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Huawei launched its latest HarmonyOS devices, the Pura 80 series smartphones, on June 11. Photo: Reuters
Huawei

‘Watershed moment’: how Huawei’s HarmonyOS flourished in China amid US sanctions

Nearly half of smartphones and tablets running the Chinese tech giant’s Android alternative were shipped in 2024.

Tencent

Tencent Music to buy Ximalaya, an audio app used by 300 million users

TikTok

TikTok adds 500 UK jobs in expansion as US fate remains uncertain

ByteDance

ByteDance’s China head of content quality leaves amid stricter censorship

Li Tong, who led Douyin’s content quality team, is no longer listed in ByteDance’s internal employee system, according to sources.

The building of Douyin Group in Chengdu, Sichuan province, seen on March 11, 2024. Photo: Shutterstock
United States

Pentagon watchdog probes if Hegseth aides deleted leaked Signal chat messages

The request comes as the US Defence Secretary is scheduled to testify before Congress next week, facing questions about his handling of sensitive information.

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ByteDance

Douyin users in Hong Kong swell to 40% of city’s population: report

Douyin’s high adoption rate in Hong Kong reflects a broader trend among China’s Big Tech firms to expand services beyond the mainland market.

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E-commerce

Alibaba, JD.com sales surge during 618 festival, thanks to subsidy programme

Preliminary data shows Apple, Xiaomi, Huawei, Midea and Haier each rang up sales of over US$13.9 million on the two shopping platforms.

Preliminary sales data from this year’s 618 shopping festival shows improved domestic retail spending. Photo: Shutterstock
Music

‘What is music?’ Spotify founder wants us to embrace AI song creation

Answering claims that Spotify is pushing AI-created music onto playlists, CEO and founder Daniel Ek talks about how AI improves creativity.

E-commerce

PDD faces profit challenge amid Trump tariffs, domestic e-commerce competition

‘Macroeconomic uncertainties and significant investments in the ecosystem’ are expected to continue affecting PDD’s earnings outlook, UBS analysts say.

Artificial intelligence

ByteDance upgrades Doubao AI app with real-time interactive video call function

The chatbot can now serve as a real-time interactive docent during a museum tour and an analyst when studying charts, graphs or videos.

Doubao’s real-time interactive video call function marks the latest progress made by ByteDance in generative artificial intelligence technology. Photo: Shutterstock
Alibaba

Alibaba’s Amap offers ride-hailing function catering to China’s foreign visitors

Amap’s ride-hailing feature, available on the platform’s English version, reflects support for China’s visa-free travel scheme.

Amap’s ride-hailing feature will initially accept users’ registered mainland, Hong Kong and Macau phone numbers. Photo: Shutterstock
France

France arrests 55 men in Telegram paedophile ring crackdown

The suspects, aged 25 to 75, include a priest, a paramedic and a music teacher.

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Hong Kong workers/labour rights

Keeta riders stage third strike in Hong Kong over pay, work conditions

More than 100 riders gather in busy areas of Hung Hom and Central, following smaller-scale protests in Tsuen Wan and Mei Foo earlier this month.

Alibaba

Alibaba lands US$250 million convertible bonds deal with selfie app giant Meitu

The strategic collaboration is expected to serve as ‘the foundation of a long-term partnership’ between Meitu and Alibaba.

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Meitu’s strategic collaboration with Alibaba Group Holding covers areas such as e-commerce, artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Photo: Shutterstock
Artificial intelligence

China accuses ‘AI tigers’ Zhipu, Moonshot of collecting excessive data

Zhipu’s ChatGLM and Moonshot’s Kimi have a combined total of nearly 35 million monthly active users.

Zhipu AI CEO Zhang Peng speaks on stage during the company’s developers’ day in Beijing in January 2024. Photo: Sohu/AGI元年
Science

China makes first 5G satellite-to-phone video call. Will it defy TikTok curbs?

Breakthrough enabling streaming video content directly to phones via satellites would face significant regulatory, technology hurdles, experts say.

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Ant Group

Ant Group’s global unit pulls in US$3 billion in revenue ahead of spin-off

Ant International could fetch an IPO valuation of between US$8 billion to US$24 billion if it lists in Hong Kong, analysts say.

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Wellness

How social media can be terrible for teens and the people fighting back

Phone and social media use have led to a youth mental health crisis and transformed teens’ lives but schools and governments are stepping in.

Children and adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of mental health problems, including experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety, according to the US Office of the Surgeon General. Photo: Shutterstock
Tencent

How AI investments are paying off for Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent

Tencent CEO Pony Ma says strategic AI investments ‘create value for users and society’, while generating substantial returns for the firm.

Tourism

Airbnb now offers in-home chefs, massages alongside home stays

‘Who doesn’t want a quesadilla in bed?’ Airbnb’s chief executive does. Its newly updated app offers users options to book in-home services.

Artificial intelligence

Alibaba’s Quark, China’s most popular AI app, launches ‘deep search’

The upgrade combines the reasoning capabilities of AI models with online search to answer complex user queries.

Alibaba’s Quark app is marketed as an AI super-assistant app. Photo: Handout
Alibaba

Alibaba teams up with social media platform RedNote in fresh e-commerce push

The cross-platform alliance allows consumers to find products via RedNote, which redirects them to buy the goods on Taobao and Tmall.

RedNote had more than 300 million monthly active users in 2024. Photo: Shutterstock
New Zealand

First Australia, now New Zealand eyes social media ban for under-16s

Worried about cyberbullying and harmful content, New Zealand’s PM is pushing for a ban modelled on the one Australia is introducing.

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European Union

EU fines TikTok €530 million for China data transfer

TikTok has been in the crosshairs of Western government for years over fears of China using personal data for espionage or propaganda.

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US-China relations

‘Signalgate’ China hawk ousted as US national security adviser

Mike Waltz leaving job to become new US ambassador to the United Nations as top diplomat Marco Rubio takes over NSC role in interim.

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US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz speaks during a meeting with US President Donald Trump and US ambassadors in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington on March 25. Photo: AFP
Offbeat

Need a home delivery of gold? In Dubai, there’s an app for that

Buy gold using Careem app in Dubai and have it delivered to your door by Uber. Service launches ahead of Hindu festival where metal is lucky.

Dubai-based app Careem can be used to buy 24-carat gold coins. Orders worth up to US$2,700 can be delivered to your door by Uber. Photo: Instagram/@careemuae
Millionaires and billionaires

Meet DoorDash co-founder Stanley Tang, who grew up in Hong Kong

Tang was born in Japan and grew up in Hong Kong before moving to California; he was a successful internet entrepreneur by the time he was 15 and co-founded DoorDash while a student at Stanford.

Artificial intelligence

Baidu offers new AI models at lower cost than DeepSeek’s products

The lower cost would help developers focus on creating ‘more super interesting and useful’ AI applications, Baidu CEO Robin Li says.

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