China’s Ant Group, Baidu, iFlytek, and Tencent joined US AI firms including OpenAI and Meta in working on two global GenAI and LLM-focused standards which were published by the United Nations on Tuesday. The “Large Language Model Security Testing Method” and “Generative AI Talent Development Framework” documents were presented during the 27th United Nations Science and Technology Conference. The four participating Chinese companies have all rolled out their own AI foundation models and are seeking to use the booming technology to transform businesses. The two documents represent the first int ..read more

On Thursday, Huawei unveiled a letter on the Chinese X-like social media platform Weibo to announce the Pura 70 Series Pioneer Program, a scheme for people to purchase devices from its latest mobile phone series without holding a launch event. The new range was launched with minimal marketing, in a similar approach to the one the Chinese tech giant took when launching the Mate 60 series last August. The Pura 70 Pro/Ultra models went on sale in China on Thursday, while the Standard/Pro+ models will be available on April 22. Huawei’s flagship lineup is currently categorized into the Mate and Pu ..read more

An industry-wide price war in the Chinese car market has escalated to an unsustainable level, which has been ongoing for more than a year and could pressure some automakers to slash prices by another 20-30% in 2024, according to the head of Bosch’s China operations. It is “unhealthy” that businesses are being drawn into repeated price cuts, which has elevated every company’s losses or squeezed their profits and could result in reduced efforts on new technologies, David Xu, president of Bosch China, told reporters in Shanghai on Thursday (our translation). The company is trying to make room fo ..read more

China’s Li Auto on Thursday introduced its smallest model ever: an extended-range hybrid crossover that it hopes will contribute a large portion of its total sales this year. The move comes just weeks after the electric vehicle maker witnessed a disappointing launch of its first all-electric model. The L6 midsize sport utility vehicle measures 4.9 meters in length and spans a 2,920-millimeter-long wheelbase, while carrying an affordable lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack, which enables a driving range of 1,390 kilometers (864 miles) on a full charge and tank. By comparison, all its lar ..read more

China’s food delivery company Meituan has appointed Senior Vice President Wang Puzhong as CEO of its new core local commerce business, marking the first time the firm has had two chief executives. The core business integrates Meituan’s in-store and in-home business groups, as well as the main platform’s basic research and development operation, according to an internal memo signed by Meituan CEO Wang Xing on Thursday. The recent update marks the company’s fourth restructuring in less than three months and grants the consolidated unit, announced in February, its formal name. [Jiemian, in Chine ..read more

“Three, two, one! Show [shopping] link!” Richard Liu, founder of Chinese e-commerce company JD, debuted his livestreaming show on Tuesday – using an avatar in his likeness. The billionaire’s virtual doppelganger drove total sales volumes to exceed RMB 50 million ($6.9 million) in less than one hour, the company said. Why it matters: JD is finally trying to capitalize on China’s online retail trend for combining content forms and shopping, with the firm making huge investment bets in new areas. Liu’s rare public appearance, albeit through an extremely life-like avatar, demonstrates the urgency ..read more

In the first quarter, China’s chip production surged by 40% year-on-year to reach 98.1 billion units, a sign that China’s mature process chip capacity is rapidly expanding, despite constraints imposed by the US on advanced processes, according to the South China Morning Post. The National Bureau of Statistics announced on Tuesday that integrated circuit production in China increased by 28.4% in March alone compared to the same period last year, reaching 36.2 billion units. China’s integrated circuit production growth partly stems from strong demand in the new energy vehicles sector, the repor ..read more

Volkswagen and Xpeng Motors have inked a deal to develop a high-performance electrical/electronic architecture that will underpin upcoming China-made, VW-branded models starting 2026, the companies said on Wednesday. The agreement is an expansion of a partnership that kicked off last year with a focus on the development of two new VW models featuring Xpeng’s autonomous driving capabilities scheduled for launch in 2026 in China. The China Electrical Architecture (CEA) set-up will feature 30% fewer electronic control units than Volkswagen’s previous systems, allowing the German automaker to low ..read more

Japan’s Honda Motor said on Tuesday it is introducing a new electric vehicle brand in China, and will use components from local companies including CATL, Huawei, and iFlyTek as it looks to adapt to significant changes in the highly competitive Chinese car market. The upcoming new models under the Ye series will be equipped with Huawei’s xScene liquid crystal display (LCD) panels and the two companies are exploring more potential collaborations, according to Igarashi Masayuki, head of Honda’s China operations, financial media outlet Caixin reported. The Japanese carmaker said it has also partn ..read more

Nvidia’s use of TSMC’s Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS) packaging for its new Blackwell platform products has led to the Taiwanese manufacturer ramping up its production capacity for 2024. Nvidia’s latest Blackwell platform products include the new B200 GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and the GB200, which integrates the Grace CPU (Central Processing Unit), and all use high-precision CoWoS packaging from TSMC. CoWoS packaging is a technology that integrates multiple chips on a single substrate to improve performance and efficiency in semiconductor devices. The GB200 is expected to ship more t ..read more