# AI
Latest news and articles about AI
Total: 143 articles found
All‑in AI — on Employees’ Dime: How Firms Are Shifting Compute Costs onto Workers
Chinese companies’ push to “All in AI” is shifting costs from employers to employees as firms treat AI as a personal productivity tool rather than a corporate capital expense. That shift raises labour‑market questions about inequality, performance metrics tied to compute use and who ultimately owns the new means of production.
Not a Robot General: What AI Actually Did in the US Strike on Iran — and Why the Hype Misses the Point
Claims that the US strike on Iran was an autonomous AI ‘kill‑chain’ are overstated. Open sources indicate Anthropic’s Claude was used as an intelligence‑analysis tool to synthesise data and model scenarios, while humans retained final command authority. The episode exposed a growing tension between tech firms’ safety guardrails and military demands, and highlights the strategic need for clearer governance, supplier resilience and operational safeguards.
CICC Frames China’s Two Sessions as Market Catalyst, Favouring Tech and Cyclicals
CICC’s Two Sessions preview frames the 2026 meetings as a policy inflection point: Beijing will prioritise industrial modernisation, domestic demand and market unification while continuing to address property and local‑debt risks. The bank recommends investors favour technology‑growth and cyclical resource sectors, but cautions that implementation and financial stability risks will shape outcomes.
Apple Eyes Google Cloud to Power Next‑Gen Siri, Deepening Dependence on Rival Infrastructure
Apple is reportedly discussing hosting the backend of a redesigned Siri on Google Cloud, a step that would give it access to advanced AI infrastructure while increasing commercial reliance on a competitor. The decision underscores the technical demands of modern voice AI and raises trade‑offs between speed of innovation, data privacy, and strategic control.
Why Hang Seng Tech Is Lagging: The ByteDance Problem for Hong Kong’s AI Story
The Hang Seng Tech Index has lagged regional peers as ByteDance, a private giant, siphons user attention and advertiser budgets through Douyin and new AI products. Seedance 2.0’s breakout and ByteDance’s unlisted status have heightened investor anxiety that the index cannot capture the country’s next wave of tech winners. The impasse reflects commercial disruption combined with genuine regulatory and geopolitical obstacles to a ByteDance listing.
Wahaha’s Heir Trims the Sails: Daughter Shutters Robot Unit, Reversing Father’s 13-Year Diversification Drive
Zong Fuli has shut Wahaha’s robotics arm, reversing her father Zong Qinghou’s decade-long diversification into industrial automation and other non-core ventures. The move reflects a strategic pivot back to Wahaha’s beverage business, prioritising capital discipline and focus over risky, long‑cycle R&D bets in robotics.
Tungsten Quadruples as Funds Rally and Beijing Eases FX Rules — Markets Reprice Risk After Middle East Shock
Heightened Middle East conflict has pushed oil and precious metals higher and unsettled markets, while China’s central bank cut its forward FX reserve requirement to zero to lower hedging costs and stabilise the yuan. Domestic equities have rebounded sharply, commodity prices — notably tungsten — have spiked, and big flows into robotics and AI are reshaping investment priorities amid a wider debate over the timing of returns from new technology.
Beaten-Up AI and Chip Stocks as Commodities, Oil and Gold Rally on Geopolitical Risk and Price Narratives
China’s stock market opened lower as AI, solar and semiconductor sectors pulled back while oil, natural gas and precious metals rallied, driven by price-rise narratives and renewed Middle East geopolitical risk. Brokers say the market is being steered by a combination of supply constraints and narrative-led sentiment, lifting commodity-linked names even as technology shares give back earlier gains.
Baidu Goes All‑In on AI After ¥16.2bn Write‑Down and 76% Profit Collapse
Baidu’s 2025 results exposed the costs of an urgent pivot: revenue slipped and net profit collapsed 76%, driven largely by a ¥16.2bn write‑down of obsolete compute assets. The company is reallocating around AI — reporting a fast‑growing ¥40bn AI new business — but faces intense competition, uncertain unit economics and the challenge of replacing evaporating search‑ad revenue.
When AI Is the Official Reason for Layoffs: How Block’s Cut Rewrites the Job Contract
Jack Dorsey’s announcement that Block will cut nearly half its staff and explicitly attribute the move to AI represents a turning point: profitable companies can now publicly justify large-scale layoffs on automation grounds. The market’s positive reaction and similar moves by major firms suggest a structural, not cyclical, shift in employment that erodes traditional entry-level pathways and disperses accountability for job loss.
Spring Gala’s Robot Debut Falters — A Public-Relations Setback for China’s Tech Showmanship
Robotic performers at China’s Spring Festival Gala experienced visible timing and control problems during a high-profile debut, provoking ridicule online and complicating a carefully staged narrative of technological prowess. The episode underscores the gap between lab demonstrations and live, large-scale applications and suggests a need for more cautious, incremental public deployments of robotics.
When Memory Becomes a Bottleneck: How the AI Chip Boom Is Driving Up Car Prices
A surge in DRAM and other memory prices sparked by AI demand and producers shifting capacity away from low‑margin chips has created acute shortages of car‑grade memory. The result is higher component costs for automakers, with some firms seeing DRAM expenses for a single vehicle nearly triple and potential upward pressure on EV prices unless supply rebalances or manufacturers absorb costs.