Latest news with #AnnCao
South China Morning Post
12-04-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
SenseTime to expand computing power amid surging AI model demand
SenseTime , an artificial intelligence (AI) pioneer in China, is set to expand its computing power by up to a triple-digit percentage annually in the next two years, as the company continues its efforts to increase the use of domestic chips amid an intensified tech war. Advertisement Yang Fan, co-founder of SenseTime and president of the SenseCore business group, the company's AI infrastructure unit, said the company's computing power would maintain a 'high double-digit to triple-digit' annual growth rate in the coming 24 months, signalling a strategy to capitalise on surging demand for generative AI models. In 2024, the total computing power operated by SenseCore grew by 92 per cent year on year to over 23,000 petaflops. One of its major efforts in recent years has been to increase the adoption of home-grown chips to mitigate risks from the ongoing US-China tech war The company launched an upgraded version of SenseCore on Thursday, featuring better performance in computing, among other areas, as well as some industry-wide solutions aimed at accelerating the commercialisation of its infrastructure. Yang Fan, SenseTime co-founder and president of the SenseCore business group. Photo: Ann Cao The move reflects SenseTime's efforts to capitalise on surging AI demand, fuelled by OpenAI's GPT models and more recently the open-source models from China's DeepSeek , as it targets its first full-year profit in 2026. Advertisement SenseTime, founded in Hong Kong in 2014 and best known for its AI and computer vision software, is also an early mover in building up computing infrastructure. The company began this effort as early as 2018, according to Yang.
South China Morning Post
26-03-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Huawei-related chip tool maker SiCarrier steals the show at Shanghai trade fair
SiCarrier, a Chinese semiconductor equipment maker with ties to Huawei Technologies , stole the show at a three-day industry event in Shanghai on Wednesday with the debut of new chipmaking tools that could bolster the country's push for self-reliance in the face of US export controls. Advertisement Four years after its founding, with backing from the Shenzhen government, SiCarrier unveiled dozens of new chip manufacturing and testing machines at Semicon China, an annual gathering of industry players. It was the first public display of its equipment, which industry insiders speculate may have contributed to the production of Huawei's home-grown 7-nanometre chips that debuted in the Mate 60 Pro smartphone in 2023. The company has not confirmed these claims. While the company did not specify the process nodes that its machines can achieve, a staff member at the event said some of them, including an etching tool that is not on the product list, are capable of supporting 5-nm chip production. This aligns with a 2023 patent filing for a process enabling a 5-nm process using existing deep ultraviolet lithography (DUV) tools. Such advanced chips typically require extreme ultraviolet lithography, the technology for which is largely banned from export to China. SiCarrier's booth drew throngs of visitors, with reporters, industry peers and potential clients all eager to catch a glimpse of the company's products that could reduce China's reliance on foreign chipmaking equipment. SiCarrier unveiled dozens of chip manufacturing and testing tools at Semicon China. Photo: Ann Cao A promotional video emphasised its '100 per cent self-sufficient' machine control systems and operating software, and touted 'self-controllable' key components developed in-house or through strategic partnerships. Advertisement
South China Morning Post
20-02-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Alibaba to ramp up AI, cloud investments as quarterly profit surges
Ann Cao in Shanghai and Ben Jiang in Beijing Published: 7:18pm, 20 Feb 2025 Updated: 10:05pm, 20 Feb 2025 Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding saw profit surge 239 per cent cent in the December quarter to beat analysts' estimates, as the company's cloud computing services unit posted strong growth. 'This quarter's results demonstrated substantial progress in our 'user first, AI-driven' strategies and the re-accelerated growth of our core businesses,' said Eddie Wu Yongming , chief executive of Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post. In a conference call with analysts, Wu said Alibaba plans to 'aggressively invest' in artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud computing infrastructure over the next three years, which is expected to exceed what the group has spent over the past decade in building its capabilities related to these technologies. 'We are excited by the business opportunities being unlocked by this new technology cycle,' he said. Alibaba's shares in New York were up 11 per cent in pre-market trading after the company reported its latest financial results. The Hangzhou -based tech conglomerate on Thursday reported that profit reached 48.9 billion yuan (US$6.7 billion) during the quarter, from 14.4 billion yuan a year ago, primarily on the back of 'the increase in income from operations, mark-to-market changes from our equity investments, and the increase in share of results of equity method investees', Alibaba said.
South China Morning Post
20-02-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Alibaba quarterly revenue rises, profit surges on back of ‘AI-driven strategies'
Ann Cao in Shanghai and Ben Jiang in Beijing Published: 7:18pm, 20 Feb 2025 Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding saw revenue rise 8 per cent in the December quarter to beat analysts' estimates, as the company's cloud computing services unit posted strong growth. The Hangzhou -based tech conglomerate on Thursday reported total revenue of 280.2 billion yuan (US$38.4 billion) in the three months ended December 31, compared with the consensus estimate of 277.4 billion yuan from a Bloomberg survey of analysts. The company has maintained single-digit revenue growth for the sixth consecutive quarter. Profit surged 239 per cent to 48.9 billion yuan during the quarter, from 14.4 billion yuan a year ago, primarily on the back of 'the increase in income from operations, market-to-market changes from our equity investments, and the increase in share of results of equity method investees', Alibaba said. That was better than the 37.7 billion yuan quarterly profit expected by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. 'This quarter's results demonstrated substantial progress in our 'user first, AI-driven' strategies and the re-accelerated growth of our core businesses,' said Eddie Wu Yongming , chief executive of Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post.
South China Morning Post
10-02-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
China's new Silicon Valley? DeepSeek boosts Hangzhou's tech standing
Wency Chen in Shanghai and Ann Cao in Shanghai Published: 8:00am, 10 Feb 2025 Updated: 10:14am, 10 Feb 2025 Hangzhou, the capital of China's southeastern Zhejiang province, is rapidly gaining recognition as a leading technology hub in the country with the rise of local start-ups known as the 'Six Little Dragons'. Among the hottest of the start-ups right now is DeepSeek , which captured global attention this year for its cost-efficient artificial intelligence (AI) models. The others include robotics firms Unitree and Deep Robotics, video game studio Game Science, brain-machine interface innovator BrainCo, and 3D interior design software developer Manycore. Authorities in Hangzhou, perhaps best known as the home of tech giant and Post parent company Alibaba Group Holding , acknowledged the group of start-ups in a New Year's message to the local business community last month. 'It's an honour to be dubbed as one of the 'Six Little Dragons',' Deep Robotics product manager Zheng Dongxin said in an interview on Thursday. Last December, Deep Robotics' quadruped robot was adopted by Singapore Power Group for power tunnel inspections, making it the first Chinese four-legged robot deployed overseas for industrial use. The company has also ramped up efforts to develop humanoid robots, with a new product launch expected in the second and third quarters this year, Zheng told the Post. He credited his company's success to Hangzhou's 'atmosphere of innovation', fostered through favourable government policies such as tax incentives, industrial park development, and financial backing.
