https://www.scmp.com/rss/520842/feed DeepSeek is a Chinese artificial intelligence company founded by Liang Wenfeng. Its low-cost AI model was developed with significantly fewer computing resources than those of bigger US tech firms like OpenAI and Meta. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Vincent Chow,Wency Chen Vincent Chow,Wency Chen Huawei Technologies’ newest Ascend 950PR and 950DT chips enjoyed “day zero” adaptation to DeepSeek’s latest V4 model, the Shenzhen-based tech giant said in a livestream on Friday, just hours after the model’s release. The hardware-software collaboration between the two Chinese firms underscores the progress China has made in tech self-reliance, a top national priority for Beijing amid US efforts to block its access to advanced semiconductor chips and chipmaking equipment. During the livestream... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3351349/huawei-deepseek-strengthen-chinas-ai-self-reliance-collaboration-v4-model?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3351349/huawei-deepseek-strengthen-chinas-ai-self-reliance-collaboration-v4-model?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Apr 2026 14:30:08 +0000 Yulu Ao Yulu Ao Chinese chipmakers rallied on Friday while artificial intelligence application firms retreated, as investors rotated into semiconductor stocks on expectations of stronger demand for computing power following a new model release by start-up DeepSeek. Shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp rose 10 per cent by the close in Hong Kong, while Hua Hong Semiconductor surged 15 per cent, extending a broader rally among mainland chipmakers. In contrast, several AI application developers... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3351328/investors-rotate-chinas-chipmakers-deepseek-intensifies-ai-competition?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3351328/investors-rotate-chinas-chipmakers-deepseek-intensifies-ai-competition?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Apr 2026 10:03:43 +0000 Vincent Chow,Wency Chen Vincent Chow,Wency Chen DeepSeek has finally released its much-anticipated next-generation foundational artificial intelligence model, the open-source V4, which it said was competitive with leading US closed-source models from the likes of OpenAI and Google DeepMind. The Hangzhou-based AI start-up released two versions of the model on Friday, with the V4-pro model boasting 1.6 trillion parameters, making it the company’s biggest-ever model by that metric, while the smaller V4-flash model has 284 billion parameters. A... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3351239/deepseek-releases-next-gen-ai-model-world-leading-efficiency?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3351239/deepseek-releases-next-gen-ai-model-world-leading-efficiency?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Apr 2026 03:25:33 +0000 Minxiao Chang Minxiao Chang As Chinese artificial intelligence companies continue to push for the adoption of their flagship models overseas, they have taken on a new role as a key source of so-called “token exports” to the global market. Chinese AI models accounted for four of the top 10 models in terms of token consumption on popular AI model marketplace OpenRouter from March 18 to April 18, highlighting their growing visibility in global developer usage of AI systems. Domestic token demand has been surging at an... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3351011/can-token-exports-give-china-edge-ai-era?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3351011/can-token-exports-give-china-edge-ai-era?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Apr 2026 14:00:09 +0000 Wency Chen,Ben Jiang Wency Chen,Ben Jiang Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek has begun raising external capital for the first time, but is keeping its initial fundraising round deliberately small to limit equity dilution while retaining key talent, according to people familiar with the matter. The Hangzhou-based company, a spin-off from hedge fund High-Flyer, is seeking to sell no more than 3 per cent of its equity, said three investors with direct knowledge of the plans, who requested anonymity as the information is... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3351004/why-chinas-cash-rich-ai-firm-deepseek-still-shopping-funding-sources?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3351004/why-chinas-cash-rich-ai-firm-deepseek-still-shopping-funding-sources?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Apr 2026 11:00:10 +0000 Minxiao Chang Minxiao Chang Chinese artificial intelligence start-up Moonshot AI has released its latest open-source flagship model, Kimi K2.6, as domestic tech giants including Alibaba, ByteDance and Tencent issued a consensus to promote open source, even as some continue to invest in closed systems. The move highlights the varied business strategies of Chinese AI companies, as differences in growth and maturity shape their commitment to open source. Unveiled on Monday, Kimi K2.6 brings upgrades in long-horizon coding,... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3350887/moonshot-ai-releases-flagship-model-open-source-push-continues?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3350887/moonshot-ai-releases-flagship-model-open-source-push-continues?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Apr 2026 11:00:12 +0000 Minxiao Chang Minxiao Chang As China’s artificial intelligence sector accelerates, competition for top talent has intensified among major tech companies, with firms increasingly poaching from rivals while also attracting researchers from overseas hubs such as Silicon Valley. A reported high-profile personnel move involving DeepSeek researcher Guo Daya recently drew attention to the sensitivity surrounding AI hiring in China’s tech sector. Guo, a lead researcher on DeepSeek’s R1 model, joined ByteDance’s Seed AI development... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3350521/bytedance-tencent-step-ai-talent-battle-amid-reported-departure-deepseek-researcher?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3350521/bytedance-tencent-step-ai-talent-battle-amid-reported-departure-deepseek-researcher?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Apr 2026 01:00:32 +0000 Coco Feng Coco Feng Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said on a recent podcast that if Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek optimised its new models on chips from Huawei Technologies, it would be “a horrible outcome” for the US. If “future AI models are optimised in a very different way than the American tech stack”, and as “AI diffuses out into the rest of the world” with Chinese standards and technology, China “will become superior to” the US, Huang said on the Dwarkesh Podcast on Wednesday. The conversation... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3350460/nvidias-jensen-huang-warns-huawei-chips-deepseek-ai-models-would-be-horrible-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3350460/nvidias-jensen-huang-warns-huawei-chips-deepseek-ai-models-would-be-horrible-us?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Apr 2026 10:00:14 +0000 Lucy Quaggin Lucy Quaggin At a congressional hearing on Capitol Hill on Thursday, lawmakers and experts accused China of buying “what they can” and stealing “what they cannot” in the global artificial intelligence (AI) race, while warning the United States’ immigration and research policies could be hindering innovation necessary to stay ahead. “The pattern is clear. China is dependent on our tech stack to continue their AI development. China is willing to buy what they can, and steal what they cannot, to advance their... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350380/china-willing-buy-or-steal-us-tech-get-ahead-ai-race-congress-told?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3350380/china-willing-buy-or-steal-us-tech-get-ahead-ai-race-congress-told?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Apr 2026 22:26:36 +0000 Ann Cao Ann Cao Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek is ramping up recruitment in Inner Mongolia, signalling a potential expansion of its data centre footprint ahead of the much-anticipated release of its V4 model. The Hangzhou-based company is recruiting for two new roles – server maintenance engineers and delivery managers to oversee data centre launches – in Ulanqab, in Inner Mongolia, according to recent job postings. The move marks the first time DeepSeek has publicly advertised on-site roles... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3349741/deepseek-ramps-hiring-ahead-v4-launch-questions-swirl-over-chip-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3349741/deepseek-ramps-hiring-ahead-v4-launch-questions-swirl-over-chip-strategy?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Apr 2026 08:37:34 +0000 Minxiao Chang Minxiao Chang Alibaba Cloud captured more than 50 per cent of global open-source model downloads as of March following the release of its Qwen 3.5 model series, a new report has found. The finding underscores the dominance of Chinese models in the global open-source artificial intelligence landscape, though some US companies including OpenAI and Nvidia are also making early gains. Qwen reached nearly 1 billion cumulative downloads by March, far surpassing rivals like Meta Platforms’ Llama and DeepSeek,... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3349552/alibabas-qwen-family-captures-over-50-global-open-source-downloads-report-finds?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3349552/alibabas-qwen-family-captures-over-50-global-open-source-downloads-report-finds?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Apr 2026 02:00:14 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow DeepSeek has introduced new “instant” and “expert” modes to its chatbot, the most significant update to its user interface since the Hangzhou-based start-up gained global recognition. The changes come ahead of the much-anticipated release of DeepSeek’s next-generation flagship model V4 this month, more than a year after its R1 version made it a household name. On Tuesday, the company added the two modes to its website and mobile app, giving users the choice of settings. Instant mode was designed... https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3349345/chinas-deepseek-adds-instant-and-expert-chatbot-modes-ahead-much-awaited-v4-release?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/policy/article/3349345/chinas-deepseek-adds-instant-and-expert-chatbot-modes-ahead-much-awaited-v4-release?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Apr 2026 10:00:09 +0000 Eunice Xu Eunice Xu China’s southern tech hub Shenzhen began operations of the country’s first 10,000-card intelligent computing cluster, built with advanced chips made by Huawei Technologies, in the latest sign of how the country is deepening its push for home-grown computing capabilities. Featuring a computing capacity of 11,000 petaflops, the new cluster, activated last week, is the country’s first 10,000-card intelligent computing cluster built with Huawei’s Ascend 910C AI chips, according to Shenzhen Special... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3348502/shenzhen-activates-chinas-first-10000-card-ai-cluster-domestic-chips?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3348502/shenzhen-activates-chinas-first-10000-card-ai-cluster-domestic-chips?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Mar 2026 11:00:08 +0000 Ben Jiang Ben Jiang Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek suffered a prolonged outage overnight that extended into early Monday morning, disrupting service for hundreds of millions of users, according to a company notice and user feedback. The Hangzhou-based AI lab’s namesake chatbot website and app were offline from Sunday evening, with the company continuing to investigate while issuing fixes from between 1am and 9am on Monday, according to service maintenance records the company published online. The... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3348345/deepseek-outage-leaves-millions-cut-and-sparks-complaints-rivals-gain-ground?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3348345/deepseek-outage-leaves-millions-cut-and-sparks-complaints-rivals-gain-ground?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 03:41:43 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow A new artificial intelligence algorithm developed by Google that could reduce demand for memory chips triggered a slump in global memory stocks, but analysts said it presented an opportunity for investors to “buy the dip”. Shares in memory giants including Samsung and SK Hynix fell after Google said in a blog post on Tuesday that the algorithm, called TurboQuant, reduced the memory demands of key-value (KV) caches – a crucial component of how AI models are served to users – by six times through... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3348038/googles-turboquant-ai-advance-dents-memory-chip-stocks-analysts-say-buy-dip?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3348038/googles-turboquant-ai-advance-dents-memory-chip-stocks-analysts-say-buy-dip?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Mar 2026 13:24:11 +0000 Lucy Quaggin Lucy Quaggin China’s strategy of promoting open artificial intelligence (AI) models and leveraging manufacturing dominance is “mutually reinforcing”, forming a feedback loop that could challenge US dominance in AI, according to a new report by a US congressional advisory body. “It is the intersection of these two loops – one digital, one physical – that gives China’s open strategy its compounding force and poses the most serious long-term challenge to US AI leadership,” the United States-China Economic and... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3347645/us-panel-credits-chinas-ai-edge-open-source-models-manufacturing-dominance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3347645/us-panel-credits-chinas-ai-edge-open-source-models-manufacturing-dominance?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Mar 2026 22:34:03 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse From school shootings to synagogue bombings, leading AI chatbots helped researchers plot violent attacks, according to a study published on Wednesday that highlighted the technology’s potential for real-world harm. Researchers from the non-profit watchdog Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) and CNN posed as 13-year-old boys in the United States and Ireland to test 10 chatbots, including ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity, DeepSeek and Meta AI. Testing showed that eight of those chatbots... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346276/ai-chatbots-help-plot-attacks-study-shows-happy-and-safe-shooting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346276/ai-chatbots-help-plot-attacks-study-shows-happy-and-safe-shooting?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Mar 2026 20:25:47 +0000 Yuanyue Dang Yuanyue Dang China’s highest court says that while it handles AI-related cases with care it has allowed room for the country’s artificial intelligence industry to innovate and make mistakes, according to its annual report. Supreme People’s Court president Zhang Jun told the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislative body, on Monday that the court had “promoted the orderly development of artificial intelligence” last year. Delivering the supreme court’s work report, Zhang said China’s courts... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3345999/chinas-top-court-says-it-treats-ai-cases-care-without-stifling-growth-or-innovation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3345999/chinas-top-court-says-it-treats-ai-cases-care-without-stifling-growth-or-innovation?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Mar 2026 11:12:01 +0000 Coco Feng Coco Feng Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek has collaborated with researchers from Tencent Holdings and the University of Hong Kong (HKU) on a new AI-based method that can improve the accuracy of three-dimensional design. The team proposed Pointer-CAD, a framework built on Alibaba Group Holding’s Qwen 2.5 model, which helps designers select edges or faces of a 3D object, increasing the accuracy and efficiency in computer-aided design (CAD), a tool widely used in engineering, manufacturing... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3345687/chinese-start-deepseek-teams-tencent-hku-ai-tool-sharpen-3d-design?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3345687/chinese-start-deepseek-teams-tencent-hku-ai-tool-sharpen-3d-design?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Mar 2026 03:00:12 +0000 Yulu Ao,Ann Cao,Wency Chen Yulu Ao,Ann Cao,Wency Chen China’s most powerful economic regions – the Yangtze River Delta and the Greater Bay Area – are racing to meet President Xi Jinping’s call for breakthroughs in core technologies including artificial intelligence, as Beijing maps out priorities for the coming 15th five-year plan during the “two sessions”. As part of the annual meeting on Friday, provincial and municipal leaders of Zhejiang province outlined an ambitious strategy to become a key area of AI development and cement the province’s... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3345770/chinas-zhejiang-guangdong-provinces-vie-heed-xi-jinpings-call-innovation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3345770/chinas-zhejiang-guangdong-provinces-vie-heed-xi-jinpings-call-innovation?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Mar 2026 13:41:21 +0000 Lucy Quaggin Lucy Quaggin As China and the United States compete to shape the future of artificial intelligence, Africa’s rapidly expanding digital landscape is emerging as a new arena for their rivalry, far from the technology hubs of Silicon Valley or Shenzhen. With a growing population, expanding internet access and linguistic diversity, Africa is increasingly seen as a critical region for AI development, according to analysts. Early infrastructure and platform decisions can shape the future of emerging technology... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/article/3345483/africa-emerges-new-arena-us-china-competition-over-artificial-intelligence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/article/3345483/africa-emerges-new-arena-us-china-competition-over-artificial-intelligence?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2026 20:10:11 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow Alibaba Group Holding has recruited a research scientist from Google DeepMind to bolster development efforts for its Qwen artificial intelligence models, in an internal restructuring that has seen the departure of previous technical lead Lin Junyang. While no successor to Lin was announced, former Google senior staff research scientist Zhou Hao was joining Alibaba as head of post-training research, replacing Yu Bowen, who also departed this week, two sources said. Zhou, who holds a PhD from the... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3345471/alibaba-recruits-google-deepmind-contributor-join-qwen-ai-team-sources-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3345471/alibaba-recruits-google-deepmind-contributor-join-qwen-ai-team-sources-say?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2026 14:36:39 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow Chinese artificial intelligence company MiniMax Group posted better-than-expected annual revenue growth in its first earnings report since its blockbuster Hong Kong listing, as its CEO predicted a doubling in revenue this year. Revenue rose nearly 159 per cent year on year to US$79 million for the year ended December 2025, the Shanghai-based company said on Monday, beating an estimate of US$71.39 million by analysts polled by Bloomberg. Meanwhile, CEO Yan Junjie said in a post-earnings call that... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3345116/chinese-ai-firm-minimaxs-revenue-jumps-159-us79-million-strong-demand?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3345116/chinese-ai-firm-minimaxs-revenue-jumps-159-us79-million-strong-demand?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Mar 2026 10:39:54 +0000 Ben Jiang Ben Jiang Chinese open-source artificial intelligence models, led by those from MiniMax AI and Moonshot AI, have topped global token usage, ending a year of market dominance for US developers, according to data from OpenRouter. Online AI hosting platform OpenRouter’s latest ranking reflected the increased international demand for Chinese open-source models on its site following a series of new releases. Launched around two weeks ago, the M2.5 from Shanghai-based MiniMax emerged as the most popular AI... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3344587/chinas-minimax-moonshot-top-ai-token-use-ranking-ending-year-us-dominance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3344587/chinas-minimax-moonshot-top-ai-token-use-ranking-ending-year-us-dominance?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Feb 2026 11:30:07 +0000 Vincent Chow,Ben Jiang Vincent Chow,Ben Jiang US artificial intelligence lab Anthropic’s allegation that Chinese AI firms were “distilling” its Claude models has exposed a widely used AI training technique, sparking heated debate over its accepted boundaries, an analyst said. Anthropic said in a blog post on Monday that DeepSeek, Moonshot AI and MiniMax AI used roughly 24,000 fraudulent accounts to generate more than 16 million exchanges with its Claude models. The US firm said the activity amounted to unauthorised “distillation” of its... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3344499/anthropics-distilling-charges-against-chinese-firms-expose-ai-training-grey-area?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3344499/anthropics-distilling-charges-against-chinese-firms-expose-ai-training-grey-area?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Feb 2026 13:05:35 +0000 Gerui Wang Gerui Wang The 2026 Spring Festival Gala, one of the world’s most-watched television events, featured a dazzling array of humanoid robots. They performed martial arts, executed intricate sword dances and even took part in a comedy skit alongside human celebrities. While parts of the world still view humanoid robots with a mixture of fear and suspicion, as potential job-stealers or sci-fi villains, China is increasingly embracing them as partners in work, entertainment and daily life. Amid the escalating... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3344083/humans-vs-robots-china-begs-disagree?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3344083/humans-vs-robots-china-begs-disagree?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Feb 2026 21:30:09 +0000 Lucy Quaggin Lucy Quaggin They are young, intensely competitive, and unapologetic about 80-hour work weeks. Welcome to the United States’ new generation of tech founders. Gen Z’s start-up class is reframing “millennial hustle culture” by shifting from side gigs and personal branding to a more rigid office grind, while looking to China for inspiration. It’s for this reason that US artificial intelligence start-ups are openly embracing 996, the controversial 9am to 9pm, six-day-a-week schedule popularised by Chinese tech... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3344052/996-goes-west-us-ai-start-ups-adopt-china-techs-controversial-work-schedule-get-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3344052/996-goes-west-us-ai-start-ups-adopt-china-techs-controversial-work-schedule-get-ahead?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Feb 2026 14:00:07 +0000 Xiaofei Xu,Ann Cao Xiaofei Xu,Ann Cao As American figure skater Ilia Malinin launched into a quad – a jump with four airborne revolutions – at this month’s Winter Olympics, millions of television viewers witnessed something brand new: a replay of the jump separated into frames that appeared to orbit the athlete. It was just one of many new perspectives offered to viewers thanks to the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, where the technology is not only enhancing broadcasts but also helping... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3344139/how-chinese-artificial-intelligence-put-new-spin-winter-olympics-action?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3344139/how-chinese-artificial-intelligence-put-new-spin-winter-olympics-action?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Feb 2026 11:00:09 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow Alibaba Cloud has unveiled its next-generation open artificial intelligence model, Qwen-3.5, in a move set to have major implications for the global AI race between China and the US. The much-anticipated release, timed on the eve of the Lunar New Year, capped a frenetic week in which nearly every major Chinese AI developer rolled out new flagship models. The two new 3.5-series models were made available on Alibaba’s cloud platform Model Studio on Monday afternoon. The new Qwen-3.5-Open-Source... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3343738/alibaba-unveils-qwen-35-sharpening-global-race-spread-ai-models?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3343738/alibaba-unveils-qwen-35-sharpening-global-race-spread-ai-models?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Feb 2026 09:19:44 +0000 Carol Yang Carol Yang The global frenzy around embodied intelligence is still in its infancy and could ultimately surpass the impact of the mobile internet, according to the founder of Chinese robotics pioneer Unitree Robotics. Wang Xingxing, the company’s CEO, told state broadcaster CCTV in an interview scheduled to air on Saturday that the sector remained in a “climbing phase” rather than nearing a peak. He said a definitive breakthrough in large-scale artificial intelligence models for robotics could trigger a... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3343476/unitree-bets-embodied-ai-leap-will-drive-next-wave-global-investment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3343476/unitree-bets-embodied-ai-leap-will-drive-next-wave-global-investment?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Feb 2026 12:00:08 +0000 Cao Li Cao Li Global index provider MSCI revised its China gauge on Wednesday, swapping property and conglomerates for semiconductor and artificial intelligence stocks in a sign of technology’s rising role in the economy. The MSCI China Index added tech stocks including SenseTime, Pony.ai and Hesai Technology for a second straight quarter of net constituent growth since late 2025, a move analysts said would accelerate capital flows into the country’s technology sector. Against a macro backdrop of a relatively... https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3343220/index-compiler-msci-tilts-towards-chinese-tech-stocks-latest-revamp?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/markets/article/3343220/index-compiler-msci-tilts-towards-chinese-tech-stocks-latest-revamp?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Feb 2026 23:30:08 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow Chinese artificial intelligence company Zhipu AI has launched its latest flagship model, the GLM-5, with a leap in coding capabilities amid a heated race among Chinese tech firms to roll out major new models ahead of the Spring Festival holiday. Zhipu AI, known internationally as Z.ai, said that the GLM-5 represented a shift in AI development from “vibe coding” to “agentic engineering” – AI-automated coding at a larger scale – thanks to its latest model’s enhanced performance. The model’s... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3343239/chinas-zhipu-ai-launches-new-major-model-glm-5-challenge-its-rivals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3343239/chinas-zhipu-ai-launches-new-major-model-glm-5-challenge-its-rivals?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Feb 2026 21:22:50 +0000 Ben Jiang Ben Jiang Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek has updated its flagship AI model, adding support for a large context window with more up-to-date knowledge and fuelling further anticipation over its next major release. When asked, DeepSeek’s namesake chatbot confirmed in multiple responses that from Wednesday it had expanded its context window from 128,000 tokens to over 1 million – a nearly tenfold increase expected to improve AI systems’ handling of human queries. A larger context window... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3343225/deepseek-boosts-ai-model-10-fold-token-addition-zhipu-ai-gears-glm-5-launch?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3343225/deepseek-boosts-ai-model-10-fold-token-addition-zhipu-ai-gears-glm-5-launch?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Feb 2026 13:52:17 +0000 Chee Yik-wai Chee Yik-wai After a series of roller-coaster rides in financial markets, serious concerns remain about the long-term profitability of major artificial intelligence (AI) companies that mostly rely on circular financing – investing in each other to prop up demand. This volatility is worrisome when many Americans’ retirement pensions are closely tied to AI stocks, which have contributed to 80 per cent of the US stock market’s rise and 40 per cent of US GDP growth last year. Amid fears of a bubble, polls... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3342808/china-leading-holistic-ai-development-can-us-catch?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3342808/china-leading-holistic-ai-development-can-us-catch?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Feb 2026 12:30:08 +0000 Iris Deng Iris Deng In an intensifying giveaway war among artificial intelligence apps in China, TikTok parent ByteDance’s Doubao chatbot has joined the fray to offer robots and drones, following multibillion-yuan campaigns from Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings to hand out cash and bubble tea. ByteDance said on Tuesday that it planned to give more than 100,000 tech products as gifts, as well as red packets of up to 8,888 yuan (US$1,284), through lucky draws on the Doubao app on the eve of Lunar New... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3343104/bytedance-joins-alibaba-tencent-offer-freebies-bid-acquire-ai-app-users?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3343104/bytedance-joins-alibaba-tencent-offer-freebies-bid-acquire-ai-app-users?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:00:19 +0000 Iris Deng Iris Deng China’s market regulator has penalised several companies for posing as DeepSeek and OpenAI’s ChatGPT to defraud users, in its latest crackdown on unfair competition in the fast-growing artificial intelligence sector. The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), China’s market watchdog, fined Shanghai Shangyun Internet Technology 62,692.70 yuan (US$9,034) for operating a fraudulent ChatGPT service on Tencent Holdings’ super app WeChat. The service posed as the official Chinese version... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3342718/china-fines-firms-fake-chatgpt-and-deepseek-services-ip-theft-crackdown?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3342718/china-fines-firms-fake-chatgpt-and-deepseek-services-ip-theft-crackdown?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Feb 2026 13:42:47 +0000 Lucy Quaggin Lucy Quaggin US President Donald Trump wants to build his “Dream Military”. In January, he proposed setting military spending at US$1.5 trillion in 2027 while citing “very troubled and dangerous times”. The move would increase the country’s defence budget by around 50 per cent amid growing concern at the Pentagon about China’s AI advancements. As the United States and China race to develop the latest artificial intelligence, the use of AI technology in the military has become a battleground in its own right,... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3342412/us-and-china-defence-sectors-emerge-key-battlegrounds-race-ai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3342412/us-and-china-defence-sectors-emerge-key-battlegrounds-race-ai?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Feb 2026 16:00:42 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow Leading US and Chinese artificial intelligence models are frustrating to use in real-world settings because they struggle to learn from context, Tencent Holdings said in a new technical paper – the first co-authored by Vinces Yao Shunyu since he took up the role of chief AI scientist at the firm. AI developers need to place “context learning” at the centre of future model design if their products are to become genuinely useful outside controlled environments, according to researchers from... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3342386/when-context-everything-ai-models-still-struggle-real-world-tencent?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3342386/when-context-everything-ai-models-still-struggle-real-world-tencent?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Feb 2026 11:01:44 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow Chinese companies are mitigating the risks of artificial intelligence in their own way and should not be judged through a Western lens, according to Chinese industry insiders. The comments come ahead of what is expected to be a busy month for Chinese AI developers, with new major models set to be released ahead of the Lunar New Year. Last year, concerns about the risks of Chinese models held back some global users from adopting them, with high-profile DeepSeek in particular banned or restricted... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3342279/chinese-ai-firms-defend-safety-practices-push-back-western-criticism?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3342279/chinese-ai-firms-defend-safety-practices-push-back-western-criticism?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Feb 2026 04:01:43 +0000 Ben Jiang Ben Jiang Chinese artificial intelligence start-up StepFun has unveiled a lightweight AI model that it says punches above its weight, rivalling larger systems from domestic competitors including DeepSeek and Moonshot AI as competition intensifies in the country’s AI sector. The Shanghai-based AI lab said on Monday its latest Step 3.5 Flash model was designed to deliver advanced reasoning and agentic capabilities while maintaining efficiency. Despite its relatively modest size of about 196 billion... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3342222/punches-above-its-weight-compact-ai-model-chinas-stepfun-outshines-larger-rivals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3342222/punches-above-its-weight-compact-ai-model-chinas-stepfun-outshines-larger-rivals?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Feb 2026 09:30:37 +0000 Iris Deng Iris Deng Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings aims to replicate the success of WeChat Pay by splashing cash for its artificial intelligence app Yuanbao, but analysts are sceptical about whether subsidies can move the needle in the increasingly crowded market. Yuanbao’s 1 billion yuan (US$144 million) promotional campaign, which gives out cash through digital red packets to drive adoption, kicked off with a high-profile launch on Sunday, as many users woke up to find their WeChat groups flooded with... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3342111/red-packet-rumble-will-tencents-cash-giveaway-work-again-crowded-ai-market?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3342111/red-packet-rumble-will-tencents-cash-giveaway-work-again-crowded-ai-market?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Feb 2026 14:00:15 +0000 Wency Chen Wency Chen Alibaba Group Holding has joined rivals including Tencent Holdings and Baidu in rolling out Spring Festival red-packet giveaways to drive mass-market adoption of its artificial intelligence apps, committing 3 billion yuan (US$432 million) to spur spending across its ecosystem as it seeks to extend its edge in foundational models to consumer-facing products. The Hangzhou-based e-commerce and AI giant said on Monday that its AI app Qwen would anchor a Spring Festival campaign across its flagship... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3342085/alibabas-qwen-ramps-ai-app-race-spring-festival-giveaway-blitz?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3342085/alibabas-qwen-ramps-ai-app-race-spring-festival-giveaway-blitz?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Feb 2026 08:45:07 +0000 Ben Jiang Ben Jiang China’s frontier artificial intelligence labs are ending the lunar year on a high note, racing to release a series of new AI models in the last few weeks of the Year of the Snake as the country gears up to celebrate the start of the Year of the Horse. Beijing-based Zhipu AI and Shanghai-quartered MiniMax, which just made their stock exchange debuts in Hong Kong, would be the next to update their flagship AI systems with across-the-board enhancements, according to sources familiar with their... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3342051/chinas-ai-labs-race-debut-latest-models-lunar-new-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3342051/chinas-ai-labs-race-debut-latest-models-lunar-new-year?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Feb 2026 06:00:11 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow Education in China’s countryside should shift away from rote-based learning to focus on nurturing curiosity and creativity in the artificial intelligence era, Alibaba Group Holding founder Jack Ma said in a meeting with rural teachers on Monday. In remarks published by the Jack Ma Foundation on Tuesday, former English teacher Ma said the dawn of the AI era posed a challenge for rural education, but also presented an opportunity to “return to the fundamentals of education”. Alibaba owns the South... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3341543/teach-our-children-well-jack-ma-urges-changes-chinas-rural-education-ai-era?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3341543/teach-our-children-well-jack-ma-urges-changes-chinas-rural-education-ai-era?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Jan 2026 11:00:09 +0000 Ben Jiang Ben Jiang Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek on Tuesday unveiled an upgraded version of its optical character recognition (OCR) model, incorporating an Alibaba Cloud-developed open-source system to boost performance. The new model, DeepSeek-OCR 2, replaced a key component of its original architecture with Alibaba Cloud’s lightweight Qwen2-0.5b model, according to a research paper released by the company. The update, which comes just over three months after DeepSeek launched the first... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3341437/deepseek-taps-alibaba-open-source-ai-technology-boost-ocr-performance?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3341437/deepseek-taps-alibaba-open-source-ai-technology-boost-ocr-performance?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Jan 2026 14:00:13 +0000 Ni Tao Ni Tao Hangzhou’s space industry got off to a flying start in 2026. On January 7, China’s leading private rocket firm Space Epoch broke ground on a medium-to-large liquid rocket assembly, testing and reuse facility in Hangzhou’s Qiantang district. Basing this in the port city allows the rockets to be transported by sea to launch areas in the East China Sea and recovered the same way. Logistics alone do not explain the decision. Space Epoch is plugging into an industrial ecosystem Hangzhou has been... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3341303/how-hangzhous-tech-ecosystem-nurtures-dragons-and-rockets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3341303/how-hangzhous-tech-ecosystem-nurtures-dragons-and-rockets?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Jan 2026 08:30:09 +0000 SCMP Reporter SCMP Reporter Are your loved ones in luck this year? See our predictions for all the zodiac signs in the Year of the Horse. Fortune-tellers and feng shui masters have locked in their predictions for the Year of the Fire Horse, which begins on February 17. This rare “Double Fire” event occurs only once every 60 years and is symbolic of intensity, vitality and forward momentum. Historically, the Fire Horse is known to gallop through stagnant traditions, bringing a whirlwind of transformation that can shift from... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3340786/year-horse-2026-what-does-ai-predict-double-fire-event-has-store-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3340786/year-horse-2026-what-does-ai-predict-double-fire-event-has-store-us?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 24 Jan 2026 09:15:09 +0000 Wency Chen Wency Chen Baidu on Thursday unveiled Ernie 5.0, a multimodal artificial intelligence model with 2.4 trillion parameters, as use of the Chinese tech giant’s AI-powered namesake assistant climbed to 200 million monthly active users. The omni-modal foundation model, capable of processing text, images, audio and video, is the Beijing-based company’s most advanced to date. The model was first previewed in November and has since climbed the rankings. A leaderboard published last week by LMArena showed... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3340866/baidu-launches-ernie-50-firms-ai-assistant-users-reach-200-million-month?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3340866/baidu-launches-ernie-50-firms-ai-assistant-users-reach-200-million-month?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Jan 2026 12:30:15 +0000 Khushboo Razdan,Bochen Han Khushboo Razdan,Bochen Han A move to curb US President Donald Trump’s power to sell advanced AI chips to China moved a step closer on Wednesday when a Republican-led congressional panel joined hands with their Democratic counterparts, brushing aside objections from the White House and chip giant Nvidia. The action has put Representative Brian Mast, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on a collision course with Trump’s top AI adviser David Sacks and drawn sharp criticism from Maga-aligned... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3340751/trumps-decision-sell-ai-chips-china-under-pressure-house-bill-against-deal-advances?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3340751/trumps-decision-sell-ai-chips-china-under-pressure-house-bill-against-deal-advances?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Jan 2026 23:14:09 +0000 Vincent Chow Vincent Chow New Google research into DeepSeek and Alibaba Cloud’s artificial intelligence models has found that powerful reasoning models capable of “thinking” demonstrated internal cognition resembling the mechanisms underpinning human collective intelligence. The findings published on Thursday suggested that perspective diversity, not just computational scale, was responsible for the increasing “intelligence” of AI models, while also underscoring the growing importance of Chinese open models for... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3340690/google-study-finds-deepseek-alibaba-ai-models-mimic-human-collective-intelligence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3340690/google-study-finds-deepseek-alibaba-ai-models-mimic-human-collective-intelligence?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 21 Jan 2026 23:00:09 +0000