https://www.scmp.com/rss/519749/feed Explore cutting-edge AI developments in China that are transforming various industries and reshaping the future. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Ke Meng Ke Meng In January, a top Chinese AI researcher told an industry summit in Beijing there was less than a 20 per cent chance of any Chinese company surpassing a leading US artificial intelligence firm in the next three to five years. The remark by Lin Junyang, until recently a technical leader working on Qwen, one of China’s most capable open-source AI models under Alibaba (which owns the South China Morning Post), made headlines. But much of the commentary missed a more important question Lin posed:... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3347763/how-assess-chinas-real-chance-winning-ai-race-against-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3347763/how-assess-chinas-real-chance-winning-ai-race-against-us?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Mar 2026 08:30:09 +0000 Lucy Quaggin Lucy Quaggin In two different cases on Wednesday, United States authorities charged Chinese nationals with offences ranging from conspiring to smuggle advanced AI chips to China to drug trafficking and money laundering. The cases came on the same day US President Donald Trump announced new mid-May dates for his highly anticipated summit with China. The developments come as the two countries continue to compete over global leadership in artificial intelligence, and as Washington continues to accuse Beijing of... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/article/3347923/chinese-nationals-companies-charged-us-smuggling-ai-chips-and-drug-trafficking?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/article/3347923/chinese-nationals-companies-charged-us-smuggling-ai-chips-and-drug-trafficking?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Mar 2026 23:50:59 +0000 David Dodwell David Dodwell A week ago, I had never heard of Matt Shumer. Today, I and 80 million others have viewed his “Something Big is Happening” essay warning about the all-conquering power of the AI revolution, counselling us to maximise our use of artificial intelligence immediately and to put our finances in order. The message? A technology as flexible and powerful as AI will leave many people’s careers permanently devastated. For the truly paranoid, Citrini Research’s 2028 Global Intelligence Crisis report this... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3344778/ai-backlash-growing-how-much-just-hype?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3344778/ai-backlash-growing-how-much-just-hype?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Feb 2026 08:30:08 +0000 Narendra Modi Narendra Modi At a defining moment in human history, the world gathered at the AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi. For us in India, welcoming heads of state, heads of government, delegates and innovators from across the world was a moment of immense pride and joy. India brings scale and energy to everything it does and this summit was no exception. Representatives from over 100 nations came together. Innovators showcased cutting-edge AI products and services. Thousands of young people could be seen in the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3344463/how-india-can-lead-charge-inclusive-ai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3344463/how-india-can-lead-charge-inclusive-ai?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2026 21:30:08 +0000 Zhang Tong Zhang Tong A team of Chinese scientists has unveiled the world’s smallest and most energy-efficient transistor in a breakthrough poised to anchor the next generation of high-performance AI hardware. The researchers achieved the feat in ferroelectric transistors (FeFETs), which function similarly to neurons in the human brain as they integrate memory and processing in a single unit, thereby reducing the time lost in data transfer. In conventional semiconductor chips, data storage and computation occur in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3344495/smaller-faster-smarter-chinese-transistor-ready-future-ai-chips?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3344495/smaller-faster-smarter-chinese-transistor-ready-future-ai-chips?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Feb 2026 22:00:13 +0000 SCMP Reporters SCMP Reporters We have selected seven of the most interesting and important news stories covering US-China relations from the past few weeks. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Trump faces rare pushback within his party over tariffs as polls slide President Donald Trump faced noteworthy pushback in February over his signature tariff policy in the US Congress while his popularity slipped and more lawmakers in his party appeared willing to risk his wrath. Read the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3343380/secret-nuclear-testing-claims-military-ai-race-7-us-china-relations-reads?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3343380/secret-nuclear-testing-claims-military-ai-race-7-us-china-relations-reads?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Feb 2026 14:00:08 +0000 Ann Cao Ann Cao Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing and artificial intelligence arm of Alibaba Group Holding, has unveiled a suite of AI-powered tools for the Milano Cortina Winter Games, marking the first time a large language model (LLM) will be embedded into the Olympics’ digital infrastructure. The partnership between Alibaba Cloud, Olympic Broadcasting Services and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was announced on Wednesday. Alibaba’s Qwen model will power “Olympic AI Assistants”, a digital system... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3342418/chatbots-replays-alibaba-rolls-out-ai-suite-2026-winter-olympics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3342418/chatbots-replays-alibaba-rolls-out-ai-suite-2026-winter-olympics?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Feb 2026 14:41:13 +0000 Ben Jiang Ben Jiang One year ago, a little-known Chinese start-up called DeepSeek burst onto the scene with a new artificial intelligence model that challenged assumptions about China’s ability to innovate under US technology curbs. In what became known as the “DeepSeek moment”, the Hangzhou-based firm kicked off what some likened as a modern-day “Sputnik moment” for China’s AI ambitions. Just as the Soviet Union’s 1957 launch of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite, shocked the US and triggered the... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3340422/deepseek-year-how-little-known-chinese-start-sparked-global-ai-arms-race?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3340422/deepseek-year-how-little-known-chinese-start-sparked-global-ai-arms-race?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Jan 2026 14:00:13 +0000 SCMP Editorial SCMP Editorial Hong Kong has taken an important step towards turning itself into an international biotechnology hub with the signing of two landmark agreements with the national health authorities. The pacts deepen collaboration on traditional Chinese medicine and cancer research, and mark the official launch, side by side at Tseung Kwan O, of the Chinese Medicine Hospital and the permanent home of the Government Chinese Medicine Testing Institute, which opened last month. Their significance was underlined by... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3339882/hong-kongs-biotech-hub-aim-advanced-pacts-national-agencies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3339882/hong-kongs-biotech-hub-aim-advanced-pacts-national-agencies?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Jan 2026 23:15:10 +0000 Mark Purdy Mark Purdy The global artificial intelligence (AI) race remains one of the most hotly contested spheres of international competition. Few would bet today on an eventual winner, but current trends point to three possible scenarios that we should consider. In the first scenario, the AI world is dominated by the US and China. While the US still has the technological edge, China is closing in fast and vies with the US for leadership on many of the key dimensions of AI prowess. According to Stanford... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3338987/how-ai-race-could-play-out-us-china-and-world?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3338987/how-ai-race-could-play-out-us-china-and-world?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Jan 2026 21:30:09 +0000 Ann Cao Ann Cao Amap, the mapping and navigation platform of Alibaba Group Holding, has launched new features powered by its top-ranking world model, as the tech giant doubles down on artificial intelligence to upgrade its massive consumer ecosystem. “Flying Street View”, a new feature on the Amap app based on the unit’s self-developed system designed to simulate real-world environments, allowed users to take 3D virtual tours of restaurants and other offline venues, the company said at a launch event in... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3338964/alibabas-amap-rolls-out-ai-powered-3d-virtual-tours-offline-destinations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3338964/alibabas-amap-rolls-out-ai-powered-3d-virtual-tours-offline-destinations?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Jan 2026 02:00:27 +0000 Eunice Xu Eunice Xu Another Chinese quantitative trading firm has entered the race to develop large language models (LLMs), unveiling systems it claims can match – and in some cases surpass – the performance of US rivals such as OpenAI’s GPT-5.1, following the global rise of DeepSeek. Beijing-based Ubiquant said it released a series of open-source code-focused LLMs last week that outperformed leading closed-source models on multiple benchmarks despite using far fewer parameters. The IQuest-Coder-V1 family is... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3338794/another-chinese-quant-fund-joins-deepseek-ai-race-model-rivalling-gpt-51-claude?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3338794/another-chinese-quant-fund-joins-deepseek-ai-race-model-rivalling-gpt-51-claude?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Jan 2026 12:00:14 +0000 David Dodwell David Dodwell As an undergraduate student of anthropology long ago, I remember studying the phenomenon of “compartmentalism” as a hallmark of primitive cultures or societies – their capacity to hold contradictory beliefs without inner conflict or even appearing to notice the contradictions. We well-educated rationalists in the rich West were supposed to be above this kind of schizophrenic inconsistency, seen as a symptom of a defective imagination or the shallowness of the masses. Think of street hawkers in... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3338425/2025-was-year-denial-what-now?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3338425/2025-was-year-denial-what-now?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Jan 2026 08:30:10 +0000 Jake Sullivan Jake Sullivan In November 2024, US president Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping made their first substantive joint statement about the national security risks posed by artificial intelligence (AI). Specifically, they noted that both the United States and China believe in “the need to maintain human control over the decision to use nuclear weapons”. That may sound like diplomatic low-hanging fruit, since it would be hard to find a reasonable person willing to argue that we should hand control over... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3337288/us-and-china-must-get-serious-about-ai-risk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3337288/us-and-china-must-get-serious-about-ai-risk?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Dec 2025 21:30:07 +0000 Michael Edesess Michael Edesess In the past three years, we have experienced an extraordinary level of hype around artificial intelligence. AI as a concept has been around for nearly 70 years but the discussion has exploded since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2022. ChatGPT uses a technology called a large language model (LLM). It is not the only AI technology, but it’s the one that has seemingly drawn all the attention. It is the model that enables ChatGPT and other chatbots to write impressive prose and even poetry, and... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3336751/why-ai-chatbots-are-unlikely-bring-about-human-extinction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3336751/why-ai-chatbots-are-unlikely-bring-about-human-extinction?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Dec 2025 12:30:09 +0000 Wency Chen Wency Chen Andrew Yao Chi-chih, a world-renowned Chinese computer scientist, said embodied artificial intelligence still lacks key foundations, stressing the need for interpretable “world models” and more diverse data-collection methods. Speaking on Saturday at an industry event in Shanghai, Yao said core capabilities such as “reasoning, planning and control should ultimately be integrated within a unified framework”, noting the importance of world models instead of simulating. He added that “scalable new... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3336463/chinese-expert-calls-world-models-and-safety-standards-embodied-ai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3336463/chinese-expert-calls-world-models-and-safety-standards-embodied-ai?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Dec 2025 12:00:18 +0000 Zhang Zhipeng Zhang Zhipeng The global artificial intelligence community’s attention was recently focused on DeepSeek’s latest open-source model, Math-V2, the first open-source AI model to score a gold medal-level performance at the International Mathematical Olympiad. But while California might hone in on the test scores, Jakarta and Nairobi are looking at something else entirely. For the Global South, the critical question is more likely to be whether that reasoning capability can optimise fertiliser distribution in a... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3335420/global-south-chinese-ai-principles-resonate-deeply?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3335420/global-south-chinese-ai-principles-resonate-deeply?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Dec 2025 01:30:19 +0000 Kamala Thiagarajan Kamala Thiagarajan China’s pharmaceutical industry is on the brink of enormous growth and transformation. In just a few years, it has moved on from being the world’s cheapest source of active pharmaceutical ingredients to becoming a major hub for pharmaceutical innovation – a place where new, more effective drugs are born. It is now the second-largest developer of drugs, trailing only the United States. In the global drug development pipeline, China’s growth rate is phenomenal, leaping from 3 per cent in 2013 to... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3334948/how-china-went-generic-drug-factory-biomedicine-innovator?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3334948/how-china-went-generic-drug-factory-biomedicine-innovator?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Dec 2025 01:30:09 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow There remains considerable potential to enhance artificial intelligence models by scaling up computing power and data, according to Yao Shunyu, a senior staff research scientist at Google DeepMind and former researcher at US AI start-up Anthropic. Amid heated discussions in the AI community about the future of scaling – the process of increasing computational resources and training data to develop better AI models – Yao said the method was still expected to yield results for at least a year... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3334248/scaling-compute-still-fruitful-advancing-ai-google-deepmind-scientist-china-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3334248/scaling-compute-still-fruitful-advancing-ai-google-deepmind-scientist-china-says?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Nov 2025 13:00:08 +0000 Avi Jorisch Avi Jorisch History rarely announces its turning points. More often, we wake up to find that the world we assumed was fixed has begun to shift beneath our feet. That is happening now. Artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and space infrastructure are advancing at a pace that stretches our political instincts – even our imagination. Each is transformative on its own. Together, they are becoming the new architecture of global power, an engine that will determine which nations shape the century ahead... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3333993/how-ai-quantum-and-space-technologies-will-define-asian-century?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3333993/how-ai-quantum-and-space-technologies-will-define-asian-century?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Nov 2025 12:30:08 +0000 Zhang Tong Zhang Tong The days when Silicon Valley and leading American universities led the way in shaping the future of science may be ending, as China overtakes the United States not only in research output but in some cutting-edge fields, according to one of the world’s leading academic publishers. “When I looked into data from Digital Science’s Dimensions database, I can see a widening gap between China and the United States in research output. “By 2024, Chinese researchers had published 1.1 million articles,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3333395/china-overtakes-us-medical-research-amid-science-balance-power-shift-top-publisher?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3333395/china-overtakes-us-medical-research-amid-science-balance-power-shift-top-publisher?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Nov 2025 14:00:11 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings is laying the groundwork for what many see as the next frontier of artificial intelligence by investing in “world models” that simulate the physical environment, according to its head of 3D generation and world modelling. China’s most valuable tech conglomerate joins a fast-growing cohort that includes Google DeepMind and Elon Musk’s xAI in exploring “spatial intelligence”, which some experts have described as “AI’s next great frontier”. On Wednesday, AI... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3332653/tencent-expands-ai-world-models-tech-giants-chase-spatial-intelligence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3332653/tencent-expands-ai-world-models-tech-giants-chase-spatial-intelligence?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Nov 2025 13:00:19 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek made a rare appearance at a state-backed industry event on Friday as a senior researcher reaffirmed the AI lab’s commitment to developing artificial general intelligence (AGI) despite its potentially “dangerous” impacts on society. Chen Deli spoke during a panel discussion alongside the heads of five other companies collectively known as China’s “six little dragons” of AI at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, eastern Zhejiang province. It... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3332086/chinas-deepseek-makes-rare-public-comment-calls-ai-whistle-blower-job-losses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3332086/chinas-deepseek-makes-rare-public-comment-calls-ai-whistle-blower-job-losses?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Nov 2025 04:37:07 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow Chinese artificial intelligence systems are nearing levels of “frontier risks” similar to their US counterparts, according to a study. Recent advances in the capabilities of AI models from DeepSeek and other Chinese firms heightened the possibility that these systems could be misused by bad actors or escape human control, according to Concordia AI, a Beijing-based consultancy focused on AI safety in China. As AI models grew more powerful, their frontier risks – or their potential to endanger... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3331952/chinese-ai-models-comparable-us-ones-frontier-risks-study-finds?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3331952/chinese-ai-models-comparable-us-ones-frontier-risks-study-finds?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Nov 2025 11:00:15 +0000 Danielle Popov Danielle Popov TikTok owner ByteDance has launched a recruitment drive for senior specialists in embodied intelligence, signalling its growing ambition in the development of humanoid robots. Volcano Engine, the Beijing-based tech unicorn’s cloud computing division, is offering a monthly salary of 95,000 yuan to 120,000 yuan (US$13,328 to US$16,838), according to a job posting. It marked the company’s clearest move into humanoid robotics as it specifically sought humanoid specialists rather than general... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3331803/bytedance-deepens-robotics-push-china-talent-drive-focused-embodied-ai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3331803/bytedance-deepens-robotics-push-china-talent-drive-focused-embodied-ai?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Nov 2025 13:00:33 +0000 Zhang Tong Zhang Tong Chinese scientists have made a “historic leap” in developing a chip that can cope with extreme levels of radiation. The Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) chip has a wide range of potential uses, including satellite command and control systems, spaceborne computers and weapons systems. Its hardware can be reconfigured after manufacturing to perform a wide variety of specific tasks. This flexibility makes FPGAs useful for custom computing applications and electronic systems that may need to be... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3331503/historic-leap-chinese-team-creates-worlds-first-2d-industrial-chip-military-use?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3331503/historic-leap-chinese-team-creates-worlds-first-2d-industrial-chip-military-use?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Nov 2025 14:00:22 +0000 Alice Li Alice Li China is elevating its digital competitiveness on the world’s stage, according to the latest rankings from a Swiss academic institute, while those behind the findings caution that trade fragmentation is weighing on economies’ digital prowess globally. The world’s second-largest economy has reached an all-time high of 12th place among 69 economies in terms of overall performance, improving by two places from 2024, according to this year’s edition of the World Digital Competitiveness Ranking,... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3331478/chinas-digital-competitiveness-hits-all-time-high-amid-trade-splintering-worries-survey?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3331478/chinas-digital-competitiveness-hits-all-time-high-amid-trade-splintering-worries-survey?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Nov 2025 09:30:10 +0000 Holly Chik Holly Chik Could the secrets of Albert Einstein’s brain – preserved since his death in 1955 – be unlocked by modern Chinese technology? A new technique developed by Chinese scientists has shown potential in analysing old biological samples, including cancer tissues stored for nearly 10 years under less than ideal conditions. While cautious about the challenges posed by ageing preservation methods, the team behind the advanced RNA-mapping technology known as Stereo-seq V2 does not rule out the possibility... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3326104/can-chinas-new-tech-crack-einsteins-brain-scientists-hope-give-it-try?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3326104/can-chinas-new-tech-crack-einsteins-brain-scientists-hope-give-it-try?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Sep 2025 13:00:09 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow Alibaba Group Holding has unveiled a “leading open-source deep research” artificial intelligence agent that it says matches the performance of OpenAI’s flagship Deep Research tool, while being more efficient. The agent has been integrated into Alibaba’s maps app, Amap, and its AI-powered legal research tool, Tongyi FaRui, according to a blog post on Tuesday by Alibaba’s AI search development team, Tongyi Lab. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post. Users of Amap can leverage the deep research... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3326015/alibaba-releases-open-source-ai-agent-rival-openais-flagship-deep-research?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3326015/alibaba-releases-open-source-ai-agent-rival-openais-flagship-deep-research?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Sep 2025 13:00:14 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela Engineers behind the viral Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) reasoning model DeepSeek-R1 have unveiled the deep science behind its training. Upon its release in January, the open-source model developed by Hangzhou-based AI start-up DeepSeek sent shock waves through the industry when it became a challenger to US-based OpenAI’s industry-leading o1 model. Now, the DeepSeek AI team has revealed how they used rewards to train their R1 model to solve problems, allowing them to bypass some of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3325895/deepseek-secrets-unveiled-engineers-reveal-science-behind-chinas-viral-ai-model?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3325895/deepseek-secrets-unveiled-engineers-reveal-science-behind-chinas-viral-ai-model?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Sep 2025 15:00:18 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow A technical innovation has allowed Alibaba Group Holding, one of the leading players in China’s artificial intelligence boom, to develop a new generation of foundation models that match the strong performance of larger predecessors while being significantly smaller and more cost efficient. Alibaba Cloud, the AI and cloud computing division of Alibaba, unveiled on Friday a new generation of large language models that it said heralded “the future of efficient LLMs”. The new models are nearly 13... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3325436/how-alibaba-builds-its-most-efficient-ai-model-date?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3325436/how-alibaba-builds-its-most-efficient-ai-model-date?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Sep 2025 01:00:20 +0000 Eric Ng,Xinmei Shen Eric Ng,Xinmei Shen Chinese biotech companies are winning deals with global giants as they spearhead the race to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) in the search for new and effective drugs. In the past five months alone, British drug maker AstraZeneca, US rival Pfizer and biotech firm DoveTree Medicines have signed deals potentially worth a combined US$22 billion with four China-based companies using AI-assisted drug discovery. Three of the Chinese businesses are listed on the Hong Kong stock market. China’s... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3324862/ai-turns-china-biotechs-drug-discovery-leaders?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3324862/ai-turns-china-biotechs-drug-discovery-leaders?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Sep 2025 07:00:13 +0000 Syed Munir Khasru Syed Munir Khasru The revival of techno-nationalism is reshaping strategies across continents. The European Union has embraced technological sovereignty with the EU Chips Act and investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum technology. Japan and South Korea are diversifying supply chains and boosting domestic capacity. India is positioning itself as an alternative hub through the Make in India and Digital India initiatives, aimed at reducing reliance on both China and the West. Export controls,... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3323778/techno-nationalism-now-critical-battlefront-geopolitics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3323778/techno-nationalism-now-critical-battlefront-geopolitics?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Sep 2025 12:30:08 +0000 Christopher Tang Christopher Tang OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has warned that export controls alone are not an effective strategy to curb China’s development of artificial intelligence (AI). He’s absolutely right. China’s rapid ascendancy in the global AI race is becoming increasingly evident, driven by its strategic focus on engineering, application-driven development and alignment with national policy. While the US continues to rely on export bans to slow China’s progress, this approach is unlikely to succeed against Beijing’s... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3323961/why-us-export-controls-wont-stop-chinas-ai-rise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3323961/why-us-export-controls-wont-stop-chinas-ai-rise?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Sep 2025 12:30:08 +0000 Holly Chik Holly Chik Hong Kong’s once sprawling and diffuse network of state-backed research labs has undergone a surgical transformation – streamlined, repurposed and laser-focused on Beijing’s strategic technology ambitions. In a move emblematic of China’s broader overhaul of its national scientific apparatus, the city has dismantled underperforming labs, rebranded legacy institutions and launched three cutting-edge facilities dedicated to quantum materials and climate resilience – all under tightened alignment... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3323633/how-china-streamlines-national-labs-tech-war-machines-case-study-hk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3323633/how-china-streamlines-national-labs-tech-war-machines-case-study-hk?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Aug 2025 22:00:13 +0000 He Huifeng He Huifeng A record high number of private-sector executives and chief scientists have been shortlisted this year to compete for academicianship in China’s top institute for engineering science and technology. Nineteen are included on the newly released candidate list for the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), including Hu Guoping, 48, principal researcher and co-founder of AI specialist iFlyTek; Wu Kai, 57, chief scientist and co-president of battery manufacturer CATL; Lian Yubo, 61, chief scientist of... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3322856/chinas-top-engineering-academy-seeks-more-private-sector-blood-innovation-mind?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3322856/chinas-top-engineering-academy-seeks-more-private-sector-blood-innovation-mind?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Aug 2025 10:59:45 +0000 Zhang Tong,Shi Huang,Xinmei Shen Zhang Tong,Shi Huang,Xinmei Shen China has joined the United States in a race to develop technology that could help transform the lives of millions who suffer from debilitating brain injuries or neurodegenerative diseases. In Shanghai this year, a quadruple amputee played a video game through a brain implant that channels his thoughts. Elsewhere, researchers from Tianjin and Beijing inserted implants in 10 volunteers that allowed two-way communication so the brain and machine could learn from each other. Brain-computer... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3319931/china-makes-strides-brain-computer-interface-tech-race?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3319931/china-makes-strides-brain-computer-interface-tech-race?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 29 Jul 2025 07:00:08 +0000 Wency Chen,Ann Cao Wency Chen,Ann Cao Renowned scientists and business leaders from the US and China are calling for greater collaboration in the field of artificial intelligence amid growing concerns that humanity might lose control of the rapidly evolving technology. At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), which commenced in Shanghai on Saturday, Nobel laureate and AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton proposed the establishment of “an international community of AI safety institutes and associations that works on techniques... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3319700/ai-experts-urge-us-china-collaboration-shanghai-conference?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3319700/ai-experts-urge-us-china-collaboration-shanghai-conference?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Jul 2025 11:00:45 +0000 SCMP SCMP Chinese artificial intelligence companies are charting a different course from their Silicon Valley counterparts by embracing open-source AI, enabling developers worldwide to freely use and contribute to their models. In the latest China Future Tech webinar, South China Morning Post technology editor Zhou Xin, senior correspondent William Zheng, and tech reporters Ben Jiang and Danielle Popov addressed questions about China’s open-source movement and its impact on the global AI landscape. How... https://www.scmp.com/news/china-future-tech/ai/article/3319609/china-future-tech-webinar-how-chinas-open-source-movement-changed-landscape-ai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china-future-tech/ai/article/3319609/china-future-tech-webinar-how-chinas-open-source-movement-changed-landscape-ai?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Jul 2025 09:29:14 +0000 Xinmei Shen Xinmei Shen The US is falling behind China in energy generation, according to Silicon Valley start-up Anthropic, as the artificial intelligence company urges Washington to “slash red tape” surrounding power infrastructure development amid escalating competition with China. Last year, China added 400 gigawatts of power capacity, while the US added only “several dozen” – amounting to just one-tenth of China’s total, Anthropic said in a report published on Tuesday, citing numbers from a report in February by... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3319241/china-powers-ahead-ai-race-us-struggles-energy-constraints-anthropic-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3319241/china-powers-ahead-ai-race-us-struggles-energy-constraints-anthropic-says?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Jul 2025 07:00:10 +0000 Xinmei Shen Xinmei Shen IntelliGen AI, an artificial intelligence (AI) start-up founded in Hong Kong, is positioning itself as a competitor to Google DeepMind in the field of drug discovery, as the city increasingly seeks to bolster its AI capabilities. In an interview with the Post, founder and president Ronald Sun expressed confidence that IntelliGen AI could soon compete globally with Isomorphic Labs, a spin-off of DeepMind, in leveraging AI for drug screening and design. “For generative science, new breakthroughs... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3317704/hong-kong-start-intelligen-ai-aims-challenge-google-deepmind-drug-discovery?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3317704/hong-kong-start-intelligen-ai-aims-challenge-google-deepmind-drug-discovery?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Jul 2025 09:30:09 +0000 dpa dpa A robot has performed realistic surgery on its own with 100 per cent accuracy, researchers have said. In a “major leap” towards using more robots in operating theatres, a machine trained on the videos of surgeries was able to precisely work on removing a gallbladder. The robot operated with the expertise of a skilled human surgeon, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers in the US, even during unexpected scenarios typical in real-life medical emergencies. The robot was watched as it... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3317608/robot-performs-realistic-surgery-100-accuracy-major-leap?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3317608/robot-performs-realistic-surgery-100-accuracy-major-leap?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Jul 2025 21:03:53 +0000 Xinmei Shen Xinmei Shen Alibaba Group Holding has launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) model, Qwen VLo, said to be capable of generating and editing images with a finesse akin to that of a human artist, intensifying the competition in multimodal models as the tech giant seeks to redefine itself as an AI leader. Released on Friday, Qwen VLo was a “comprehensive upgrade” from previous models like QwenVL and Qwen2.5 VL, the company said. It could better understand input and create more precise images, accommodate... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3316213/alibaba-unveils-new-ai-model-image-creation-open-source-approach-gains-recognition?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3316213/alibaba-unveils-new-ai-model-image-creation-open-source-approach-gains-recognition?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Jun 2025 09:00:07 +0000 Vanessa Cai Vanessa Cai Failing to address the risks posed by deceptive, out-of-control artificial intelligence (AI) could leave humans facing “existential risks”, a leading Chinese computer scientist and AI expert has warned. Andrew Yao Chi-chih, dean of Tsinghua University’s College of AI, told an on-campus forum on Monday that the industry had seen multiple instances of deceptive behaviour by large language models (LLMs). “Once large models become sufficiently intelligent, they will deceive people,” Yao said at the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3315656/chinese-ai-expert-warns-existential-risks-when-large-models-begin-deceive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3315656/chinese-ai-expert-warns-existential-risks-when-large-models-begin-deceive?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Jun 2025 12:00:07 +0000 Ben Jiang Ben Jiang Goku Technologies, a Shanghai-based quantitative trading fund, is expanding its ambitions beyond finance, looking to artificial intelligence (AI) as a means to overcome challenges faced by humanity, according to CEO Wang Xiao. In an interview with the Post, Wang said the firm’s AI initiatives were driven by a vision that transcended short-term commercial interests. “What I believe is [AI exists] to solve issues for humanity – this is the only thing that matters,” he said. Last month, Goku... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3314387/meet-goku-chinese-quant-trading-fund-ai-ambitions-beyond-finance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3314387/meet-goku-chinese-quant-trading-fund-ai-ambitions-beyond-finance?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Jun 2025 01:00:18 +0000 Mandy Zuo Mandy Zuo When Jack Wang enrolled as an undergraduate in microelectronics at a prestigious Chinese university, the year was 2019, and China was in the early days of its trade war with the United States. Looking back, his decision to focus on the field revolving around the design and manufacture of hi-tech microchips has proved prescient. Today, it complements Beijing’s aspirations to make world-leading semiconductors amid Washington’s amped-up efforts to curtail China’s technological progress. Indeed, the... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3314011/chinas-orchard-ai-chip-grads-now-ripe-pickin-tech-trade-sours?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3314011/chinas-orchard-ai-chip-grads-now-ripe-pickin-tech-trade-sours?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Jun 2025 22:00:07 +0000 Coco Feng Coco Feng ByteDance has parted ways with a senior executive who oversaw content moderation and data labelling for its China-focused apps, according to sources and media reports, as the Beijing-based company advances content security amid Beijing’s strict censorship requirements. Li Tong, who led the Content Quality and Data Service (CQC) team under Douyin Group, was no longer listed in ByteDance’s internal employee system, according to people familiar with the matter. Douyin, one of ByteDance’s core... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3313681/bytedances-china-head-content-quality-leaves-amid-stricter-censorship-requirements?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3313681/bytedances-china-head-content-quality-leaves-amid-stricter-censorship-requirements?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Jun 2025 10:00:10 +0000 Hannah Wang Hannah Wang Chinese social media platform RedNote has open-sourced its first large language model (LLM), joining a growing list of Big Tech firms looking to stake a claim in the artificial intelligence (AI) market, as the Shanghai-based company tries to leverage its growing international profile for new growth. The company on Friday unveiled its dots.llm1 model, a mixture-of-experts system that activates 14 billion parameters out of a total of 142 billion when responding to queries, a design that aims to... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3313612/rednote-joins-ai-race-its-own-open-source-model-it-says-bests-alibaba-deepseek?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3313612/rednote-joins-ai-race-its-own-open-source-model-it-says-bests-alibaba-deepseek?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Jun 2025 06:00:18 +0000 Matt Haldane Matt Haldane For years, the story of artificial intelligence (AI) has been cast as a high-stakes contest between the US and China – a technological arms race with global consequences. But to De Kai, a pioneering machine learning scientist and advocate for AI ethics, this framing fundamentally misunderstands the technology. “I would prefer to think about it as the AI climate change challenge,” De Kai said in an interview with the Post at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, where he is a... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3313469/ai-scientist-de-kai-offers-new-vision-parenting-ai-avoid-our-own-demise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3313469/ai-scientist-de-kai-offers-new-vision-parenting-ai-avoid-our-own-demise?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Jun 2025 01:00:13 +0000 C. K. Yeung C. K. Yeung For decades, the flow of academic and scientific talent has been largely one way: East to West. China’s brightest minds packed their bags for the universities of Harvard, Stanford, Oxford and Cambridge in pursuit of better teachers, better laboratories and a better future. This has changed. US and British universities are still magnets of global talent but are no longer unmatched. Chinese universities, once dismissed as rigid and third-tier, are now engines of scientific and technological... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3313034/hong-kong-must-reform-its-degree-offerings-attract-wests-brightest?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3313034/hong-kong-must-reform-its-degree-offerings-attract-wests-brightest?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Jun 2025 21:30:08 +0000