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The latest news, analysis and opinion on Apps. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.

Children and adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of mental health problems, including experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety, according to the US Office of the Surgeon General.
Photo: Shutterstock

How social media can be terrible for teens and the people fighting back

Phone and social media use have led to a youth mental health crisis and transformed teens’ lives but schools and governments are stepping in.

18 May 2025 - 9:45AM

How AI investments are paying off for Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent

15 May 2025 - 6:00PM

Airbnb now offers in-home chefs, massages alongside home stays

14 May 2025 - 7:15PM

Artificial intelligence

Alibaba’s Quark, China’s most popular AI app, launches ‘deep search’

The upgrade combines the reasoning capabilities of AI models with online search to answer complex user queries.

9 May 2025 - 9:00PM

Alibaba’s Quark app is marketed as an AI super-assistant app. Photo: Handout

Alibaba teams up with social media platform RedNote in fresh e-commerce push

The cross-platform alliance allows consumers to find products via RedNote, which redirects them to buy the goods on Taobao and Tmall.

7 May 2025 - 10:37PM

First Australia, now New Zealand eyes social media ban for under-16s

Worried about cyberbullying and harmful content, New Zealand’s PM is pushing for a ban modelled on the one Australia is introducing.

6 May 2025 - 1:23PMvideocam

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EU fines TikTok €530 million for China data transfer

TikTok has been in the crosshairs of Western government for years over fears of China using personal data for espionage or propaganda.

2 May 2025 - 7:49PMvideocam

TikTok – a division of Chinese tech giant ByteDance – has its European headquarters in Ireland. Photo: dpa

US-China relations

‘Signalgate’ China hawk ousted as US national security adviser

Mike Waltz leaving job to become new US ambassador to the United Nations as top diplomat Marco Rubio takes over NSC role in interim.

2 May 2025 - 5:57AM

Need a home delivery of gold? In Dubai, there’s an app for that

Buy gold using Careem app in Dubai and have it delivered to your door by Uber. Service launches ahead of Hindu festival where metal is lucky.

1 May 2025 - 12:15PM

Millionaires and billionaires

Meet DoorDash co-founder Stanley Tang, who grew up in Hong Kong

Tang was born in Japan and grew up in Hong Kong before moving to California; he was a successful internet entrepreneur by the time he was 15 and co-founded DoorDash while a student at Stanford.

30 Apr 2025 - 6:00PM

Hong Kong-American entrepreneur and co-founder of DoorDash, Stanley Tang, with his wife Gloria Zhu. Photos: @stanleytang/Instagram

Artificial intelligence

Baidu offers new AI models at lower cost than DeepSeek’s products

The lower cost would help developers focus on creating ‘more super interesting and useful’ AI applications, Baidu CEO Robin Li says.

25 Apr 2025 - 7:00PM

Baidu has made available to developers its latest artificial intelligence models, Ernie 4.5 Turbo and X1 Turbo. Photo: Shutterstock

TikTok shakes up US e-commerce, policy leadership amid trade war, ban law

The changes for two executives follow a departure last month, as ByteDance seeks to safeguard business in its flagship app’s largest market.

25 Apr 2025 - 6:00PM

Trump to be interviewed by Atlantic editor who exposed ‘Signalgate’ chat

Jeffrey Goldberg was mistakenly added to a group chat in which top US officials shared secret military strike plans.

25 Apr 2025 - 2:03AMvideocam

DeepSeek sent data to Chinese servers without consent, South Korea probe finds

DeepSeek previously said it overlooked data protection laws when transferring input to a Beijing-based cloud service platform owned by ByteDance, the parent of TikTok.

25 Apr 2025 - 4:22PMvideocam

People watch a TV report on DeepSeek, during a news programme in Seoul, South Korea. A probe found that DeepSeek data sent to a Chinese server without consent. Photo: AP

Alibaba.com climbs in US shopping app charts as consumers hunt for bargains

The Alibaba.com mobile app occupied the third spot on the US iOS app store’s shopping category for most of this week.

23 Apr 2025 - 11:19PM

The Alibaba.com booth at the 136th China Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou in October 2024. Photo: Xinhua

WeChat helps Chinese tourists book tables at 870,000 dining spots across Japan

The Chinese-language version of Tabelog, a popular Japanese restaurant review website, is now available as a mini program on WeChat.

23 Apr 2025 - 7:30PM

US-China relations

Opinion | In AI race against US, China is racking up real-world wins

The US may hold the lead in cutting-edge AI tech but China is racking up economic wins with real-world adoption.

23 Apr 2025 - 4:30PMvideocam

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Artificial intelligence

OpenAI would buy Google’s Chrome if court orders it to be spun off

‘You could offer a really incredible experience’ if ChatGPT was integrated into Chrome, Nick Turley says.

23 Apr 2025 - 10:13AM

ChatGPT’s chief says OpenAI would be interested in buying Google’s Chrome browser if a federal court orders it to be spun off. Photo: AP

Vietnam targets social media users in ‘crackdown’ on dissent: rights group

Human Rights Watch reports ordinary social media users now face jail for criticising the state under Article 331.

22 Apr 2025 - 6:19PMvideocam

Pentagon faces ‘meltdown’ as Trump backs Hegseth amid second Signal chat storm

Defence Secretary’s ex-spokesman says there is a ‘meltdown’ at Pentagon over staff drama, leaks as Hegseth faces scrutiny over Signal chats.

22 Apr 2025 - 2:37AMvideocam

Artificial intelligence

Chinese tech giants race to expand AI services market via open-standard protocol

China is seeing growing adoption of the model context protocol, which has become a de facto standard for AI integration.

21 Apr 2025 - 9:52PM

The open model context protocol enables artificial intelligence agents to connect with third-party online tools, data sources and systems. Photo: Shutterstock

JD and Meituan food fight spills into public in Chinese delivery platform spat

In a public letter, JD.com accused a ‘rival platform’ of preventing delivery riders from using multiple platforms, for which Meituan was fined in 2021.

21 Apr 2025 - 9:30PM

A Meituan delivery worker walks among office towers in Beijing on March 27. Photo: Reuters

Pentagon chief ‘had another Signal chat’ sharing Yemen strike details: reports

Pete Hegseth’s second group chat, dubbed ‘Defence Team Huddle’, included US defence secretary’s wife and brother, The New York Times reported.

21 Apr 2025 - 1:08PMvideocam

Can AI replace travel agents? Holiday app start-ups take on the big players

A host of tourism tech firms are offering holidays planned by artificial intelligence in a challenge to established market players.

20 Apr 2025 - 12:00PM

US judge rules Google monopolised online ad markets in antitrust case

Google will now face the possibility of two different US courts ordering it to sell assets or change its business practices.

18 Apr 2025 - 12:39AM

The ruling could allow prosecutors to argue for a break-up of Google’s advertising products. Photo: Reuters

Temu cuts US ads after Trump’s tariffs, as app downloads plunge

The Chinese-backed shopping app has been a significant advertiser since launching in the US in September 2022.

16 Apr 2025 - 8:17PM

Temu is slashing its ad spending in the US as President Donald Trump raises tariffs on Chinese goods. Photo: Reuters

Artificial intelligence

China’s Kuaishou unveils ‘world’s most powerful’ AI video generator

The short video firm has launched Kling AI 2.0, saying the service now has more than 22 million users globally.

15 Apr 2025 - 9:23PM

Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg testifies at landmark US antitrust trial

Meta is accused by Federal Trade Commission of abusing its market power to acquire Instagram, WhatsApp before they could become competitors.

15 Apr 2025 - 8:50AM

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