China’s Spring Festival has emerged as a high-stakes arena for artificial intelligence and robotics companies, with tech giants Tencent Holdings and Baidu committing a combined 1.5 billion yuan (US$215 million) to their digital red packet campaigns. Chinese social media and gaming giant Tencent announced on Sunday that its AI chatbot app Yuanbao would give away…
Seven out of eight power bank rental platforms tested by Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog displayed inaccurate navigation or positioning data on map applications, a problem that may waste users’ time and incur extra charges due to delays. The Consumer Council on Thursday also found a significant variance in rental fees across different stations within the…
Hong Kong’s transport minister has directed her team to urgently address prolonged queues and potential abuses of the application system for test-free driving licences, as long lines formed overnight outside a government office to secure the daily quota of same-day application tickets. Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan on Wednesday publicly urged the Transport…
Hong Kong’s famed Peak Tram will raise its fares from next Monday, with standard ticket prices for children and the elderly increasing by nearly 40 per cent. The Peak Tramways Company announced on Monday that return tickets for adults would cost HK$116 (US$15) while one-way tickets would be HK$82, a rise of 7 to 8…
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…
A draft of the “Anti-Monopoly Compliance Guidelines for Internet Platforms”, published over the weekend by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), focused heavily on the sophisticated, often opaque ways in which online platforms with significant market power can exploit technological advantages to exclude rivals and harm consumer interests. The document identified eight “new risks”,…
Apple is finally cashing in on one of the largest untapped markets in its App Store ecosystem. For years, WeChat’s “mini” apps and games in China bypassed the App Store entirely, leaving Apple out of the billions flowing through Tencent’s platform. That changes with a new deal between Apple and Tencent, which will allow Apple…
The two companies intend to leverage their respective hardware and software expertise to promote “a new indigenous AI development paradigm”, according to a WeChat post by SenseTime, in response to the “AI Plus” strategy unveiled in August by the State Council, China’s cabinet. Beijing has made self-reliance across China’s AI stack – from integrated circuits…
HANGZHOU, China The tech war between the US and China continues as Chinese firms Tencent and Deep Robotics produce artificial intelligence (AI) and robot technologies that rival those of their American counterparts, becoming viable alternatives in the global tech scene. The fierce and long-standing US–China rivalry is not only diplomatic or via trade but also…
The law, which was issued in March, requires explicit and implicit labels for AI-generated text, images, audio, video and other virtual content. Explicit markings must be clearly visible to users, while implicit identifiers – such as digital watermarks – should be embedded in the metadata. The country’s top internet watchdog, the Cyberspace Administration of China…