(China Daily) Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has released a new artificial intelligence model that it says can read emotions, in an apparent bid to outpace OpenAI’s latest model.

In two demonstrations, Alibaba’s Tongyi Lab researchers showed their new open source R1-Omni inferring the emotional state of a person in a video while also offering descriptions of their clothes and environment. It adds another layer of understanding to so-called computer vision, and is an enhanced version of another open source model, HumanOmni, authored by the same lead researcher, Zhao Jiaxing.

Alibaba’s effort to carve out a leading position in AI was accelerated by DeepSeek’s debut in January, and the e-commerce leader is now pushing out new releases of AI tools and apps in several arenas.

(Xinhua) The topic of artificial intelligence (AI) has stood out at meetings and press conferences during China's annual two sessions, painting a broader picture: China is rapidly evolving into an AI "super market," with the application of frontier technology woven into the fabric of a wide range of sectors in its economy.

(Xinhua) A Chinese open-source AI model is shown to rival top-tier global competitors such as DeepSeek R1, despite its smaller size, representing another step forward in balancing performance and efficiency in AI application. 

The QwQ-32B, unveiled last Thursday by Alibaba's Qwen team, operates on just 24 GB of video memory with only 32 billion parameters, while DeepSeek's R1 demands 1,600 GB to run its 671 billion parameters, thus realizing a 98-percent reduction.

(China Daily) As large language model prices continue to decline, evolving market dynamics and intensified price competition will determine which players thrive in the coming years, said industry experts.

"Low pricing doesn't mean losses. When it comes to LLM profitability, doing more with less is entirely achievable," said Zhang Tong, a senior director analyst at market consultancy Gartner.

(China Daily) Technology has been my beat for more than a decade now — part of my job as a business journalist is to keep a close eye on the latest trends and developments in China's ever-changing high-tech sector.

Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek recently caused a global sensation with the release of its latest open-source large language model at significantly lower cost than its foreign counterparts, sending shock waves through the tech industry.

(China Daily) This year's two sessions — the annual meetings of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body — have reaffirmed one central theme: technological self-reliance.

(China Daily) Chinese car manufacturers are gaining more ground in Europe with their innovative products and long-term market approaches.

Sales of China's largest new energy vehicle maker BYD skyrocketed in the United Kingdom by 550.8 percent to 1,614 units in January, seizing 1.2 percent of the country's overall vehicle market share.

(Xinhua) China's auto industry posted a strong performance in February, with both production and sales recording double-digit growth, driven by strong market vitality and accelerated production activity, industry data showed Tuesday.

Total auto output reached more than 2.1 million units last month, up 39.6 percent year on year, while sales climbed 34.4 percent year on year to nearly 2.13 million units, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

(AP) In less than a month, TikTok could have one or a few new owners, be banned again, or simply receive another reprieve to continue operating in the United States.

Questions about the fate of the popular video sharing app have continued to linger since a law requiring its China-based parent company to divest or face a ban took effect on Jan. 19.

(China Daily) China launched a Long March 8 carrier rocket early on Wednesday morning at the Hainan International Commercial Aerospace Launch Center in Wenchang, a coastal city in Hainan province, sending 18 internet satellites into space.
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