TMTPOST -- SoftBank Group Corp. may put in more than previously reported amount of money in the latest OpenAI’s funding round, overtaking Microsoft Corporation as the biggest investor. Credit：Pixabay SoftBank is close to finalize a $40 billion primary investment in OpenAI at a $260 billion valuation, CNBC reported on Friday. The Japanese tech and telecoms giant is reported to pay out the funding over the coming 12 to 24 months, and its first payment up to $10 billion could come as soon as spring. The funding would lift OpenAI’s post-money valuation to $300 billion, and made SoftBank replace Microsoft as the top backer of OpenAI. Microsoft began to invested  in OpenAI in 2019 as the ChatGPT developer’s early investor and input a total of $13 billion as of September 30. OpenAI announced

TMTPOST --  Tesla Inc. sticks to its plan to roll out Full Self-driving (FSD) advanced driver assistant in China despite challenges challenges including artificial intelligence (AI) train in the the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) market. Credit：Tesla Tesla missed the top and bottom line in the quarter ended December 31, ending 2024 with its first yearly decline in sales since 2011. But the EV giant guided a return to growth this year and CEO Elon Musk expressed optimism about the autonomy efforts, especially the expansion of FSD software in the major markets. Tesla’s revenue for the fourth quarter rose 2% year-over-year (YoY) to $25.71 billion, less than analysts’ estimates of  $27.21 billion. Earnings per share (EPS) popped 3% YoY to $0.73 whereas analysts estimated

AsianFin -- After the passing of Barbie Hsu (Hsu Shiyuan, also known as Big S), the famous Taiwanese actress and TV host, which was attributed to complications from influenza, discussions surrounding the flu in Japan have garnered wide attention on Chinese social media. Netizens are sharing their personal experiences of contracting the flu in Japan, and conversations are emerging regarding Japan’s approach to treating flu patients. Hsu, 48, tragically died from pneumonia after contracting the flu while traveling with her family in Japan, according to media reports.Japan witnessed a record 64.39 influenza patients per clinic on average in the final week of December, the country's health ministry said, marking the highest number of reported cases since ministry records be

AsianFin -- Shares of BYD, a leading Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, saw a 20% increase in its Hong Kong-listed stock over the past five sessions, sending its market capitalization to 1.1 trillion HKD (US$ 140 billion). This surge comes as investor excitement grows ahead of an eagerly awaited update on the company’s smart driving technology. The recent rise in stock value is driven by expectations that BYD will unveil advancements in its autopilot system and introduce enhanced intelligent features in its more affordable vehicles at a special event scheduled for Monday. A significant breakthrough in BYD’s autonomous driving capabilities could further intensify competition in China’s booming EV market, the largest in the world, where BYD holds a leading position. It may also

TMTPOST -- Microsoft Corporation expects its cloud business will further slow down in spite of hefty artificial intelligence (AI) bills following a quarter that saw huge spending failed to accelerated the cloud segment. Credit：Microsoft Microsoft’s top and bottom line for its second fiscal quarter ended December 31 beat Wall Street expectation. Revenue rose 12% year-over-year (YoY) to $69.63 billion, compared with expected $68.92 billion. That was the slowest growth rate since the middle of 2023 and cooled from a 16% YoY increase for the previous quarter. Diluted earnings per share (EPS) for the December quarter stood at $3.23, maintaining a 10% growth rate. Analysts expected EPS to be $3.10. However, the cloud business, which is currently most evidently benefiting from generative AI appli

Image generated by AI AsianFin -- The total box-office revenue of new films released during the 2025 Spring Festival holiday season exceeded 10 billion yuan (about $1.37 billion), breaking the record, according to movie data platform Beacon Pro. During the January 28 - February 4 holiday season, an unprecedented 187 million moviegoers flock to theaters, setting a new attendance record. Among the standout films, the animated blockbuster Ne Zha 2 emerged as the undisputed champion, grossing a staggering 4.839 billion yuan. Analysts predict its total box office could exceed 8.5 billion yuan, potentially making it the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time. Riding on this success, the film’s international trailer was recently released, with premieres scheduled

(Image Source: Photo by Lin Zhijia, TMTPost AGI Editor) AsianFin – The global funding in AI startups reached $100.4 billion in 2024, marking a 79.61% year-over-year increase and the highest since 2020. The amount of global funding in AI startups came in at $42.2, $96.1, $61.4, $55.9 billion in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 respectively. Meanwhile, the funding for AI startups in 2024 accounted for 69% of total global investment. Despite this boom, China's AI startups lagged behind, securing only $5.2 billion in funding. While the AI sector sees a rise in unicorns, with 44% of the 2024 newcomers focusing on AI, China's DeepSeek has disrupted the market with its cost-efficient, open-source approach, challenging the dominance of U.S. tech giants. According to a recent CB Insights report, glo

TMTPOST -- Google announced release of its best model yet for everyone in the face of Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) upstart DeepSeek’s rise. Credit：Google Google announced on Wednesday its latest AI model suite, Gemini 2.0, is available to everyone from that day. The launch includes three different models:  Gemini 2.0 Flash for general use that offers an access to a 1 million token context window for up to 1,500 pages of file uploads, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite, a new variant that is Google's most cost-efficient model yet, and an experimental version of Gemini 2.0 Pro, its best model yet for coding performance and complex prompts. All these three models are accessible in the Gemini API via Google AI Studio and in Vertex AI platforms. With the largest context window of the Gemini fam

TMTPOST -- Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook indicated the iPhone maker would benefit from DeepSeek’s sudden surge as the Chinese startup boosts efficiency of the artificial intelligence (AI) development. Credit：Apple CEO Tim Cook Weibo Account Asked about his perspective on  DeepSeek and whether the possible changes in cost could impact Apple’s margins, Cooks said DeepSeek is good for its AI models demonstrate innovations that drive efficiency. “In general, I think innovation that drives efficiency is a good thing. And, that's what you see in that model,” Cook said on an earnings call. “Our tight integration of silicon and software, I think, will continue to serve us very well.” DeepSeek’s popular chatbot service application powered by its AI models jumped to the No.1 spot in app stores o

TMTPOST -- Alphabet Inc. stocks dived more than 6.9% on Wednesday, erasing all their gains in the past three weeks. Shares sold off on slower-than-expected cloud sales and Google parent’s more aggressive artificial intelligence (AI) spending amid the shock from highly-efficient Chinese upstart DeepSeek. Credit：Google Alphabet reported revenue of $96.47 billion for the quarter ended December 31, missing Wall Street forecast of $96.62 billion. The Diluted earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter soared 31.1% year-over-year (YoY) to $2.15, compared with analysts’ estimates of $2.13. Operating income was $30.97 billion with a 83.2% YoY increase, whereas analysts expected $30.72 billion. The operating margin climbed 5 percentage points YoY to 32%, topping expectation of 31.9%. From October

(Image credit: Photo by Lin Zhijia, AGI Editor at TMTPost) TMTPOST — China has reopened its antitrust investigations into Google and Nvidia for potential violations of competition laws and is considering launching a similar probe against Intel, The Financial Times (FT) reported. These investigations could lead to significant fines or restrictions on market access, but they are believed to be tied to escalating trade tensions between China and the U.S. The timing of the reopening, ahead of a scheduled meeting between the two countries' presidents, suggests the investigations may be leveraged for diplomatic negotiations. The investigation into Google focuses on its Android operating system and whether it unfairly disadvantages Chinese smartphone manufacturers like Oppo an

TMTPOST -- Xiaomi Corporation maintains stellar delivery growth of electric vehicle (EV) as SU7 Ultra, a hypercar variant of its first EV model SU7, is going to go on sale this month, further driving the delivery. Credit：Xiaomi Xiaomi Auto delivered more than 20,000 EVs in January, exceeding the 20,000-unit mark for the fourth consecutive month, the company said in a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo at weekend. The post stressed Xiaomi’s annual target of 300,000 vehicles in 2025, and added the company will keep expanding its capacity in the coming year. The 2025 target more than doubled as deliveries last year. Xiaomi‘s auto unit delivered more than 135,000 EVs for the full year 2024, meeting  its upgraded target of over 130,000 units.Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun said in No

TMTPOST -- The American depositary receipts (ADRs) of Xpeng Inc. settled 8.4% higher to $16.99 on Tuesday. Shares hit their highest close since November 2023 and logged a 11.6% gains since the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) maker reported new record monthly delivery with a triple-digit growth rate. Credit：Xpeng Xpeng delivered 30,350 EVs in January, topping 30,000 units for three months a row. With a 268% increase year-over-year (YoY), Xpeng outpaced other domestic EV rivals that have released their deliveries recently. The Guangzhou-based company also overtook Li Auto Inc. as the best seller among emerging home-grown Chinese EV startups in January. Though the delivery shed 6,345 vehicles, or 17.3%, from that in the previous month, its fourth straight monthly record, the YoY surge more than

TMTPOST --  U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to delay implementation of additional tariffs on Mexico and Canada after his phone calls with leaders of these neighbour countries on Monday. In the meantime, the president plans to talk with another major trade partner China about the looming extra tariffs. Credit：China Central Television In a post on Monday on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said he and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to immediately pause the anticipated U.S. tariffs for one month after both had a “very friendly conversation”, wherein Sheinbaum agreed to immediately supply 10,000 Mexican Soldiers on the border to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into the United States. During the one-month period, the Trump administration and

TMTPOST --  The U.S. government is investigating whether Chinese artificial intelligence (IT) upstart DeepSeek has bypassed export controls on advanced chips made by Nvidia Corporation to power its tech innovations that stunned both Silicon Valley and Washington, recent reports suggested. Credit：Freepik The U.S. Department of Commerce is investigating whether Deepstart has been using American chips that are banned from export to China, Reuters cited  people familiar with the matter on Friday. It was said that chip smuggling to China has been tracked out of countries including Malaysia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Following Reuters, Bloomberg learned from people familiar with the matter that the Commerce Department is looking into if DeepSeek obtained advanced Nvidia c

TMTPOST -- Beijing on Friday issued a serious warning about Japanese government’s plan to tighten export controls as the U.S. and its allies are attempting further their high-tech curbs on China. Credit：Tokyo Electron Japan's planned export controls on semiconductors will disrupt normal trade between Chinese and Japanese enterprises and damage the interests of businesses in both countries, said spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce of China (MOFCOM) in a statement on Friday. "For some time, a few countries have generalized the concept of national security and abused export control measures to suppress China's semiconductor and other industries," the spokesperson said.  The spokesperson urged Japan to listen to the rational voices of the industry, promptly rectify its actions, prev