Hi, this is Evelyn, writing to you from Beijing. Welcome to the latest edition of The China Connection — a succinct snapshot of what I’m seeing and hearing from local businesses. Today, I talk to a smart glasses exec about why price-conscious Chinese consumers are paying $100 more for AI frames. What’s his strategy for…
Samuel Boivin | Nurphoto | Getty Images If one thing became clear at the HumanX conference in San Francisco this week, where 6,500 executives, founders and investors gathered to talk about artificial intelligence, it’s that OpenAI no longer dominates the conversation in their industry. For now, at least, that distinction belongs to Anthropic. Anthropic’s viral…
The Alibaba logo is pictured during a tour at the Alibaba office in Beijing on April 1, 2026. Wang Zhao | Afp | Getty Images A mysterious AI video model that has ascended global leaderboards has been confirmed as a project from Chinese tech giant Alibaba, in a development that could boost the company’s artificial…
A mechanical hand is on display at the Robot Mall, world’s first embodied intelligent robot 4S store, on August 13, 2025 in Beijing, China. Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images BEIJING — Alibaba Cloud is investing in a new type of artificial intelligence designed to better replicate the real world using a different…
Samuel Boivin | Nurphoto | Getty Images Alibaba and China Telecom are launching a data center in southern China powered by the e-commerce giant’s own chips, as the country ramps up its focus on homegrown AI infrastructure. The facility, announced on Tuesday, will feature 10,000 of Alibaba’s Zhenwu semiconductors which are designed for AI training…
College students look for employment opportunities at the Large-scale Recruitment Fair for Science and Engineering Universities on March 24, 2026 in Harbin, China. Tyne Chin | Getty Images News | Getty Images Hi, this is Evelyn, writing to you from Beijing. Welcome to the latest edition of The China Connection — a succinct snapshot of…
SpaceX headquarters is shown in Hawthorne, California, U.S. June 5, 2025. Daniel Cole | Reuters Elon Musk’s SpaceX has confidentially filed for an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission, sources told CNBC’s David Faber, bringing Elon Musk’s rocket company one step closer to what’s expected to be a record public offering. Bloomberg was first…
Samuel Boivin | Nurphoto | Getty Images Alibaba on Tuesday announced a new chip designed for agentic capabilities as the Chinese tech giant steps up its semiconductor efforts to fuel its AI push. The XuanTie C950 is a type of chip called a central processing unit (CPU), which Alibaba said will be able to handle the…
A giant inflatable Labubu toy floats on the water at Victoria Harbour on October 25, 2025 in Hong Kong, China. Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images 28-year-old Rebecca Zhou, born in China’s Sichuan province, owns an assortment of Moomin merchandise — bags, mugs, and figurines featuring the white hippo-looking cartoon character from Finland…
People queue to have their laptops install with OpenClaw, an open-source AI assistant at the Baidu headquarter in Beijing on March 11, 2026. Adek Berry | Afp | Getty Images Three months ago, the tech industry was unaware of a lobster-themed AI coding project built by an under-the-radar Austrian software developer. OpenClaw, as that creation…
