Technology News
Latest technology news and updates
Total: 297
Space Solar Rush: China’s PV Industry Eyes Orbit as Satellites and AI Drive Demand
Chinese photovoltaic firms are accelerating research and small-scale production work on space-adapted solar cells as interest in orbital power grows, fuelled by large satellite constellation plans and rising demand for continuous compute. Technical resilience, not lowest cost, is now the decisive attribute for space PV, and commercialisation will hinge on in-orbit validation, manufacturing scale-up and falling launch costs.
Huang Dials Down $100bn OpenAI Talk — Nvidia Says Any Funding Will Be Evaluated 'Round by Round'
Jensen Huang said Nvidia never committed to a $100 billion investment in OpenAI and will evaluate any funding opportunity incrementally. The clarification reduces short‑term market uncertainty and signals Nvidia’s preference to remain a broadly neutral supplier rather than take on outsized financial exposure to a single AI lab.
Alibaba’s Qianwen Escalates Spring Festival Subsidy War — 3 Billion RMB Pushes AI from Chat into Commerce
Qianwen has launched a 3 billion yuan Spring Festival campaign, enlisting multiple Alibaba ecosystem services to offer free orders and large cash red packets aimed at turning AI from a chat tool into a transactional assistant. The push comes amid competition from rivals such as Yuanbao, which offered 1 billion yuan in red packets, and marks a broader pivot by Chinese platforms to embed AI into everyday commerce during the high-spend Lunar New Year period.
Lei Jun Says Xiaomi Has Finished R&D on Next-Generation SU7 — A Signal the Tech Giant Means Business in EVs
Xiaomi founder Lei Jun said R&D for a next-generation SU7 electric sedan is finished and indicated he intends to buy the model. The announcement underscores Xiaomi’s push to accelerate product cycles and leverage its software and AI strengths in a crowded Chinese EV market, while highlighting the broader challenge of converting consumer-electronics credibility into long-term automotive trust.
Tencent Sprays RMB1bn in Red Packets to Force an AI Door — Can Yuanbao Repeat WeChat’s Coup?
Tencent’s Yuanbao launched a RMB1 billion red‑packet promotion that briefly flooded social networks and propelled the app to the top of China’s app charts. The campaign aims to replicate WeChat’s 2014 red‑packet playbook to seed Yuanbao as a mainstream AI assistant, but faces steeper challenges: lower natural frequency of AI usage, stronger competition, model quality concerns and the well‑documented difficulty of turning paid acquisition into long‑term retention.
SpaceX's Ambition for a Million Satellites Raises Stakes in the Race to Control Low Earth Orbit
SpaceX's proposal to deploy up to one million satellites would dramatically increase low Earth orbit congestion and shift the balance of technological and geopolitical power in space. The plan promises expanded connectivity and orbital computing but also raises acute risks around debris, spectrum management and strategic dependence.
SpaceX Files to Put a Million AI-Ready Satellites in Orbit — and China Says Commercial Space Will Drive 2026 Markets
SpaceX has applied to the FCC to deploy up to one million satellites as an "orbital data centre" for AI inference, a proposal that reframes space infrastructure as a compute frontier. Chinese brokerages, responding to domestic launch advances, have identified commercial space as a likely market theme for 2026, spotlighting investment opportunities and strategic competition.
Xpeng's IRON Stumbles in Public Demo — CEO Plays Down the Fall as Part of the Learning Curve
Xpeng's humanoid robot IRON fell during a public walk demonstration in Shenzhen. CEO He Xiaopeng framed the mishap as part of the development process, comparing it to a child's learning to walk. The incident highlights the technical and reputational challenges facing automakers and tech firms entering humanoid robotics.
Tencent Goes Back to Red Envelopes: ¥1bn AI‑fuelled Giveaway Floods WeChat Groups
Tencent launched a RMB 1 billion Yuanbao campaign on February 1 that uses shareable red envelopes and limited 10,000‑yuan reward cards to drive viral engagement on WeChat. The mechanics are designed to pull users back into existing social networks, accelerating distribution for Tencent’s new AI‑oriented app while raising questions about spam, abuse and regulatory attention.
Tencent Dumps ¥1bn in New-Year 'Red Envelopes' to Seed Yuanbao AI and Reboot Social Play
Tencent has launched a 1 billion yuan red‑envelope campaign to promote its Yuanbao AI assistant and new social features, aiming to recreate WeChat’s viral momentum. The stunt forms part of a broader New Year push by Chinese tech giants to capture AI users, with long‑term winners likely to be those with superior models and practical use cases rather than the biggest marketing budgets.
Jensen Huang’s Taipei Night: Nvidia Reaffirms Taiwan Ties as Supply Chain Faces a ‘Very Tight’ 2026
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang hosted nearly 40 senior Taiwanese supply‑chain executives in Taipei, using the occasion to thank partners, apologise for recent production disruptions around the Grace Blackwell platform, and warn that 2026 will be "extremely tight" for memory and packaging supply. He confirmed Nvidia’s participation in OpenAI’s next financing round, reaffirmed the company’s full‑stack strategy versus ASIC competition, and underlined Taiwan’s indispensable role in Nvidia’s success.
Nvidia’s $20bn Bet on ‘Extreme’ Inference Chips Signals a Shift from Training to Cheap, High‑Throughput AI
Nvidia’s roughly $20 billion acquisition of Groq’s technology and team marks a strategic bet that AI’s commercial future lies in low‑cost, high‑throughput inference rather than giant training clusters. Chinese startups and spin‑outs are racing to produce specialized inference chips, aiming to slash per‑token costs and capture regional markets as AI applications scale rapidly.