China has escalated its trade dispute with the US, imposing up to 15% tariffs on select American agricultural imports in response to the Trump administration's latest tariff hikes. Meanwhile, Beijing's Ministry of Commerce blacklisted 15 US companies under export controls along with 10 more firms added to its "unreliable entity" list, intensifying economic tensions between the world's two largest economies.
As manufacturing grapples with a growing technology gap, Siemens has unveiled a strategic framework to bridge the digital divide in industrial AI implementation. At its core are three foundational principles: AI solutions must meet rigorous industrial-grade standards, the technology should remain accessible to businesses at all levels, and a comprehensive ecosystem is necessary to support widespread adoption. Christine Herbst-Kubitz, General Manager of Siemens Taiwan Digital Industries, emphasized that this approach will accelerate manufacturing automation while maximizing previously untapped resources.
China's annual "Two Sessions" kicked off with the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), where policymakers laid out economic and fiscal strategies for the year ahead. Premier Li Qiang delivered the government work report, detailing growth targets and key policy measures for 2025.
Softstar Entertainment has expanded into the food and beverage sector with the launch of its AI smart dining robot. Softstar vice president Jialun Zheng explained that the company plans to use its AI and design expertise from gaming to create smart dining solutions. The robot is designed as an interactive partner, aiming to offer a unique dining experience through advanced AI learning capabilities.
IBM China Investment Company Limited (IBMV) and its subsidiaries shut down on March 1, impacting over 1,800 R&D and testing staff in Beijing, Shanghai, Dalian, and other sites. IBM's Beijing headquarters is now being dismantled, closing a chapter on nearly 40 years of R&D in China for the erstwhile tech giant, as reported by sources including Sina and Jiemian.
E-commerce solutions provider Shopline Technology has observed a slowdown in retail growth, with brands facing two key challenges: fragmented consumer traffic and intensifying inventory competition. Maintaining competitiveness now requires transforming diverse traffic data into actionable insights.
At Dassault Systèmes' SolidWorks and 3DEXPERIENCE World 2025 in Houston, CEO Pascal Daloz outlined his 2025 market outlook, predicting strong growth in the US and Asia despite global economic uncertainty, while Europe may see a slowdown.
Dassault Systèmes has announced that 3DExperience World 2025, its annual event dedicated to the SolidWorks and 3DExperience platform user community, is taking place in the US city of Houston from February 23-26.
The AI's capability in research is fastly evolving, representing a shift from traditional search engines, as they can analyze complex subjects, produce detailed reports, and support in-depth research. The trend highlights AI's increasing role in enhancing research capabilities, presenting new opportunities and challenges for researchers, knowledge workers, and businesses.
DeepSeek, China's open-source large language model (LLM), is rapidly gaining momentum as state-owned enterprises eagerly embrace the AI platform. More than 20 Chinese state-owned firms have already integrated DeepSeek across the energy, telecommunications, automotive, and financial sectors.
The 2025 Global Developer Conference (GDC) was held in Shanghai from February 22 to 23, gathering top executives, developers, and industry professionals. Unlike other participants, DeepSeek chose not to participate in open forums or exhibits, preferring closed-door meetings and seminars. Industry insiders were caught up by its unusual "low-key" manner.
Alibaba Group's financial report for the fourth quarter of 2024 reveals an 8% year-over-year revenue increase, driven by the year-end shopping season. The revenue totaled CNY280.2 billion (US$38.6 billion), registering the fastest growth rate in over a year. This reflects strong performance in its core e-commerce and cloud computing sectors.
A recent summit for private entrepreneurs in Beijing, attended by tech leaders including Alibaba founder Jack Ma and Huawei founder Zhengfei Ren, has drawn attention to the notable absence of Baidu founder Robin Li. Market observers speculate this absence may be linked to the mounting challenges facing Baidu.
The Chinese computing power market has experienced significant growth following the debut of DeepSeek R1. According to market sources, the end of the Lunar New Year holidays has increased activity as Internet and cloud service providers integrate with DeepSeek, driving heightened demand for Nvidia H-series GPUs.
During a speech at the Deloitte Future Talk summit held by Deloitte Taiwan on February 13, Jyh-huei Kuo, Minister of Economic Affairs for Taiwan, said Taiwan will enter the top three globally for AI software in 2027.
Microsoft Corp. is under investigation from the French antitrust authority amid concerns the US tech giant is degrading the quality of results when smaller rivals pay to use Bing technology in their own search-engine products.
DeepSeek has achieved a significant breakthrough in China's artificial intelligence landscape amid escalating technological tensions with the US. The company's self-developed deep learning framework has successfully integrated with multiple domestic CPUs and GPUs, marking a crucial step in bridging China's AI software and hardware industries.
DeepSeek's conclusion of its promotional trial period brings substantial price increases to its API services, potentially shifting enterprise strategies toward on-premise deployments while easing competitive pressure on public cloud providers. The move signals a broader transformation in AI investment strategies as demand continues to grow.
Elon Musk said he isn't interested in buying TikTok, the popular social video app the US has tried to ban over national security concerns with its Chinese owner Bytedance Ltd.
Alibaba Group (Alibaba) has announced that its upgraded Qwen 2.5 Max model has achieved superior performance over the V3 model from Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) startup DeepSeek in several third-party benchmark tests. The achievement marks a significant milestone as Qwen 2.5 Max has emerged as the top-ranked non-reasoning model from China in prominent benchmarking and ranking platforms.
Recent financial reports reveal decelerating revenue growth for leading cloud service providers, despite maintaining double-digit expansion. Industry perspectives are being shaped by DeepSeek's skepticism toward large hardware investments and an increasing focus on software and AI innovations. Additionally, uncertainty looms over potential new restrictions on AI infrastructure, including chips, that may be implemented by the Trump Administration.
In its latest earnings report, Amazon revealed that its cloud division delivered a robust performance over the past quarter, even amidst macroeconomic uncertainties. Despite this positive development, the company's cautious outlook suggests a potentially volatile geopolitical climate in the near future.
The cloud computing industry has evolved for nearly two decades, with Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and subscription-based business models maturing steadily. However, with the recent surge of generative AI development, industry experts are debating whether AI will serve as an enabler or a hindrance to the SaaS sector.
China has launched an antitrust probe into Google as its first major countermeasure against US President Donald Trump's latest tariffs on Chinese imports. On February 1, 2025, Trump announced a 10% tariff hike on Chinese goods, further intensifying trade tensions between the world's two largest economies.
