Chinese AI firms form alliances to build domestic ecosystem amid US curbs
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China's artificial intelligence companies have announced two new industry alliances, aiming to develop a domestic ecosystem to reduce dependence on foreign tech as they seek to cope with U.S. export restrictions on advanced Nvidia chipsets The announcements were timed to coincide with the three-day World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai ending on Monday.The conference also showcased a slew of new products, such as an AI computing system from Huawei that experts believe rivals Nvidia's most advanced offering, as well as consumer-friendly products such as several kinds of digital AI glasses.The "Model-Chip Ecosystem Innovation Alliance" brings together Chinese developers of large language models (LLMs) and AI chip manufacturers."This is an innovative ecosystem that connects the complete technology chain from chips to models to infrastructure," said Zhao Lidong, CEO of Enflame, one of the participating chipmakers.Other manufacturers of graphics processing units (GPUs) in the alliance include Huawei, Biren, and Moore Threads, which have been hit by U.S. sanctions that block them from purchasing advanced tech made with U.S. know-how. The alliance was announced by StepFun, an LLM developer.A second alliance, the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce AI Committee, aims to "promote the deep integration of AI technology and industrial transformation."Participants include SenseTime, also sanctioned by the U.S. and which has pivoted from facial recognition technology to LLMs. Others are StepFun and another LLM developer, MiniMax, as well as chipmakers Metax and Iluvatar CoreX.One of the most talked about products at the conference was Huawei's CloudMatrix 384 which incorporates 384 of its latest 910C chips and outperforms Nvidia's GB200 NVL72 on some metrics, according to U.S. research firm SemiAnalysis.Huawei's system design capabilities have meant that it has been able to use more chips and system-level innovations to compensate for weaker individual chip performance, SemiAnalysis said.At least six other Chinese computing firms showcased similar "clustering" chip technology. Metax demonstrated an AI supernode featuring 128 C550 chips designed to support large-scale liquid-cooled data centre requirements.Other events included Tencent's unveiling of its open-source Hunyuan3D World Model 1.0, which the company said enables users to generate interactive 3D environments through text or image prompts.Baidu announced what it said was next-generation "digital human" technology that helps businesses to create virtual livestreamers. It features "cloning technology" that can replicate a human's voice, tone, and body language from just 10 minutes of sample footage.Alibaba was among those announcing AI glasses. Its Quark AI Glasses are powered by its Qwen AI model and are due to be released in China by the end of 2025. They will allow users to access the tech giant's map service for easy navigating and to use Alipay by scanning QR codes with voice commands.
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Hindustan Times
14 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
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Laopu's black-and-white stores offer a minimalist ambience, while pampering customers as they wait with Evian water and Godiva chocolate. A Laopu store in Beijing. As those perks suggest, European brands still have a cachet that is hard to match. People in the luxury business said the Chinese brands might even serve as a feeder to get younger consumers interested in luxury. Vanessa Piao, a luxury-bag reseller in China, said more buyers are treating their purchases as an investment, and they often prefer prestigious names such as Hermès, Chanel and Louis Vuitton. 'They are happy to pay $20,000 for a Birkin 25 because they can resell it in a few years without losing much,' Piao said, referring to the Hermès bag. 'They won't pay that money for a luxury bag or any fashion item from a domestic brand, no matter how exquisite and rare it is, because that, to some, is the equivalent of throwing $20,000 down the drain.' 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The Hindu
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Net FDI has fallen steeply, domestic investors gripped by 'fear': Congress slams government
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Time of India
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GM China said it does not require wholesale vehicles to be insured pre-purchase and that it counts deliveries, not insurance, in its sales reports. BYD, GAC Toyota, Geely, Changan, Nissan and Li Auto did not respond to requests for comment. Reuters also identified five articles published by Chinese courts between March 2023 and March 2025 about consumers taking dealers to court for concealing pre-purchase car insurance. In three of those, the court ruled for the buyers who demanded compensation. Verdicts for the other two were not publicised. 'ZERO MILEAGE' Vehicles booked as sold before reaching buyers are called "zero-mileage used cars" in China. The practice emerged out of the cut-throat competition as the market deals with a years-long price war caused by chronic overcapacity. More than 100 car brands are competing intensely to survive consolidation, deepening pressure to bolster sales and take market share. Analysts and investors that track the industry use two sets of data. Wholesale figures reported by automakers to the industry association show sales from automakers to dealers, while retail data compiled from mandatory traffic insurance registrations show the number of sales to users. Accusations of selling cars with existing insurance policies date back to 2016 when a Cadillac buyer told a regional radio programme he found the car was insured before his purchase. The practice appears to have picked up after the price war started in early 2023, when several brands led by Li Auto started posting weekly sales rankings on social media based on insurance registrations. The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers has criticised such postings as unreliable and this month blamed them for intensifying "vicious" competition.
