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Articles by T. Lin
Tmall expects record one million brands for Singles’ Day
Tmall said a record one million global brands and more than 70 million products will take part in its 2026 Singles’ Day shopping festival, as Alibaba seeks to attract more merchants and new product launches to the platform. Ahead of this year’s event, the number of merchants launching new products on Taobao and Tmall rose 64% year-on-year, according to the company. Brands are expected to introduce about 50,000 key products, alongside more than 2,000 offerings available exclusively on Tmall.
Dubai-China business forum yields new partnerships amid focus on AI cooperation
Organizations from Dubai and China signed ten memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in connection with the latest Dubai Business Forum, held in Shenzhen on October 14. The agreements span trade, investment, technology, and industry, including plans for a logistics facility in Dubai involving an investment expected to exceed AED 500 million (USD 136.1 million).
Pony.ai and Uber plan to roll out robotaxis in London next
Pony.ai and Uber said October 8 that they planned to begin testing Pony.ai’s seventh-generation robotaxis in London within weeks, extending their European rollout. The companies expanded their partnership in August, announcing plans to deploy more than 2,000 robotaxis across five European cities, starting with Zagreb, Croatia. Pony.ai describes the Zagreb operation as Europe’s first commercial robotaxi service.
Tencent uses its products to guide Hy Image 3.5 development
Tencent has released a preview of Hy Image3.5, its latest image generation model. Hy Image3.5 is being integrated into Tencent’s consumer artificial intelligence, content creation, advertising, workplace, and cloud products. Teams behind those products are working with the Hy model team to improve its performance on specific tasks. Tencent calls the process co-design: products serve as testing grounds that help shape the model as well as channels for delivering it to users.
Alibaba scales AI compute with new chip and 20 GW data center target
Photo courtesy of Alibaba Group. The Zhenwu V900 extends Alibaba’s push into proprietary silicon as rising AI demand drives further expansion of its cloud infrastructure. Alibaba is preparing for another step up in artificial intelligence infrastructure spending, unveiling a new proprietary accelerator as it targets more than 20 gigawatts of global data center capacity by 2032.
Bemuvo emerges on Temu as PDD explores first-party brands
On Temu, a new name has begun turning up: Bemuvo. Storefronts documented by several publications offer apparel, household products, and other goods familiar to users of the platform in markets such as Japan and Canada. A screenshot of Bemuvo products available for sale on Temu. Image source: M-Kite International. The name might otherwise be easy to overlook. But Bemuvo has also left a paper trail.
Aridge plans UAE regulatory sandbox and inter-emirate flying car route
A test flight of Aridge’s “Land Aircraft Carrier” in Ras Al Khaimah. Photo courtesy of the company. The Xpeng-backed company’s planned regulatory sandbox advances its eVTOL ambitions in the Middle East. Aridge is taking another step toward commercializing its flying cars, this time by tackling the regulatory and operational questions that follow a successful flight.
Huawei brings near-packaged optics to AI with Atlas 960E superpod
Photo courtesy of Huawei. The system uses NPO and Huawei’s UnifiedBus to reduce the power and bandwidth costs of moving data between AI accelerators. Huawei has unveiled the Atlas 960E superpod, an artificial intelligence computing system designed to link up to 4,096 neural processing units (NPUs) using near-packaged optics (NPO). The system targets a growing constraint on AI performance: moving data between chips without consuming too much power.
Mubadala is backing Luckin Coffee. Could the Middle East be next?
Photo source: Luckin Coffee. Luckin has eyed the region before, but neither side has signaled plans for a Middle East expansion. Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala has agreed to make a significant minority investment in Luckin Coffee, bringing a new institutional backer into the Chinese coffee chain as it continues to expand at home and test its model overseas.
Longbridge rolls out external AI integrations as brokerages rethink the trading experience
Image courtesy of Longbridge. The brokerage is opening its platform to external AI assistants, joining a broader shift as operators seek new ways to differentiate. Longbridge Securities is expanding its artificial intelligence strategy beyond its namesake trading platform, introducing tools that allow external AI assistants to access brokerage functions as the company grows its presence across Asia.
Huawei Mate XT 2 debuts Kirin 9050 Pro built on Tau scaling technology
Huawei’s latest flagship trifold smartphone, the Mate XT 2. Image source: Huawei. The new trifold phone is the first commercial device to use Huawei’s Tau scaling approach through its LogicFolding chip architecture. Huawei has unveiled the Mate XT 2, its latest trifold smartphone and the first commercial device powered by a chip based on the Chinese technology giant’s Tau scaling law.
Huawei licenses Wi-Fi patents to HP in global cross-licensing deal
Photo source: Shutterstock. The agreement gives HP access to certain Huawei Wi-Fi patents in exchange for reciprocal rights under the US company’s portfolio. Huawei and HP have signed a multiyear global patent cross-licensing agreement covering certain Wi-Fi technologies, extending their cooperation into intellectual property licensing. Under the agreement, HP will receive licenses to certain Wi-Fi patents held by Huawei, while Huawei will obtain reciprocal patent rights from HP.
China Unicom and Huawei deploy 5G-A network at World Humanoid Robot Games
Photo courtesy of China Unicom, Huawei. The deployment targets low latency and high uplink speeds for more than 2,000 robots competing in Beijing. China Unicom and Huawei have deployed a dedicated 5G-Advanced (5G-A) network at the second World Humanoid Robot Games, putting some of Huawei’s recent mobile networking ideas into practice. The games opened on August 22 at Beijing’s National Speed Skating Oval and are scheduled to run through August 26.
Z.ai says GLM-5.3 nears Anthropic in cyber defense as coding gains accelerate
Photo source: Z.ai. The model uses the same base as GLM-5.2 but delivers stronger results across coding and cybersecurity benchmarks. Chinese artificial intelligence company Z.ai has released GLM-5.3, a new flagship model that it said can match or edge some leading US models in identifying software vulnerabilities while narrowing the gap with Anthropic on long-running coding tasks. That comparison has an important limit.
TikTok fought to stay in the US. Its shopping business shows what was at stake
Graphic by KrASIA. Its marketplace business is growing quickly in the US, but it faces a long road against established players such as Amazon. Barely a year and a half ago, TikTok briefly went dark in the US, capping a yearslong saga that threatened to remove one of the world’s most popular social media apps from one of its largest markets. ByteDance eventually found a way through.
Zelostech expands in Southeast Asia with Changi Airport deployment, Malaysia license
Photo courtesy of Zelostech. A robovan project is underway at Singapore’s Changi Airport, while public road testing is set to begin in Malaysia. Zelostech, short for Zelos Technology, and Eevie have launched an autonomous cargo vehicle deployment in the Changi Airport Free Trade Zone in Singapore. Zelostech is using its Z5 autonomous cargo vehicle to connect parts of Changi Airport’s logistics network, including ground handling, cargo consolidation, freight forwarding, and related operations.
Hong Kong courts GBA-ASEAN connector role as trade and investment ties grow
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee, speaking during the GBA-ASEAN Summit 2026 on June 29. Photo courtesy of SCMP. Speakers at the GBA-ASEAN Summit framed the city as a two-way platform for capital, trade, technology, and expansion.
Huawei lays out six priorities for AI-era mobile networks
Photo source: Dreamstime (Gang Wang, ID: 411454742). Telecom carriers could eventually earn from AI activity on their networks. Huawei is trying to move the telecom conversation beyond faster downloads. At this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai, the company framed the next phase of mobile networks around artificial intelligence, arguing that carriers will need to rethink how connectivity, computing power, and services work together as AI agents become more common.
Observation of a saddle-loop van Hove singularity
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Abstract Exploiting electronic singularities to drive emergent quantum phenomena is a key basis in condensed matter physics, yet this powerful strategy has been largely limited to two dimensions, leaving the potential of three-dimensional materials often inaccessible. A “saddle-loop” singularity—a one-dimensional ring of saddle points—has been proposed as a way to extend the concept of van Hove singularities to three-dimensional electron systems, but has remained experimentally elusive.
By K. Nakayama, N. Ito, T. Kato, T. Nakamura, H. Zhang, X. Tang, T. Lin, S. Souma, K. Hagiwara, K. Tanaka, K. Ozawa, D. Shiga, H. Kumigashira, T. Kida, M. Hagiwara, T. Kim, C. Cacho, T. Jane Takahashi, Y. Okada, S. F. Zhou, T. Koretsune, T. Sato, Y. Morita, K. Yanagizawa, S. Masaki, T. Ikushima, Y. Moriyasu, F. Matsui, M. Maeda, Y. Niimi, K. Kudo
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Nature
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Plaud reaches USD 100 million ARR in two years as AI hardware gains traction
The Plaud Note. Image source: Plaud. The company expects conversations to become the starting point for AI workflows. Plaud has reached a milestone few artificial intelligence companies have achieved at comparable speed, but the significance extends beyond revenue growth. The company said on June 17 that it had grown from USD 1 million to USD 100 million in annual recurring revenue, or ARR, within two years, serving more than two million users across more than 170 countries.
Baidu’s Apollo Go expands Europe plans with Swiss permit
An AmiGo robotaxi operating on an open road in eastern Switzerland. Photo courtesy of the company. The AmiGo service could begin regular driverless operations in 2027, pending further regulatory approval. Baidu’s autonomous mobility platform Apollo Go has secured a key regulatory approval in Switzerland, marking a significant step forward in its push into the European market.
MiniMax explores Star Market listing after Hong Kong debut
MiniMax’s Hong Kong listing ceremony on January 9. Photo source: MiniMax. The company has hired advisors and signed a guidance agreement, but said any RMB share issuance remains preliminary. Just months after listing in Hong Kong, MiniMax is considering a second move in the public market, this time in mainland China.
Huawei proposes “Tau scaling law” to extend chip advances beyond Moore’s law
Photo courtesy of Huawei. The framework could help Huawei’s chips achieve 1.4-nm-equivalent transistor density by 2031. Huawei has proposed a new semiconductor development framework called the “Tau scaling law,” framing it as an alternative method to improve chip performance as Moore’s law becomes harder to sustain.
JD.com beats quarterly expectations, but food delivery keeps margins under pressure
Photo from KrASIA's archive. It is getting more profit out of retail, even as quick commerce spending tests the limits of that improvement. JD.com gave investors the earnings beat they wanted. Whether it gave them the profitability story they need is less clear. The Chinese firm’s revenue and net income for the first quarter of 2026 both came in ahead of analyst expectations, according to LSEG consensus data.
Alibaba’s AI cloud gains ask investors to look past profit decline
Photo source: Unsplash. Heavier spending has wiped the tech giant’s profit and pushed cash flow negative, even as AI demand continues to outstrip supply. Alibaba’s latest quarter presented investors with a tradeoff: accept a near-term earnings decline in exchange for clearer evidence that its artificial intelligence cloud business is gaining commercial traction. The market appeared willing to accept that bargain.
Tencent’s AI push gets harder to price after muted first quarter
Photo source: Dreamstime (L T, ID: 371747414). Games and advertising still fund the company’s next act, but investors are asking when AI will become more than a spending line. Tencent’s results for the first quarter of 2026 have further sharpened the question around its artificial intelligence strategy: it can afford to keep spending, but it has yet to show when that spending will pay off.
Huawei’s MatePad Pro Max leads Bangkok launch as tablets, wearables take focus
Photo courtesy of Huawei. The flagship tablet anchored a wider lineup aimed at strengthening Huawei’s position across consumer devices. Huawei used its latest global product launch in Bangkok to put a new flagship tablet at the center of its consumer hardware push, unveiling the MatePad Pro Max alongside new wearables and the Nova 15 Max smartphone. The company announced the products at its “Now Is Your Spark” global launch event in Bangkok, Thailand, on May 7.
Tech Week Shanghai set to convene global and Chinese tech players
Photo courtesy of CloserStill Media. The conference and exhibition will take place on May 6 and 7, with free admission for visitors. This May, Shanghai’s Pudong district will host the founding edition of Tech Week Shanghai, an international technology event aimed at connecting global companies with China’s innovation ecosystem.
Tencent opens international beta for AI agent product QClaw
Graphic by KrASIA. OpenClaw’s founder publicly endorsed the product’s rollout. Tencent has launched an international beta for QClaw, an artificial intelligence product developed by its PC Manager team, which builds the company’s desktop utility software used by hundreds of millions of users in China. QClaw is positioned for non-technical users.
After tech giants, a new cohort of “AI tigers” finds footing in China
Graphic by KrASIA. MiniMax and Zhipu, part of the cohort, have already entered the public markets. China’s artificial intelligence story no longer belongs solely to its largest technology companies, including Alibaba, ByteDance, Tencent, and Baidu. What has changed in 2026 is not just the arrival of more large models or the companies building them, but the emergence of smaller players that public market investors can now price and evaluate.
Tencent’s HY-World 2.0 moves AI beyond video into editable 3D worlds
Photo source: Dreamstime (L T, ID: 371747414). The release could shorten development cycles for 3D environments. Tencent has released and open-sourced HY-World 2.0, its multimodal artificial intelligence system that can generate, reconstruct, and simulate 3D environments from text, images, and video, as the company pushes its Hunyuan model lineup beyond visual content into production-ready assets. The latest version stands out for its focus on usability.
Meituan’s overseas push steadies investors despite second consecutive loss
Photo source: Unsplash. Keeta is gaining traction in international markets as the company ramps up investments in AI and retail initiatives. On March 26, Meituan released its results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2025. The filing showed full-year revenue of RMB 364.9 billion (USD 53.3 billion), up 8% year-on-year (YoY).
Alibaba’s latest Qwen subsidies are a bet on agentic commerce
Image source: Alibaba Group. Adoption was strong during the campaign, but it remains unclear if user behavior will persist after incentives fade. Subsidies are back at the center of attention in China’s technology sector, this time through artificial intelligence. What makes the latest push notable is that it comes on top of already heavy spending on AI infrastructure and model development.
The bull case for Chinese automakers, beyond EV margins
A BYD Dolphin Surf, photographed in the suburbs of Udine, Italy, highlights the growing footprint of Chinese-made electric vehicles globally. Photo source: Dreamstime (Lucapbl, ID: 439496791). Low EV profits obscure a broader push to expand globally, adapt to local demand, and build long-term positions abroad. China is home to the world’s largest electric vehicle makers and is also widely known for how competitive the market is.
Temu owner PDD misses estimates as margins come under pressure
Graphic by KrASIA. Increased spending on supply chains and merchant support also weighed on its 2025 results. PDD Holdings ended 2025 with revenue still growing, but profitability under pressure as it increased spending on merchants and supply chains. Fourth-quarter revenue rose 12% from a year earlier to RMB 123.9 billion (USD 17.9 billion), while net income fell 11% to RMB 24.5 billion (USD 3.5 billion).
Pop Mart shares fall on concerns over limited IP diversification
Photo source: Dreamstime (Roman Zaiets, ID: 407802439). Heavy reliance on Labubu and “The Monsters” franchise weighed on investor sentiment after the latest report. Pop Mart posted strong growth in 2025, but the results failed to lift its stock.
Zhihu achieves profit milestone in 2025 despite declining revenue
Photo source: Tuchong. The company leaned on cost reductions to deliver a full-year profit. Zhihu’s first full-year non-GAAP profit in 2025 was overshadowed by a weak fourth quarter, highlighting how much of its improvement still rests on cost cuts rather than renewed growth. Fourth-quarter revenue fell to RMB 643.5 million (USD 93.2 million) from RMB 859.2 million (USD 124.4 million) a year earlier, while gross margin narrowed to 53.6% from 62.9%.
SenseTime narrows losses in 2025 as generative AI drives growth
Photo source: Dreamstime (RobertWei, ID: 255113666). The segment accounted for more than 70% of revenue in 2025, even as higher infrastructure costs pressured margins. SenseTime’s 2025 results showed that generative artificial intelligence remained the company’s main growth driver, while profitability improved in the second half, even as full-year earnings and operating cash flow stayed negative.
Anta’s core label slows in 2025 as Fila and other labels pick up the pace
Photo source: Dreamstime (Uskarp, ID: 362562082). Its multi-brand strategy helped offset weaker performance at the core label. Anta Sports’ 2025 results showed that most of its growth came from Fila (China) and smaller brands rather than from the core Anta label, underscoring the company’s increasing reliance on its broader portfolio. Group revenue rose 13.3% year-on-year to RMB 80.22 billion (USD 11.6 billion).
Mixue’s growth continues in 2025 despite margin pressure
Photo source: Dreamstime (Andreas Marquardt, ID: 344259548). Early signs of strain are emerging as the company approaches 60,000 locations. Mixue Bingcheng’s 2025 results showed that it was still expanding quickly, but the more telling figure was a decline in gross margin in the goods and equipment business that underpins its franchise model and generates almost all of its revenue.
Kuaishou shares fall as AI spending overshadows solid earnings
Graphic by KrASIA. Rising AI costs weighed on investor sentiment despite the company’s financial capacity. Kuaishou’s latest quarterly results for 2025 showed that its artificial intelligence investment is beginning to generate revenue, but also that scaling those efforts will require a sharp increase in spending. Investors focused on the cost outlook.
Can ChackTok untangle Southeast Asia’s fragmented photo booth market?
Image courtesy of ChackTok. The app-based platform streamlines event workflows while scaling with booth operators’ needs. Photo booths may seem niche, with demand often tied to events and special occasions, but they make up a sizable global market. According to Maximize Market Research, the market was valued at about USD 584.6 million in 2024. The firm projects an 11.5% compound annual growth rate from 2025–2032, which would bring the market to USD 1.4 billion by the end of that period.
Unitree targets IPO after revenue quadruples on robotics demand
Photo source: Dreamstime (5822847, ID: 417657621). The Chinese startup has filed for a listing on Shanghai’s STAR Market. Unitree Robotics has filed for an IPO on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, seeking to raise up to RMB 4.2 billion (USD 609 million). According to the company’s prospectus, about half of the proceeds will be allocated to R&D in robotics and embodied intelligence. The remaining funds are set to support product development and manufacturing facilities following the IPO.
WeRide revenue surges on robotaxi growth, but losses remain high
Photo source: WeRide. Lower costs and higher utilization are improving unit economics, but not enough to bring the company out of the red. WeRide, the Nasdaq-listed autonomous driving company, reported its full-year 2025 results on March 23, posting record revenue of RMB 684.6 million (USD 99.3 million), up 89.6% year over year, as fourth-quarter revenue more than doubled to RMB 314 million (USD 45.5 million). Robotaxi revenue rose 209.6% to RMB 148 million (USD 21.5 million).
Xpeng posts first profit as business shifts toward AI-driven services
Photo source: Dreamstime (Tang90246, ID: 342627854). Higher-margin services adjacent to its car business boosted overall results. Xpeng reported its latest earnings on March 20, posting its first quarterly net profit. The Chinese electric vehicle maker recorded RMB 383.21 million (USD 55.6 million) in net profit for the fourth quarter of 2025 on RMB 22.25 billion (USD 3.2 billion) in revenue.
Alibaba earnings come under pressure despite AI and cloud gains
Graphic by KrASIA. Heavy spending on commerce weighed on its margins and cash flow. Alibaba’s latest earnings showed why investors may be reluctant to assign it, or its artificial intelligence peers, a higher valuation. The Chinese tech giant said cloud revenue rose 36% in the December quarter, and AI-related product revenue posted triple-digit growth for a tenth straight quarter. Even so, its US-listed shares fell about 7.1% on March 19 to close at USD 124.9. The hesitation is understandable.
Tencent beats Q4 expectations, but rising AI costs weigh on outlook
Graphic by KrASIA. Strong results were offset by higher expenses and a warning of increased spending in 2026. Tencent delivered a stronger-than-expected fourth quarter, but the market reaction suggested investors were already looking past the beat and toward the cost. Shares fell as much as 6.5% in Hong Kong the next day after management paired solid results with a warning that 2026 will bring a much heavier spending cycle for new artificial intelligence products.
Geely’s 2025 gains set up next test in exports and integration
Photo source: Dreamstime (Muhammad Asnawi, ID: 431658746). NEV growth and an improved product mix supported the carmaker’s earnings, but profit expansion remained uneven. Geely’s 2025 results suggest its new energy vehicle (NEV) push is starting to support a clearer earnings case, though not in the way the headline growth figures suggest.
Xpeng-backed Aridge raises funding to advance modular flying car production
Image courtesy of Aridge. The funding will support the Xpeng subsidiary in scaling production of its modular eVTOL vehicle. Aridge, the flying car subsidiary of Chinese technology firm Xpeng, has raised nearly USD 200 million in a new round of equity financing. Disclosed on March 13, the round drew participation from investors including Hillhouse Capital, HongShan, Gaorong Ventures, and Fortune Capital. Hillhouse Capital and HongShan also participated in Aridge’s earlier Series A round.
Didi’s core business remains strong as global expansion pressures earnings
Photo source: Didi Chuxing. Profits from its domestic mobility operations are funding international expansion and autonomous driving investment. Didi Chuxing’s fourth-quarter results for 2025 show that its domestic mobility business continues to grow, but the cost of overseas expansion is becoming harder to ignore.
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