Alibaba

Competition among China’s foundation model makers flared again this summer, with a fresh wave of model launches and technical one-upmanship taking center stage at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai. This latest round saw a three-way showdown between China’s frontrunners: StepFun and Z.ai (formerly Zhipu AI), with tech…

Richer than Dangote : Billionaire Jack Ma spotted riding bicycle on Chinese streets without security guards. Ma’s bicycle ride without heavily-armed bodyguards highlights how safe China is not only for the natives but also for tourists. Jack Ma was spotted riding his bicycle bicycle in Hangzhou. Although he has retained…

Screenshot of Freshippo's application showing their partnership with 88 VIP Credit: 36kr Alibaba is transforming its flagship 88VIP program into a cross-platform super membership. Starting this month, 88VIP will integrate services from Ele.me, Fliggy, Freshippo and more, offering users perks across shopping, dining, travel and daily life. Freshippo has already…

A photo collage of ByteDance and Alibaba China’s top tech firms are racing to secure AI talent from the class of 2026. ByteDance and Alibaba have launched their fall campus recruitment drives, offering over 5,000 and 7,000 positions respectively, many centered on AI and engineering. ByteDance is scaling up from…

Freshippo logo on its office. Credit: Freshippo Freshippo, the Alibaba-owned grocery chain, will close all of its warehouse-style membership stores by the end of August, according to Chinese media outlet Caixin. The last remaining store, located at Shanghail, will cease operations on Aug. 31, following recent closures in Beijing, Suzhou,…

Alibaba has released an AI-native version of its map application. This update, claimed as the world’s first AI-native map app, introduces “spatial intelligence” to enhance navigation and local services for its users. The upgrade features Xiao Gao, an AI travel assistant powered by Alibaba’s Qwen models, providing personalized journey solutions…

On 15 July, LG AI Research — the AI R&D arm of South Korea’s LG Group — unveiled Exaone 4.0 , a hybrid reasoning AI model that combines general language processing with the advanced reasoning capabilities introduced through the company’s earlier Exaone Deep model . LG AI Research says its…

Jeremy Cameron has continued his pursuit of a rare century with six goals as Geelong pressed their case for an AFL top-two spot with an 88-point thumping of Port Adelaide. Cameron swelled his season tally to 75 majors as the focal point in the home side’s dominant 23.15 (153) to…

Hong Kong's bourse operator has appointed Zhang Yong, the former chairman and chief executive of Alibaba Group, to its mainland China advisory group, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing said on Friday. Zhang joined Firstred Capital as managing partner in March last year to work with founder Liu Xiaodan to "explore…

Apple is looking for engineers in China to advance Apple’s CarPlay software. Credit: 123RF On July 30, Shenzhen’s Longgang District and Alibaba’s Amap (Gaode) unveiled the “Air Amap” temporal-spatial base, marking a major leap in low-altitude economy infrastructure. By integrating real-time 3D low-altitude data with ground-level mapping, the platform uses…