ByteDance’s Doubao AI chatbot (Source: Shutterstock) ByteDance’s AI chatbot Doubao drew more than 100 million daily active users (DAU) during China’s Lunar New Year holiday, emerging as the clear winner in a fierce user-acquisition battle among the country’s biggest tech firms, according to private survey data. Doubao surpassed 100 million DAUs on February 16, roughly…
Hong Kong firefighters have been honoured for their heroic response to November’s deadly Tai Po fire – the city’s worst in decades – at the 13th Spirit of Hong Kong Awards, which celebrates unsung heroes who contribute to the community or inspire others through stories of resilience and perseverance. The Fire Services Department received an…
Chinese AI start-up Zhipu AI said it would step up efforts next year in the pursuit of artificial general intelligence (AGI) while continuing to open source its AI models after its initial public offering. In 2026 “we’re going to contribute more substantially to the AGI journey,” Zheng Qinkai, a researcher at the company, which markets…
Mannings, one of Hong Kong’s largest health and beauty chains, will cease all retail operations in mainland China, both online and offline, as it adjusts its strategy in the highly competitive market. In a letter to its members, Mannings China said “its physical stores on the mainland will close permanently after January 15, 2026”. Its…
Chinese fintech giant Ant Group has pressed ahead with its strategic move into the fast-growing healthcare sector with a major upgrade to its artificial intelligence health app AQ, positioning the platform to work like a fitness companion or a family doctor. The new features included integration of records from smart devices made by Apple, Huawei…
https://orionx.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/HPCNB_20251215.mp3 Warmest December greetings! AI technology and its correlated impacts splashed around the world last week, here’s a fast (10:52) review of new developments, including: – Nvidia H200 exports to China – H20, H200 and Chinese AI chips: how do they stack up? – Few fast GPUs vs. many slow GPUs – China’s power…
Accelerating innovation and creating more jobs will be key facets of the next annual budget, Hong Kong’s finance chief has vowed, while noting positive investor sentiment after several entities recently bought and leased commercial properties in the city. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po also said in his weekly blog post on Sunday that public consultation…
The Jack Ma Foundation said on Thursday it would donate HK$30 million (US$3.9 million) to support families, firefighters and rescuers affected by a deadly fire at a housing estate in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district. In a statement, the foundation – established by the founder of Alibaba Group Holding and Ant Group – expressed solidarity…
Alibaba CEO Eddie Wu has emphatically dismissed concerns about an artificial intelligence bubble, stating the company “doesn’t really see much of an issue in terms of a so-called AI bubble” and plans to invest “aggressively” despite warnings from Google’s Sundar Pichai about “elements of irrationality” in the booming sector.Wu told investors that Alibaba can’t keep…
Ant Group’s new “vibe coding” artificial intelligence app LingGuang has overwhelmed servers after user downloads surpassed 1 million in just four days, hitting the milestone faster than OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Sora, according to the Chinese fintech giant. The app’s innovative functionality of generating applications in response to users’ text prompts was temporarily suspended on Thursday…