40:34 +0000 Mia Nurmamat Mia Nurmamat China’s “Lipstick King” has traded make-up swatches for artificial intelligence. Top live-streamer Li Jiaqi on Monday evening teamed up with an executive from Alibaba Group Holding to pitch AI subscriptions, selling nearly 100,000 monthly packages in just 30 minutes, according to data provided by the e-commerce giant. The broadcast on Taobao and Tmall – Alibaba’s largest domestic online marketplace – marked the first time generative AI products have taken centre stage during the annual Singles’... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3373090/chinas-lipstick-king-hawks-tokens-ai-gets-mass-market-singles-day-push https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3373090/chinas-lipstick-king-hawks-tokens-ai-gets-mass-market-singles-day-push Tue, 03 Nov 2026 06:30:09 +0000 Ann Cao Ann Cao Empyrean Technology, China’s top provider of electronic design automation (EDA) tools, plans to acquire a majority stake in a domestic start-up, reinforcing Beijing’s drive for tech self-sufficiency and bolstering support for Huawei Technologies’ semiconductor ambitions. The Beijing-based firm said in a Shenzhen Stock Exchange filing on Sunday that it would acquire a 50.38 per cent stake in Easy-Logic Technology for 218.8 million yuan (US$33 million). Once completed, the start-up would be... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3373005/chinas-eda-champion-buys-start-address-weak-link-support-huaweis-tau-scaling-law https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3373005/chinas-eda-champion-buys-start-address-weak-link-support-huaweis-tau-scaling-law Mon, 02 Nov 2026 13:30:12 +0000 Chong Ming Lee Chong Ming Lee For the first time, the amount of inference data generated by artificial intelligence systems in China has surpassed the amount of data used to train those systems, according to a new government-backed report, illustrating how the country is increasingly adopting AI at scale. The report released on Saturday by the China Centre for Information Industry Development (CCID), which operates under China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), cited recent official data showing that... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3372961/china-touts-ai-milestone-running-models-now-uses-more-data-training-them https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3372961/china-touts-ai-milestone-running-models-now-uses-more-data-training-them Mon, 02 Nov 2026 07:00:23 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow Using artificial intelligence to build even smarter systems will make artificial general intelligence (AGI) more achievable, though it would need to be done safely, leading Chinese computer scientist Tang Jie said at an event in Shanghai on Saturday. The remarks underscore how AI companies in the US and China are both chasing the holy grail of recursive self-improvement (RSI), where increasingly powerful AI systems also become better at improving themselves in an ever-accelerating... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3372834/self-improving-ai-key-step-towards-agi-safety-key-zai-founder https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3372834/self-improving-ai-key-step-towards-agi-safety-key-zai-founder Sun, 01 Nov 2026 12:00:19 +0000 Minxiao Chang Minxiao Chang After spending three months in a coma following a brain haemorrhage, a patient in China has regained the ability to speak, eat and walk with support – part of an early clinical trial using targeted sound waves to help “wake up” severely damaged brains, according to state media. The technology, developed by a coalition including the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, used focused ultrasound waves to stimulate regions deep within the brain without requiring... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3372779/china-joins-global-race-reawaken-brain-injury-patients-through-ultrasound-therapy https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3372779/china-joins-global-race-reawaken-brain-injury-patients-through-ultrasound-therapy Sat, 31 Oct 2026 07:00:06 +0000 Ann Cao,Vincent Chow Ann Cao,Vincent Chow Artificial intelligence is no longer merely the driving force behind global semiconductor demand, but is also actively reinventing how chips are designed and built, industry leaders and scientists said at a major science forum in Shanghai on Friday. Chen Yunji, co-founder of AI chipmaker Cambricon Technologies, predicted that the integration between AI and chip design would eventually automate the chip design process entirely. “In the [next] 10 years, the most important development … is the RSI... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3372774/ai-fuelled-advanced-chips-set-power-semiconductor-manufacturing-industry-veteran https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3372774/ai-fuelled-advanced-chips-set-power-semiconductor-manufacturing-industry-veteran Fri, 30 Oct 2026 12:59:39 +0000 Howard Liu Howard Liu Soaring artificial intelligence revenues have failed to shield Intel, Amazon and Google’s parent company Alphabet from a brutal Wall Street sell-off, as their latest quarterly results deepened investor jitters over mounting capital spending and delayed returns. Intel plunged about 23 per cent in extended trading on Thursday, while Amazon shed 7.3 per cent. Alphabet tumbled 12.6 per cent during the regular session in its worst day on record, dragging the Nasdaq Composite down 1.4 per cent and... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3372737/amid-brutal-sell-what-comes-next-google-amazon-and-other-big-tech-titans https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3372737/amid-brutal-sell-what-comes-next-google-amazon-and-other-big-tech-titans Fri, 30 Oct 2026 09:44:46 +0000 Howard Liu Howard Liu Shares of major Chinese optical communications suppliers slumped on Friday before clawing back some of their losses, extending a two-day sell-off despite upbeat third-quarter earnings driven by the global artificial intelligence infrastructure boom. Chengdu-based Eoptolink Technology closed 14.2 per cent lower at 196.00 yuan in Shenzhen on Friday, while Suzhou TFC Communication slid 8.4 per cent to 148.00 yuan and industry leader Zhongji Innolight fell 5 per cent to 553.00 yuan. The losses... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3372672/chinas-optical-suppliers-extend-sell-fears-slower-ai-growth-trump-upbeat-earnings https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3372672/chinas-optical-suppliers-extend-sell-fears-slower-ai-growth-trump-upbeat-earnings Fri, 30 Oct 2026 04:27:35 +0000 Iris Deng,Ben Jiang Iris Deng,Ben Jiang Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings is using Southeast Asia as a launch pad to take its “cost-effective” artificial intelligence tools global, fronted by its workplace assistant WorkBuddy, amid cutthroat competition at home. The company was targeting existing regional customers of its cloud computing and big data services, particularly in markets such as Indonesia, according to Dowson Tong, CEO of Tencent’s Cloud and Smart Industries Group. The international push coincided with triple-digit... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3372550/tencent-targets-southeast-asia-launch-pad-ai-agent-workbuddy-amid-tough-local-market https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3372550/tencent-targets-southeast-asia-launch-pad-ai-agent-workbuddy-amid-tough-local-market Thu, 29 Oct 2026 07:30:10 +0000 Howard Liu Howard Liu Shares of Chinese semiconductor suppliers Biwin Storage Technology and Moore Threads tumbled on Thursday alongside a broader rout in mainland technology stocks, despite blockbuster third-quarter revenue driven by strong artificial intelligence demand. Both stocks plunged more than 10 per cent during Thursday morning trading, reversing Wednesday’s rallies of 8.4 per cent for Biwin and 5.8 per cent for Moore Threads. By the end of the day, Biwin was down 15.79 per cent and Moore Threads was down... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3372535/google-supplier-biwin-gpu-leader-moore-threads-see-stocks-plunge-despite-revenue-surge https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3372535/google-supplier-biwin-gpu-leader-moore-threads-see-stocks-plunge-despite-revenue-surge Thu, 29 Oct 2026 05:35:00 +0000 Iris Deng Iris Deng Shen Jiaoqi, a banker living in southern China’s Guangdong province, cannot stop watching microdramas. The shows are so addictive that she sometimes spends entire days gazing at her phone. One time, she even kept watching while she showered. “Honestly, I was watching for the eye candy rather than the plots,” she said. “The AI has really made the characters look stunning.” Shen is far from alone. Microdramas have exploded in popularity in China over the past few years, offering viewers a quick... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3372463/chinas-microdrama-war-heats-tencent-bytedance-fight-eyeballs https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3372463/chinas-microdrama-war-heats-tencent-bytedance-fight-eyeballs Thu, 29 Oct 2026 02:00:06 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow Leading Chinese robotics company Unitree Robotics on Wednesday reported a 69.93 per cent year-on-year increase in quarterly revenue to 665 million yuan (US$99.7 million), though net profits excluding non-recurring items fell 17.42 per cent to 105 million yuan, as the company released its first earnings since going public. The results for the three months ending September 30 showed a continued surge in research and development spending by the Hangzhou-based company, which jumped 249.58 per cent... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3372474/unitree-reports-70-surge-quarterly-revenue-though-ai-investment-weighs-net-profit https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3372474/unitree-reports-70-surge-quarterly-revenue-though-ai-investment-weighs-net-profit Wed, 28 Oct 2026 13:38:07 +0000 Howard Liu,Ben Jiang Howard Liu,Ben Jiang As investor anxiety over an artificial intelligence bubble mounts, SpaceX’s Elon Musk and Nvidia chief Jensen Huang have offered starkly divergent outlooks on whether the specialist cloud providers powering the boom can survive their mounting debts. While Musk has warned of impending collapses and consolidation among the more than 200 dedicated graphics processing unit (GPU) rental ventures known as “neoclouds”, Huang remains bullish, insisting that robust market demand will unlock the capital... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3372447/elon-musk-jensen-huang-have-opposing-outlooks-ai-neoclouds-who-likely-correct https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3372447/elon-musk-jensen-huang-have-opposing-outlooks-ai-neoclouds-who-likely-correct Wed, 28 Oct 2026 13:30:10 +0000 Chong Ming Lee Chong Ming Lee For three decades, Lao Gan Ma’s glass jars, bearing the stern portrait of founder Tao Huabi, have been a fixture on Chinese dinner tables and a symbol of traditional food manufacturing. This week, however, the iconic chilli sauce has become an unlikely focus of public anxiety over artificial intelligence. Online rumours that the Guizhou-based company had replaced hundreds of factory workers with AI went viral, prompting boycott threats and highlighting growing public unease over the impact of... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3372414/how-lao-gan-ma-chinas-iconic-chilli-brand-got-caught-ai-storm https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3372414/how-lao-gan-ma-chinas-iconic-chilli-brand-got-caught-ai-storm Wed, 28 Oct 2026 08:00:12 +0000 Ben Jiang Ben Jiang China is pitching open-source artificial intelligence and a greater voice for the Global South as cornerstones for future tech regulations, ramping up efforts to challenge US dominance in setting rules for the rapidly evolving sector. The push was laid out in Global Governance: Xiong’an Vision, a consensus document released on Sunday at the close of a three-day forum in Xiong’an New Area, a “city of the future” west of Beijing established under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s directive. The event... https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3372285/beijing-pushes-un-led-governance-artificial-intelligence-global-forum https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3372285/beijing-pushes-un-led-governance-artificial-intelligence-global-forum Tue, 27 Oct 2026 08:34:13 +0000 Minxiao Chang Minxiao Chang Chinese artificial intelligence start-up Moonshot AI, developer of the popular Kimi series, apologised on Monday for limiting customers’ use of its latest model in a botched roll-out that has also invited scrutiny over its promotional practices and cybersecurity measures. “We’re sorry for the rate limits and unnecessary quota consumption on the K3.1 Pro subscription plan,” Moonshot said in a post on social media. In a separate Chinese-language notice, it said it took responsibility for the... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3372247/moonshot-apologises-after-kimi-k31-pro-roll-out-stumbles-promotional-scrutiny-widens https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3372247/moonshot-apologises-after-kimi-k31-pro-roll-out-stumbles-promotional-scrutiny-widens Tue, 27 Oct 2026 06:00:10 +0000 Chong Ming Lee Chong Ming Lee Chinese AI video-generation models have surpassed leading US rivals in visual quality, but several fall behind in safety precautions, according to researchers at the University of Hong Kong. ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 Pro took top spot in a ranking of 12 leading artificial intelligence video-generation models, scoring 3.84 out of 5 for visual quality. It outperformed Google DeepMind’s Veo 3.1, which scored 3.47, and OpenAI’s Sora 2 Pro, on 3.27, in a study led by Zhenhui Jack Jiang, professor of... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3372107/chinese-video-ai-models-beat-us-rivals-visual-quality-lag-safeguards-hku-study https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3372107/chinese-video-ai-models-beat-us-rivals-visual-quality-lag-safeguards-hku-study Mon, 26 Oct 2026 08:00:07 +0000 Ben Jiang,Ann Cao,Richard Chen Ben Jiang,Ann Cao,Richard Chen Long before artificial intelligence became the next big thing in the tech industry, Wang Jian was crafting the foundational infrastructure that would eventually power it. In 2008, he joined Alibaba Group Holding – owner of the South China Morning Post – as chief architect and founded Alibaba Cloud in 2009, convincing the company’s leadership to invest heavily in building a cloud computing infrastructure from scratch. Today, Wang’s purview has expanded considerably. As an academician at the... https://www.scmp.com/plus/tech/tech-trends/article/3372106/alibaba-cloud-founder-how-ai-can-unlock-human-potential https://www.scmp.com/plus/tech/tech-trends/article/3372106/alibaba-cloud-founder-how-ai-can-unlock-human-potential Mon, 26 Oct 2026 02:26:16 +0000 Chong Ming Lee Chong Ming Lee Are China’s increasingly powerful open-weight AI models a cybersecurity threat, or could restricting them ultimately make the internet less secure? The dilemma has become a growing concern as Chinese developers including DeepSeek, Z.ai and Alibaba Group Holding – owner of the South China Morning Post – continue to challenge their American rivals by releasing models that anyone can download, modify and deploy. The growing impact of advanced AI on global cybersecurity has also forced governments... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371961/weapon-or-armour-contentious-debate-over-chinas-open-weight-ai https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371961/weapon-or-armour-contentious-debate-over-chinas-open-weight-ai Mon, 26 Oct 2026 02:00:12 +0000 Ben Jiang,Ann Cao,Richard Chen Ben Jiang,Ann Cao,Richard Chen Long before artificial intelligence became the next big thing in the tech industry, Wang Jian was crafting the foundational infrastructure that would eventually power it. In 2008, he joined Alibaba Group Holding – owner of the South China Morning Post – as chief architect and founded Alibaba Cloud in 2009, convincing the company’s leadership to invest heavily in building a cloud computing infrastructure from scratch. Today, Wang’s purview has expanded considerably. As an academician at the... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371979/why-cloud-computing-pioneer-wang-jian-thinks-space-next-ai-frontier https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371979/why-cloud-computing-pioneer-wang-jian-thinks-space-next-ai-frontier Sun, 25 Oct 2026 22:00:20 +0000 Minxiao Chang,Chong Ming Lee Minxiao Chang,Chong Ming Lee Chinese technology giants are dangling annual pay packages approaching 1 million yuan (US$149,739) to attract artificial intelligence engineers who can turn AI models into commercial applications. Companies including ByteDance, Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group Holding are stepping up recruitment and training of the so-called forward-deployed engineers (FDEs), who work directly with customers to develop and integrate AI applications into business operations. Demand for such professionals has... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371925/chinas-tech-giants-are-paying-1-million-yuan-new-kind-ai-engineer https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371925/chinas-tech-giants-are-paying-1-million-yuan-new-kind-ai-engineer Sun, 25 Oct 2026 06:00:20 +0000 Ben Jiang Ben Jiang Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is pitching the concept of “sovereign AI” in Kazakhstan – part of his global crusade urging nations to build domestic computing infrastructure using the firm’s chips – as the energy-rich nation emerges as a US-China battleground for artificial intelligence. Speaking at a fireside chat in Astana on Friday with Kazakh AI and digital development minister Zhaslan Madiyev, Huang said AI was reshaping every industry in a transformation that “affects every single person and... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3371946/nvidias-jensen-huang-brings-sovereign-ai-push-kazakhstan-shrugs-bubble-fears https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3371946/nvidias-jensen-huang-brings-sovereign-ai-push-kazakhstan-shrugs-bubble-fears Fri, 23 Oct 2026 13:00:14 +0000 Ann Cao Ann Cao Chinese artificial intelligence chip giant Cambricon Technologies reported a 147.7 per cent surge in third-quarter profit on Friday, as the country’s aggressive push to replace Nvidia chips continues to fuel high growth among local chipmakers. The Shanghai-listed chipmaker generated 1.4 billion yuan (US$210 million) in net profit for the three months ended September 30, up from 566.6 million yuan during the same period last year. Revenue reached 3.5 billion yuan, an increase of 104.5 per cent... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371959/cambricons-third-quarter-profit-surges-148-us210m-amid-push-replace-nvidia-chips https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371959/cambricons-third-quarter-profit-surges-148-us210m-amid-push-replace-nvidia-chips Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:03:10 +0000 Wency Chen Wency Chen This article was first published by The Korea Times in a partnership with the South China Morning Post. Chinese humanoid robot makers are accelerating efforts to gain a foothold in South Korea, moving beyond dance performances and showroom displays to factory trials and commercial deployments, as Seoul ramps up investment in physical artificial intelligence. A growing number of Chinese robotics companies – including Hong Kong-listed UBTech Robotics, start-up Anyverse Dynamics, Shanghai-based... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371888/chinas-humanoid-robots-hunt-work-south-korea-seoul-bets-physical-ai https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371888/chinas-humanoid-robots-hunt-work-south-korea-seoul-bets-physical-ai Fri, 23 Oct 2026 08:00:33 +0000 Howard Liu Howard Liu The artificial intelligence agent software market across Asia, Australia and New Zealand is set to expand more than 14-fold by 2030, according to research firm Omdia, as Chinese tech companies increasingly deploy automated tools across office and industrial operations. During its annual event in Beijing on Thursday, Omdia forecast that regional market revenue, which included mainland China and Hong Kong, would reach US$11.2 billion in 2030, up from an estimated US$782 million this year. Over the... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371814/asia-pacific-ai-agent-market-surge-14-fold-us112-billion-2030-omdia-says https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371814/asia-pacific-ai-agent-market-surge-14-fold-us112-billion-2030-omdia-says Fri, 23 Oct 2026 02:30:10 +0000 Minxiao Chang Minxiao Chang Unitree Robotics is developing a “self-evolving” feedback loop designed to allow humanoid robots to write code, run simulations and improve their real-world performance independently, founder Wang Xingxing said, in a move that mirrors a broader push towards “self-improving” artificial intelligence. Speaking on Thursday at a physical AI conference hosted by Unitree in Hangzhou, Wang unveiled the project, dubbed “Unitree Rehearsal”, which he called the company’s most important initiative of the... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371818/unitree-developing-ai-system-let-humanoid-robots-improve-themselves https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371818/unitree-developing-ai-system-let-humanoid-robots-improve-themselves Thu, 22 Oct 2026 13:30:12 +0000 Tim Yuen Lingk Tim Yuen Lingk China has taken a major step in spearheading the standardisation of brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies, as it now chairs the secretariat of a subcommittee jointly overseen by two key international organisations and lists the technology applications as a national development priority. The China-led subcommittee, known as ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 43, was set to formulate global standards regarding the communication and interaction between brains and computers that are applicable across... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3371742/china-moves-set-global-standards-brain-computer-interface-technology https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3371742/china-moves-set-global-standards-brain-computer-interface-technology Thu, 22 Oct 2026 06:00:26 +0000 Minxiao Chang Minxiao Chang A knife-wielding intruder is confronted. A car is lifted to free a trapped victim. A pedestrian is pulled from the path of an oncoming vehicle. The scenes described are not from a Hollywood blockbuster, but a promotional clip for a new “guardian” robot created by the Chinese technology firm Unitree Robotics. The footage for the H2-X model, released on Wednesday, underscores a wider shift in strategy by the Hangzhou-based firm, as it focuses on finding practical, real-world uses for its athletic... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371683/chinese-firm-unveils-guardian-robot-can-disarm-attackers-lift-cars https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371683/chinese-firm-unveils-guardian-robot-can-disarm-attackers-lift-cars Thu, 22 Oct 2026 00:00:15 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Government agencies and companies around the world shut down websites as they raced Thursday to protect themselves from hacks after artificial intelligence uncovered critical flaws in a widely used programming language called PHP. Wiz, one of the cybersecurity firms that found the two flaws, estimated that PHP code helps run about 70 per cent of the world’s websites – from online stores and news outlets to government services. It called the flaws “among the most severe vulnerabilities discovered... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3371694/websites-go-dark-worldwide-ai-exposes-critical-security-flaws https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3371694/websites-go-dark-worldwide-ai-exposes-critical-security-flaws Wed, 21 Oct 2026 22:10:59 +0000 Ann Cao Ann Cao Tesla has agreed a deal to integrate Chinese fintech giant Ant Group’s Alipay digital payment software into its vehicles in China, as Elon Musk’s firm steps up efforts to offer localised smart features amid intense competition in the Chinese market. The agreement, signed on Tuesday, will see Tesla roll out an Alipay-powered smart parking service across its Chinese fleet, according to the fintech firm. Neither side revealed a launch date or which car models would receive the feature, though... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3371668/tesla-signs-deal-integrate-alipay-its-cars-china-competition-heats https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3371668/tesla-signs-deal-integrate-alipay-its-cars-china-competition-heats Wed, 21 Oct 2026 14:30:06 +0000 Ben Jiang Ben Jiang The US government’s latest ban on Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek could have a chilling effect on the wider American business community and deter companies from adopting low-cost Chinese AI models, industry experts say. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ordered federal civilian agencies to remove DeepSeek products and third-party services built on the Chinese AI model from their IT systems, according to a directive signed in July and published on Monday. The... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3371649/washingtons-deepseek-ban-may-deter-us-firms-adopting-chinese-ai-models-experts https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3371649/washingtons-deepseek-ban-may-deter-us-firms-adopting-chinese-ai-models-experts Wed, 21 Oct 2026 14:00:12 +0000 Chong Ming Lee Chong Ming Lee Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek has fully open-sourced an internally developed framework designed to run AI models efficiently, as a senior researcher at the company described the growing divide between open-source and closed-source AI as a battle between “light and darkness”. The company on Tuesday released DeepInfer, an inference framework tailored to support its DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash model on both Nvidia’s SM100 Blackwell graphics processing units (GPUs) and Huawei... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3371592/deepseek-open-sources-new-tool-slash-ai-costs-fight-against-closed-source-rivals https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3371592/deepseek-open-sources-new-tool-slash-ai-costs-fight-against-closed-source-rivals Wed, 21 Oct 2026 05:03:27 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow Just days after announcing his departure from Moonshot AI, teen Chinese artificial intelligence prodigy Nathan Chen Guangyu seems to have found his next destination. On Tuesday, Arfur Grok, a widely-watched anonymous social media account that tracks AI talent movements in the US, posted that the former Moonshot AI researcher was joining Discovery Loop, an AI start-up founded by four former Google senior researchers including former chief scientist Jeff Dean. Launched just two months ago, the... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371542/what-discovery-loop-chinese-teen-ai-prodigy-nathan-chens-rumoured-next-destination https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371542/what-discovery-loop-chinese-teen-ai-prodigy-nathan-chens-rumoured-next-destination Tue, 20 Oct 2026 14:00:11 +0000 Minxiao Chang Minxiao Chang Yuki Chen, a prolific Chinese cybersecurity researcher, has joined leading Chinese artificial intelligence model company Z.ai as the country’s AI sector grapples with the technology’s growing impact on global cyberspace. Chen’s appointment comes amid growing concern over AI-assisted cyberattacks and autonomous agents acting beyond their instructions, including recent cases involving Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings as well as US start-ups OpenAI and Anthropic. “New journey, new mission!” Chen... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371530/who-yuki-chen-chinas-superstar-hacker-who-just-joined-ai-leader-zai https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371530/who-yuki-chen-chinas-superstar-hacker-who-just-joined-ai-leader-zai Tue, 20 Oct 2026 11:30:06 +0000 Ann Cao Ann Cao Alibaba Group Holding’s research arm, Damo Academy, has seen more than 6 billion chips shipped based on its XuanTie RISC-V architecture, marking a milestone as the tech giant doubles down on the open standard in artificial intelligence and automotive systems. Meng Jianyi, chief scientist at Damo Academy, announced the figure on Monday at the annual RISC-V Summit China in Shenzhen. The achievement comes as Chinese companies seek to play a greater role in the global RISC-V ecosystem, an... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3371402/alibabas-risc-v-ip-powers-over-6-billion-shipped-chips-tech-giant-targets-ai-autos https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3371402/alibabas-risc-v-ip-powers-over-6-billion-shipped-chips-tech-giant-targets-ai-autos Tue, 20 Oct 2026 00:30:10 +0000 Ben Jiang Ben Jiang China’s recent milestone in extending its home-grown satellite internet coverage to polar regions has given the country “fully self-controlled polar communications”, ending its long-time reliance on foreign technology to achieve the same capability, according to state media and industry experts. The breakthrough came during trials conducted as part of China’s 16th Arctic expedition – launched in early July and expected to conclude this month – when scientists aboard vessels in the Arctic... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371386/chinas-milestone-polar-region-satellite-broadband-narrows-gap-elon-musks-starlink https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371386/chinas-milestone-polar-region-satellite-broadband-narrows-gap-elon-musks-starlink Mon, 19 Oct 2026 13:30:07 +0000 Iris Deng,Howard Liu Iris Deng,Howard Liu Chinese memory chip giant ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) saw its shares fall more than 8 per cent in early Monday trading, despite forecasts of strong profits and plans for a share buy-back amid a global sector-wide market rout. CXMT shares dropped 7.8 per cent on Monday to close at 41.52 yuan. The company’s stock surged to a peak of 61.8 yuan in August – up as much as 614 per cent from its initial public offering price of 8.66 yuan in July – before paring back gains. The market reaction... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3371314/cxmt-forecasts-us198-billion-3-quarters-net-income-pledges-share-buy-back https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3371314/cxmt-forecasts-us198-billion-3-quarters-net-income-pledges-share-buy-back Sun, 18 Oct 2026 23:30:08 +0000 Chong Ming Lee,Mandy Zuo Chong Ming Lee,Mandy Zuo When artificial intelligence agents first arrived, they came with a tantalising promise: autonomous “digital workers” that would finally free humans from corporate drudgery. As businesses across Asia are discovering, however, the reality is quite the opposite – more work, new friction and a whole new layer of management. When Xiao Mengjie, an AI product marketing manager at a Big Tech firm in Shanghai, recently assigned two AI agents what she described as a simple task, she expected efficiency.... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3371246/ai-promise-was-automation-reality-managing-digital-workers https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3371246/ai-promise-was-automation-reality-managing-digital-workers Sun, 18 Oct 2026 14:00:08 +0000 Christina Zhao Christina Zhao When shoppers step into Rokid’s brand new flagship store in Hong Kong, they are greeted not by eager sales associates, but by glowing monitor screens and a robotic system waiting at the exit. In what the Chinese augmented reality (AR) gadget pioneer called an experiment in “no man’s land” retail, customers navigate the entire journey independently: testing artificial intelligence smart glasses, making payments on a screen and receiving their new devices directly from an automated system on their... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371300/rokid-launches-no-mans-land-retail-experience-hong-kong-flagship-store-opening https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3371300/rokid-launches-no-mans-land-retail-experience-hong-kong-flagship-store-opening Sun, 18 Oct 2026 09:36:17 +0000